Independent experimental observations of kinematic and inertial soil–pile interactions

Abstract

Inertial and kinematic soil interactions with a single pile are studied through reduced-scale models in the centrifuge. The physical model consists of an aluminium pile rigidly connected to a stiff cap and embedded into dry and dense Fontainebleau sand. The inertial interaction is observed in the response to an impact on the soil–pile–cap system, whereas the kinematic interaction is observed in the response of the soil–pile system subjected to a harmonic seismic event. The same approach was applied to the combination of both interactions, except that the system employed consisted of the complete soil–pile–cap set. This paper describes the set-up of these experiments as well as the various responses in terms of bending moments, soil acceleration, subgrade reaction p and pile lateral displacement y.