Recent advances in analysis and design of pile foundations in liquefiable soils during earthquake: A review

Abstract

Liquefaction of saturated soil subjected to earthquake loading is one of the major factors affecting the behavior of pile foundations and subsequent building failure in seismically active areas. Predicting the behavior of the pile foundation in liquefying ground during an earthquake requires considerations of ground motions, free-field site response, super-structure response and soil-pile-super structure interaction. Evaluation of performance of pile requires the estimation of inertial forces imposed on the pile and transient or permanent deformation of the pile foundation. In this paper a detailed description about the recent advances in both analytical and experimental studies of pile foundations with the design guidelines for pile in liquefiable strata under earthquake condition is presented. Also, brief details have been provided on the pile failure mechanism, state-of-the-art type analysis and design techniques.