Abstract

Liquefaction of loose, saturated soils has been observed in many recent earthquake events and has been a contributing factor in many of the observed structural failures. The lateral performance of pile foundations has been topic of interest for several years due to the high lateral loads which are exerted as the soil attempts to shear past them in both laterally spreading and level ground. However, piled foundations are also potentially vulnerable to failure modes in the vertical plane, and uncertainty still remains concerning the structural settlement and vertical load transfer which occurs on a pile group when the surrounding soil liquefies.

In this talk, the results from a series of centrifuge experiments will be presented in which the behaviour of piled foundations passing through liquefiable soils was investigated. Discussion will focus on the settlement response of the pile group as well as the transfer of load in the foundation system both during and after the earthquake event