The Role of Pile Diameter on Earthquake-Induced Bending

Pile foundations in seismic areas should be designed against two simultaneous actions arising from kinematic and inertial soil-structure interaction, which develop as a result of soil deformations in the vicinity of the pile and inertial loads imposed at the pile head. Due to the distinct nature of these phenomena, variable resistance patterns develop along the pile, which are affected in a different manner and extent by structural, seismological and geotechnical characteristics. A theoretical study is presented in this article, which aims at exploring the importance of pile diameter in resisting these actions. It is demonstrated that (a) for large diameter piles in soft soils, kinematic interaction dominates over inertial interaction; (b) a minimum and a maximum admissible diameter can be defined, beyond which a pile under a restraining cap will inevitably yield at the head i.e., even when highest material quality and/or amount of reinforcement are employed; (c) an optimal diameter can be defined that maximizes safety against bending failure. The role of diameter in seismically-induced bending is investigated for both steel and concrete piles in homogenous soils as well as soils with stiffness increasing proportionally with depth. A number of closed-form solutions are presented, by means of which a number of design issues are discussed.