Factors affecting stress distribution of a 3×3 pile group in dry sand based on three-dimensional large shaking table tests

To investigate the factors influencing stress distributions of piles during earthquakes, a physical model test was conducted using the large shaking table at E-defense. The tests were run on a 3×3 pile group supporting a foundation with and without a superstructure set in a dry sand deposit prepared in a cylindrical laminar box. Experimental variables included the natural period of a superstructure and the presence of foundation embedment. Based on the test results and discussions, the following conclusions are made: (1) When the natural period of a superstructure was shorter than or close to that of the ground, the inertial force of the superstructure mainly controlled pile stresses, in which both shear force and bending moment tended to be the largest in the leading pile. When the overturning moment is small in this case, sway motion dominates in which bending moment has maxima at both pile head and a certain depth in the ground. When the overturning moment becomes large enough to induce a rotation of foundation, by contrast, rocking motion dominates in which pile bending moment is small at the pile head, increasing with depth with a peak at some depth; (2) When the natural period of superstructure was much longer than that of the ground, the inertial force from the superstructure gets small and ground displacement may control the pile stresses in such a way that the shear forces at the pile heads were almost the same within a pile group. In this case, pile stress distributions with depth were mainly controlled by the sway motion due to the ground displacement, in which bending moment becomes a maximum only at the pile head and decreases with depth; and (3) The combination of the effects of the sway and rocking motions on pile stress varied depending on such factors as the presence of foundation embedment, natural periods of superstructures, aspect ratios of structures (height/width) and ground displacement.