Prediction of the Natural Frequency of a Soil-Pile-Structure System during an earthquake

지진하중을 받는 말뚝 시스템의 고유 진동수 예측

This study proposes a simple method that uses a simple mass-spring model to predict the natural frequency of a soil-pile-structure system in sandy soil. This model includes a pair of matrixes, i.e., a mass matrix and a stiffness matrix. The mass matrix is comprised of the masses of the pile and superstructure, and the stiffness matrix is comprised of the stiffness of the pile and the spring coefficients between the pile and soil. The key issue in the evaluation of the natural frequency of a soil-pile system is the determination of the spring coefficient between the pile and soil. To determine the reasonable spring coefficient, subgrade reaction modulus, nonlinear p-y curves and elastic modulus of the soil were utilized. The location of the spring was also varied with consideration of the infinite depth of the pile. The natural frequencies calculated by using the mass-spring model were compared with those obtained from 1-g shaking table model pile tests. The comparison showed that the calculated natural frequencies match well with the results of the 1-g shaking table tests within the range of computational error when the three springs, whose coefficients were calculated using Reese's(1974) subgrade reaction modulus and Yang's (2009) dynamic p-y backbone curves, were located above the infinite depth of the pile.