P-Y CURVE TO MODEL LATERAL RESPONSE OF PILE FOUNDATIONS IN LIQUEFIED SOILS

Dynamic soil-pile interaction is undoubtedly a complex phenomenon. Though this interaction is well established in competent non-liquefied soil, the same for liquefied soil is still an area of active research. One of the versatile soil-pile interaction model used in practice is the Beam on Nonlinear Winkler Foundation (BNWF) model. In the BNWF model, the soil is represented by a set of independent springs lumped at discrete locations along the pile. For earthquake loading, the lateral soil spring, which is generally referred to as a p-y spring, is one of the governing parameters determining the response of piles. Although much research has already been carried out to define the p–y curves for liquefied sand, considerable inconsistency still exist in appropriately defining its shape, salient features including magnitude and most importantly the applicability This paper critically reviews the most commonly used models for the p-y curve for liquefied soils. Some experimental test results are compared with the commonly used models and the inconsistencies in the definition of the p-y curve are highlighted. The effect of p-y curve on lateral pile response to displacement loading is discussed and a more realistic class of p-y curve is proposed.