Sharif Digital Repository

Loads from laterally spreading ground have been a major cause of damages to pile foundations in past earthquakes. Analysis of case histories have shown that damages are particularly intense when a nonliquefiable surface crust layer spreads laterally over underling liquefied layers. In this research the effect of lateral spreading due to liquefaction on single piles embede in a gently sloping ground has been investigated. Finite element method using OpenSees is used to model the pile and embedded soil. The soil profile for all models consisted of a nonliquefiable crust layer overlying loose sand with Dr = 30-35% overlying dense sand with Dr = 70-80%. The effect of geometric properties such as... 

The behavior of pile foundations under earthquake loading is an important issue that affects the performance of structures. Design procedures have been developed for evaluating pile behavior under earthquake loading; however, the application of these procedures to cases involving liquefiable ground is uncertain. The performance of piles in liquefied soil layers is much more complex than that of non-liquefying soil layers because not only the superstructure and the surrounding soil exert different dynamic loads on pile, but also the stiffness and shear strength of surrounding soil diminishes over time due to both non-linear behavior of soil and pore water pressure generation. In this... 

Liquefaction-induced lateral spreading is a known cause of severe damages to deep foundations during past earthquakes. Lateral spreading often takes place in gently sloping grounds which consisted of saturated loose cohesionless soil deposits. Several researchers during recent years have been studying the behavior of piles and soil-pile interaction under lateral spreading but there are still many unknowns in this regard. Also with observing catastrophic damages during past earthquakes caused by lateral spreading, developing proper mitigation measures for existing vulnerable piles against this phenomenon is a necessary act. In the present research, the behavior of a 3x3 flexible pile group... 

Ground vibration during pile driving is one the most important factors that limits usage of this kind of piles. It is of great importance to estimate the level of vibration prior to the beginning of pile driving to avoid structural damage or disturbance of building occupants. In this study, an axisymmetric finite element model that utilises an adaptive meshing algorithm has been introduced, using the commercial code ABAQUS, to simulate the full penetration of a pile from the ground surface to the desired depth by applying successive hammer impacts. The model has been verified by comparing the computed particles velocity with those measured in the field. The results indicate that the peak... 

In the countries with offshore oil field, Such as Iran, Offshore platforms are important. Hence seismic analysis of offshore platforms is important. Different methods for seismic assessment of these structures are presented. But these methods has own advantage and disadvantages. (Such as long analysis time and simplified assumptions of linear behavior), but by using Endurance Time method, the method had shown the ability to analyze complex structures, It is hoped that these problems can be resolved. In this study, providing a suitable model of soil and structures of a single pile and then an offshore platform using DEEPSOIL and Open SEES software and performance of these structures at... 

In the areas where the soil beneath the foundation is made of loose to semi-consolidated sand or noncohesive silts, Buildings and bridges are usually built on the pile foundations. One important issue that must be considered in the design of piles in saturated sandy soils, is liquefaction potential of saturated sandy soil under earthquake loads. During the earthquake, saturated sandy soil faces the sudden loss of shear strength in other word it liquifies . Liquefied Soil acts like a viscous fluid. This behaviour considerably increases the soil deformation and consequently the widespread disruption of soil layers, causes large deformation and applies great amount of forces on the piles... 

Sandpile models are the simplest models to study self organized criticality (SOC). In these phenomena, system reaches its critical state and shows power law behavior without fine tuning of any external parameters. In nature, many examples of such phenomena has been observed such as earthquakes, rainfalls and heights of mountains. In SOC systems, always there is an input and an out put of energy. In sandpile models the dissipative sites that play the role of energy dissipation, are usualy put on the boundary. In this study we have considered sandpile models which have dissipative site in the bulk. We have controled the ratio of the dissipative sites to the number of whole sites and have shown... 

Lateral spreading due to liquefaction and resulting destruction of buildings is important in Iran because of high seismicity and important infrastructure near south and north coasts of Iran. Lateral spreading is vast lateral movement of sloping ground or level ground ending in an opening like river which is caused by earthquake inducedliquefaction. For considering the effects of lateral spreading during design of deep foundations of structures in a susceptible area, one needs to determine the lateral loads on piles under lateral spreading. Present study investigates the behavior of a 3x3 pile group against lateral loads due to lateral spreading with numerical methods using OpenSees software.... 

Numerous structures which are involved in seismic soil-pile-structure interaction have been destroyed. Considering complexities which exist in soil-pile interaction problems and lack of precise methods without imperfect bases, it is necessary to use numerical methods for analyzing soil-pile interaction problems. In this research, three-dimensional modeling and studying the effect of changing soil and pile parameters on the behavior of pile under earthquake loading is performed using finite difference software, FLAC3D. The soil in this model has a softening behavior. Real earthquake spectrum has been applied into the model as the acceleration time history at the bedrock level. The results of... 

Nowadays, pile usage in construction of deep foundations has increased significantly, instead of shallow foundation in areas that shallow foundations doesn’t provide enough bearing capacity and measuring the velocity and acceleration due to pile driving is very important. Because, all responses of building and individuals located near the pile driving site influenced by these three parameters: pile vertical displacement, peak particle acceleration (PPA) and peak particle velocity (PPV). One can estimates these important parameters by numerical analysis of pile driving process in different distances and depths to determining the effect of pile driving. Compared values obtained from numerical... 

Geothermal piles are being used to serve dual purposes: transfer the structural load to the ground and act as heat exchanger elements to harvest and reject heat from and to the ground. Thermal loading can change the mechanical performance and bearing capacity of the geothermal piles during heating and cooling cycles. Therefore the thermo-mechanical responses of the geothermal piles should be comprehensively studied. In this paper the thermo-mechanical performance of a geothermal pile was analyzed using a 3D finite difference model in FLAC. The energy pile tests performed at Lambeth College, London were simulated using the developed numerical model. Comparison of both thermal strain and... 

Liquefaction has a profound effect on buildings, bridges, buried pipes and other engineering structures. This phenomenon can lead to the sliding of huge earth masses, submersion and bending of substantial structures, uplift of buried light structures and collapse of retaining walls. In recorded earthquakes, liquefaction has caused major damage to structures and deep foundations, proving that pile foundations are not designed to withstand at liquefaction condition. Considerable damages in pile foundations due to liquefaction in destructive earthquakes has called for extensive study and research concerning the behavior and response of piles under the influence of liquefaction, resulting in... 

Many statistical systems such as earthquakes, road trafcs, forest fres, neurocortical avalanches etc. exhibit self-organized criticality (SOC). In such systems without tuning extrenal parameters, the system arrives at criticality. During recent decades, a number of models are introduced which show the same charactristics. These models have made a platform to investigate the physics of self-organized criticality. Among them, sandpile models are the best known models. They exhibit critical behaviour such as scaling laws. Also in some of them conformal invariance is checked nummerically.Most of sandpile models deal with slope parameters, that is, the main dynamical parameters are the local... 

Self-organized critical phenomena are interesting phenomena which are ubiquitous in nature. Examples include mountain ranges , coastlines and also activities in the hu-man's brain. In these processes, without fine-tuning of any external parameter such as the temperature, the system exhibits critical behavior. In other words, the dynamics of the system, drives it towards an state in which long range correlations in space and scaling behaviors can be seen.The first successful model which could characterize such systems was BTW model, introduced by Bak , Tang and Wiesenfeld in 1987. This model, later named Abelian sandpile model, was very simple and because of this simplicity, a large amount of... 

In recent earthquakes piles have been severely damaged due to liquefaction-induced lateral spreading. Liquefaction causes lateral spreading in gently sloped saturated soft granular soils, leading to significant damage in structures and deep foundations. Although in recent years many studies have focused on different aspects of this phenomenon, the complex nature of the dynamic interaction between piles and liquefied soil is not yet fully understood. This potential damages are of high degree of importance in southern and northern coastal areas of Iran where several ports and critical facilities are located. The present study focuses on the behavior of a 2x2 pile group against lateral loads... 

Heat exchanger piles are innovative technologies used to harvest heat from shallow ground. Heat exchanger pile, also known as energy pile, transfers mechanical (structural) loads to the ground while acting as a heat exchanger. Heat extraction in winter and heat rejection during summer changes the pile, pile-soil interaction and the surrounding soil temperature. Therefore, pile temperature increments have been recognized as a new factor of controlling the behavior of energy piles in recent decades. Besides, thermal cyclic loadings may affect the serviceability and geotechnical performance of heat exchanger piles. Physical models provide an affordable experimental medium through which new... 

Bearing capacity of piles depends on many factors among which geometrical properties of piles, soil type, and strength properties of soil are of great importance. Based on these parameters, several approaches have been developed in order to overcome the uncertainty in the prediction of pile bearing capacity. Studies carried out in this area or research can be divided into two main categories: first, laboratory based approaches, and second, numerically based approaches. The research followed in the present study is based on numerical modeling. In this study, a single pile is initially modeled in the axisymmetric configuration and its bearing capacity is determined. The results of the model... 

Since the concept of Self-Organized Criticality was introduced in terms of BTW Sandpiles model, its major features have been known as broad power law distributions without any tuning parameters. In some selforganized critical systems like brain and neural networks, some evidences and experiments show a periodic or non-power law distribution of avalanches in addition to the power-law distributions of avalanches. In this thesis we try to observe the same phenomenon in the well-known SOC models, namely the BTW and Manna sandpile models. We have considered small lattice sizes with periodic boundary conditions and a small amount of dissipation. Within such conditions we observe a periodic-like... 

Lateral spreading is defined as finite lateral displacement of mildly sloping grounds or those ending in free faces induced by liquefaction. Severe damages of pile groups due to lateral spreading in past earthquakes has been reported. Since earthquake is unavoidable, it is necessary to study the response of piles, especially pile groups, to liquefaction induced lateral spreading. Until now, a number of methods have been developed by researchers for design of deep foundations against lateral spreading, but reported failure of piles in last earthquakes indicates that these methods are associated with high uncertainties. This is due to the lack of laboratory and experimental data to evaluate... 

In recent years, growth of industries has led to consistent increase in energy consumption around the globe. On the other hand, non-renewable energy sources are the most consumed ones in the world. Therefore, governments and companies have tried to introduce budgets to facilitate the use of renewable energy sources and make their use cheaper. One of the renewable energy sources is geothermal energy which one economical way to havest it is thermal energy exchange between the building foundation and the ground. Therfore, thermal piles , by the use of a heat exchanger fluid, transfer the heat on the surface to the ground in warmer seasons and in cold seasons, they transfer the heat from the...