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Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering and Soil Dynamics IV

Copyright ASCE 2008

GSP 181 2008 ASCE

Components of Dynamic Subgrade Reaction on Pile in Saturated Sand

Hideki Funahara1
1

Senior Research Engineer, Technology Center, Taisei Corporation, 344-1, Nase-cho, Totsuka-ku,
Yokohama, JAPAN 245-0051; hideki.funahara@sakura.taisei.co.jp

ABSTRACT: The dynamic lateral subgrade reaction generated on a pile foundation

in saturated ground consists of an effective stress component and a pore water pressure
component. These components were measured through a shaking table test using a
centrifuge facility. The total stress and the pore water pressure acting on the pile
surface were measured directly using earth pressure meters and pore pressure meters,
respectively. These components were measured on opposing sides of the pile in the
direction of shaking. The effective stress was evaluated as the difference between the
total stress and the pore water pressure. It was found that the compressive effective
stress dominates on the side of a pile where the adjacent soil is under compression. On
the other hand, the tensile pore water pressure dominates on the side of a pile where the
adjacent soil is under extension.
INTRODUCTION
It is important to understand the generation mechanism of the dynamic horizontal
subgrade reaction on a pile for the rational seismic design of pile foundations.
Usually, the ground surrounding piles is saturated with underground water. As
shown in Fig. 1. , the surface of a pile in saturated soil is subjected to an effective stress
of soil particles and pore water pressure at the same time. In other words, the total
horizontal subgrade reaction in saturated soil consists of an effective stress component
and a pore water pressure component.
Tokimatsu et al.(2004) already pointed out that the tensile pore water pressure plays
an important role in the generation of the subgrade reaction in liquefied ground.
In this study, not only the pore water pressure but also the effective stress of the soil
skeleton is taken into consideration to understand the generation mechanism of the
dynamic subgrade reaction on a pile in saturated sandy ground. With this objective, a
dynamic centrifuge test on piles in saturated ground was conducted to observe those
components of the dynamic subgrade reaction on a pile.

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soil particles

Pore water
pressure
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GSP 181 2008 ASCE

Total stress
Effective stress

Pore water

Pile

FIG. 1. Microscopic view of subgrade reaction components

DISTRIBUTION OF THE SUBGRADE REACTION COMPONENTS

For simplicity, we consider the equilibrium of horizontal force on a pile in only left
and right directions.
An effective stress component and a pore water pressure component for each depth
act on the left side and on the right side of the pile simultaneously. Under the normal
(not seismic) state, the right component and the left component at the same depth are
the same. Therefore, the total subgrade reaction on a pile in the normal state becomes
zero, as shown in Fig. 2.
Left

Right

Earth pressure
(Total stress)

Effective stress

No total subgrade reaction

Pore water pressure

FIG. 2. Components of subgrade reaction in normal state

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GSP 181 2008 ASCE

Fig. 3. shows the concept of the dynamic subgrade reaction components under the
seismic state. The lateral force from the super-structure acts at the pile head, and some
total subgrade reaction is generated on the pile to balance with the force at the pile
head. The total subgrade reaction can be divided into the left component and the right
component of the total stress. Moreover, each side component can be divided into the
effective stress component and the pore water pressure component.
Lateral force
at pile head
left

right

left

Initial and total

overburden pressure

Total subgrade reaction

right
Total stress

Pore water pressure

Effective stress

Total stress

FIG. 3. Components of subgrade reaction under seismic excitation

OUTLINE OF THE SHAKING TABLE TEST IN CENTRIFUGAL FIELD
In order to observe the dynamic behavior of the subgrade reaction components
mentioned above, a shaking table test in a centrifugal field was conducted. Schematic
view of the test model and the measurements is shown in Fig. 4.
A saturated sand deposit and a structure model are set in the laminar shear box. The
sand deposit is made in Toyoura silica sand (D50: 0.19mm, emax: 0.988, emin: 0.616) and
is compacted up to 90% of relative density. The structure model consists of steel mass
(6.2kg) and four steel pipe piles (diameter: 9.5mm, thickness: 0.21mm, bending
stiffness EI: 1.3*10-2kNm2).
Accelerations are measured at the shaking table, at the ground surface, in the ground,
on the pile, and at the super-structure. The ground surface acceleration is used to
evaluate the ground displacement. The super-structure acceleration is used to evaluate
the inertial force of the super-structure. The pile acceleration and the ground
acceleration are used to evaluate the relative displacement between the pile and the
ground at the depth of the "shallow" part as shown in the figure.
The bending strains are measured at eight depths for every pile. By the
differentiation of the bending moments with respect to the length of the pile, the shear
forces and the total subgrade reactions can be evaluated.
In order to evaluate the subgrade reaction components of the pile, some pressure
meters are set on the pile surface. The pore water pressure meters are set on Pile-1 and
the total earth pressure meters are set on Pile-3. These pressure meters are set at the

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Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering and Soil Dynamics IV

Copyright ASCE 2008

GSP 181 2008 ASCE

shallow part and the deep part as shown in the figure. They are set on the left side and
the right side of the piles.
A synthetic wave called ' RINKAI wave ' was employed as the input motion for the
shaking table. The input motion measured at the shaking table is shown in Fig. 5.

Pile4

Pile3

Pile2

Pile1

210

Acceleration
Pore pressure
Earth pressure
Bending strain
60

Plan

Deep part
Toyoura sand
(Dr:90%)
Pile4 Pile3

Vertical section
Pile2

210
110

Shallow part

320(12.8m)

30(1.2m)

Superstructure

160(6.4m)

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Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering and Soil Dynamics IV

Pile1

60
125
Direction of shaking
560(22.4m)

y
x

model scale:mm
(inside the parentheses:prototype scale)

FIG. 4. Schematic view of the test model

REPRESENTATIVE RESPONSES
In order to grasp the overall behavior of the test model, representative responses of
the model are shown in Fig.5. The shown time histories are the inertial force of the
super-structure, the bending moment at the pile head, the displacement of the ground
surface, the pore water pressure in the ground which is apart from the piles, and the
acceleration of the shaking table.
The pore water pressure built up and reached the initial effective overburden
pressure at around 22 seconds. In other words, the ground liquefied at around 22
seconds. The inertial force of the super-structure was large until that time and after that
time the amplitude of the inertial force decreased and the dominant period elongated.
On the other hand, the displacement of the ground surface was small at first but the
amplitude of the displacement increased after the liquefaction.
As is well known, the bending moment of the pile is affected by the inertial force
from the super-structure and the ground deformation. The time history of the bending

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Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering and Soil Dynamics IV

Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering and Soil Dynamics IV

GSP 181 2008 ASCE

Copyright ASCE 2008

Disp. Moment Inertial

(kNm) force (kN)
(kN/m ) (cm)
(cm/s )

PWP

Acc.

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moment at the pile head implies that before the liquefaction the bending is affected by
the inertial force mainly but after the liquefaction it is affected by the ground
deformation also.
1000
0
-1000
300
0
-300
15 Ground surface
0
-15

Max : 1184
Evaluated using the acc. at the superstructure

Pile head (Pile1)

Max : 374

Max : 12.8

40
0
300
0
-300
0

At depth of 4.4m
Shaking table
Max : 332
20

40
Time(sec)

60

80

FIG. 5. Time histories of measured responses

EVALUATION OF EFFECTIVE STRESS COMPONENT

The effective stress can not be measured directly. But if the total stress and the pore
water pressure are measured properly, the effective stress can be evaluated as the
difference between the total stress and the pore water pressure. Since the total
subgrade reaction evaluated from the earth pressure meter and that evaluated from the
strain gauges were judged to be almost the same and since the behavior of pile-1 and
pile-3 were judged to be almost the same based on the comparison of the total
subgrade reactions derived from the bending moment (Funahara et al. (2005)), the
effective stress component of the subgrade reaction was evaluated as the difference
between the total stress of pile-3 and the pore water pressure of pile-1.
OBSERVED SUBGRADE REACTION COMPONENTS
Fig. 6 and Fig. 7 show the measured and evaluated components of the subgrade
reaction on a pile. Fig. 6 shows the components at the shallow part, and Fig. 7 shows
ones at the deep part.
Each figure consists of the total stress components, the pore water pressure
components, and the effective stress components. Moreover, each component is
shown as the total value of the left and right sides, and as the left component and the
right component.
The plus sign of the subgrade reaction components indicates that the direction of the

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Geotechnical Earthquake and Engineering and Soil Dynamics IV Congress 2008

Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering and Soil Dynamics IV

Components of subgrade reaction (kN/m) [Plus : leftward]

80
0
-80
80
0
-80
80
0
-80
80
0
-80
80
0
-80
80
0
-80
80
0
-80
80
0
-80
80
0
-80

GSP 181 2008 ASCE

(a)

Total stress (Pile3, L+R)

(b)

Extension

(c)

Com pression
Compression

TS (Pile3, L)
TS (Pile3, R)

Extension
(d)

Pore water pressure (Pile1, L+R)

(e)

PW P (Pile1, L)

Extension

(f)

PW P(Pile1, R)
Extension

(g)

Effective stress(L+R)

(h)

ES(L)
Compression
Com pression

(i)
0

20

40
Time(sec)

ES(R)
60

80

FIG. 6. Measured components of subgrade reaction (shallow part)

Components of subgrade reaction (kN/m) [Plus : leftward]

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Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering and Soil Dynamics IV

40
0
-40
40
0
-40
40
0
-40
40
0
-40
40
0
-40
40
0
-40
40
0
-40
40
0
-40
40
0
-40

(a)

Total stress (Pile3, L+R)

(b)

Extension

(c)

Compression
Com pression

TS (Pile3, L)

TS (Pile3, R)

Extension
(d)

Pore water pressure (Pile1, L+R)

(e)

Extension

PW P (Pile1, L)

Extension

PW P(Pile1, R)

(f)

(g)

Effectiv e stress(L+R)

(h)

ES(L)
Compression
Com pression

(i)
0

20

40
Time(sec)

ES(R)
60

80

FIG. 7. Measured components of subgrade reaction (deep part)

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Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering and Soil Dynamics IV

Copyright ASCE 2008

GSP 181 2008 ASCE

force is leftward. In the case that the subgrade reaction is divided into the left and the
right components, the sign of each component indicates whether the adjacent soil is
under the compression state or under the extension state. In Fig. 6 and Fig. 7, the
adjacent soil's states are also described.
Based on Fig. 6 and Fig. 7, the following can be pointed out. Firstly, the pore water
pressure (PWP) components tend to be generated when the adjacent soil is under the
extension state (e, f). On the other hand, the effective stress components tend to be
generated when the adjacent soil is under the compression state (h, i).
CORRELATION WITH RELATIVE DISPLACEMENT
In order to confirm the tendencies mentioned above, the correlations of the subgrade
reaction components with the relative displacement between the pile and the
surrounding ground will be examined next.
Fig. 8 shows the time history of the relative displacement between the pile and the
ground at the shallow part. Each displacement is evaluated by the double integration of
the acceleration record.
At the deep part, no positive correlation between the evaluated relative displacement
and the subgrade reaction components was seen. This is possibly because of the effect
of the long-term components in the measured acceleration. Therefore only the result
for the shallow part is shown.
Relative
disp.
(cm)

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4
0
-4
0

20

40
Time(sec)

60

80

FIG. 8. Relative displacement between pile and ground (shallow part)

Fig. 9 shows the correlations between each subgrade reaction component and the
relative displacement shown above. The relative displacement also indicates the
adjacent soil's state on the left and the right side, respectively.
There is a positive correlation between all the components and the relative
displacement. These figures show the same tendencies mentioned above more clearly,
namely, the pore water pressure components tend to be generated on the extension side
(e, f) and the effective stress components tend to be generated on the compression side
(h, i).
Instantaneous coefficients of subgrade reaction change extensively hour by hour (a).
When large lateral loads are being applied cyclically on the pile, the coefficient of
subgrade reaction is small while the relative displacement is relatively small, and then
the subgrade reaction recovers rapidly accompanied by the increase of the relative
displacement. As a result of this, the hysteretic loops appear like an inverse S character.
The three dotted lines in the figure (a) indicate the three different coefficients of
subgrade reaction. It can be said that the coefficient of subgrade reaction changes over
two orders.

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Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering and Soil Dynamics IV

Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering and Soil Dynamics IV

10 kN/m

104kN/m 3

Comp.

GSP 181 2008 ASCE

Ext.

Ext.

Comp.

Copyright ASCE 2008

0
103kN/m 3
Components of subgrade reaction (kN/m)
[plus : leftward]

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100

-100

TS(L+R)

(a)

(b)
Comp.

TS(L)

TS(R)

(c)

Ext.

Ext.

Comp.

100

-100 (d)

PW P(L+R)

(e)
Comp.

PW P(L)

(f)

Ext.

PW P(R)
Ext.

Comp.

100

-100 (g)
-4

ES(L+R)
0

(h)

ES(L)

ES(R)

(i)

-4
-4
0
4
Relative displacement (cm)

FIG. 9. Relationship between components of subgrade reaction and relative

displacement
MECHANISM OF SUBGRADE REACTION GENERATION
Fig. 10 shows the schematic view of the effective stress generation on the
compression side and the pore water pressure generation on the extension side after the
excess pore water pressure reaches the initial effective overburden pressure. The soil
skeleton pushes the pile surface on the compression side. On the other hand, the pore
water which is being suctioned pulls the pile surface on the extension side at the same
time.
Fig. 11 shows the state around the pile just after the direction of the subgrade
reaction reversed. On the right side, the contact between the soil particles and the pile
is lost due to the very small relative displacement, and the small pore water pressure
which pulls the pile surface is generated. The tensile pore water pressure at this stage is
small because the effective confining stress is almost zero and therefore the stiffness of

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the soil skeleton on the extension side is very small. On the other hand, the lost contact
on the left side can not be recovered immediately because of the gap between the soil
particles and the pile generated during the former suction, so the compressive effective
stress does not recover immediately. Moreover, just after the recovery of the contact
between the soil particles and the pile surface, the soil skeleton is still loose and the
effective confining stress is small. Therefore, the stiffness of the soil skeleton is still
small. This is the reason why the instantaneous coefficients are very small while the
relative displacement is small.
The larger the relative displacement, the larger both the compressive effective stress
and the tensile pore water pressure. Then the state like Fig. 10 is reproduced.
Shear force

Compression side

Tension side
Effective stress
Pore water pressure

Pile

FIG. 10. Schematic view of effective stress on compression side and pore water
pressure on tension side
Shear force

Compression side

Extension side

Pore water
pressure

Pile

FIG. 11. Microscopic state around pile just after the reversal of the subgrade
reaction

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Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering and Soil Dynamics IV

GSP 181 2008 ASCE

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CONCLUSIONS

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Conclusive remarks are the following.

If the soil is dense, a significant amount of effective stress component and pore water
pressure component are generated due to the large relative displacement even after the
soil is liquefied.
The compressive effective stress dominates on the side of a pile where the adjacent
soil is under the compression state. On the other hand, the tensile pore water pressure
dominates on the side of a pile where the adjacent soil is under the extension state.
Just after the reversal of the subgrade reaction direction, the water in the gap between
the soil skeleton and the pile surface which was suctioned during the former extension
hardly push the pile surface on the compression side. At the same time, the pore water
on the extension side pulls the pile surface weakly, because the stiffness of the
adjacent soil skeleton is small.
Numerical simulations of this experiment are now being conducted using a
two-phase effective stress method. These results will be reported and discussed in
another paper.
REFERENCES
Funahara, H. (2005) " Subgrade reaction components of pile on liquefying soil based
on centrifuge test." Summaries of technical papers of annual meeting, Architectural
Institute of Japan, 513-514. (in Japanese)
Funahara, H. (2006) " Dynamic horizontal subgrade reaction on pile in saturated sandy
ground." 8th. symposium on dynamic soil-structure interaction, Architectural
Institute of Japan, 29-36. (in Japanese)
Funahara, H. and Shibata K. (2007) " Centrifuge tests and effective stress analyses on
dynamic horizontal subgrade reaction components of pile in saturated sandy ground
Part.1 Centrifuge tests" 42th. Meeting for reading research papers of the Japanese
Geotechnical Society, 1673-1674. (in Japanese)
Shibata K. and Funahara, H. (2007) " Centrifuge tests and effective stress analyses on
dynamic horizontal subgrade reaction components of pile in saturated sandy
ground Part.2 Effective stress analyses" 42th. Meeting for reading research papers
of the Japanese Geotechnical Society, 1675-1676. (in Japanese)
Tokimatsu, K. and Suzuki, H. (2004). " Pore water pressure response around pile and
its effects on P-Y behavior during soil liquefaction." SOILS AND FOUNDATIONS,
JGS, Vol.44, No.6, 101-110.

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Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering and Soil Dynamics IV