International Journal of Offshore and Polar Engineering
Vol. 13, No. 3, September 2003 (ISSN 1053-5381)
Copyright by The International Society of Offshore and Polar Engineers
Nonlinear Behaviour of Laterally Loaded Long Piles Penetrating Soft Clay Below
Water Table Subjected to Cyclic Loading—Sensitivity Analysis
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, Canada
This paper presents the theoretical formulation of sensitivity analysis of laterally loaded piles embedded in soft clay
located below the water table. The pile structure is considered to be a 1-dimensional beam. The supporting soft clay isdefined by means of a p-y model. The pile stiffness and material characteristics of a soil’s p-y relationship are taken as thedesign variables. They are considered distributed parameters of a continuous type. The pile-soil system subjected to lateralloading is analyzed in the framework of sensitivity theory by means of an adjoint method for a nonlinear system. The firstvariation of functional of maximum deformations due to the changes of the design variables is formulated based on a virtualwork principle with the aid of variational calculus. The unknown variations of generalized deformations imposed on thepile-soil system are determined by reference to physical relationships that are extended in the scope of sensitivity theoryon the dependence on the design variables. The sensitivities of maximum generalized lateral deflections are determined interms of sensitivity integrands associated with suitable variations of the design variables.
important to identify key factors, in addition to usages that affect
the performance of the structure in-service and its evaluation. The
The response of a pile to lateral forces and bending moments
deterioration of the structure during in-service operations can be
is a typical example of the soil-structure interaction system. The
lateral loading can result from many sources, for instance, when
manifested by excessive deformations or various kinds of distress
the high-rise building is subjected to wind load, or when an
of strength types. The key factors that cause deterioration of the
earthquake induces waves that propagate in a lateral direction.
structure are load, material degradation, environment, construc-
Bridge abutments and supports are other examples of structures
tion quality and other mechanisms. The primary factor (Hudson
supported by piles that have to resist breaking forces exerted by
et al., 1997) in most deteriorations of the deformation type is
moving vehicles. Offshore structures are the systems that support
load and material aging. It is thus essential to develop a method
lateral load caused by ocean waves, water currents and various
that provides a theoretical basis for an assessment of maximum
forces connected with operational processes (Reese and Van Impe,
deformations expressed in terms of possible changes of material
2001). The laterally loaded long piles are considered a part of the
properties. It is particularly useful to refer such an analysis to the
infrastructure that contains assets in transportation, energy pro-
structural model that is employed in the design process, which
duction, buildings and recreational facilities (Hudson et al., 1997).
defines an initial condition. The discussed criteria can be suit-
The development of infrastructure systems integrates the design
ably introduced through the distributed parameter sensitivity the-
process with maintenance services, future rehabilitation, renova-
ory. The application of sensitivity theory to the class of laterally
tion and replacement activities in the overall planning and costing.
Traditionally, infrastructure design practices have considered ini-
• it is developed in the vicinity of the initial solution considered
tial condition, load and material properties as the primary input
variables for structural design without taking into account the
• the material characteristics are considered spatial functions;
effect of environmental and material degradation over time. Such
• it is able to indicate the locations of the changes of the sys-
an approach does not adequately assess the actual service life
tem’s material properties that are critical for an increase of max-
of the structure. The performance of an infrastructure element or
facility is considered good if it performs as designed and provides
• the performance functional of maximum generalized defor-
an acceptable level of service over its intended life. The develop-
mations that is formulated in the scope of variational calculus
ment of good performance models depends on the condition and
makes the analysis transparent with respect to spatial variables;
assessment methods, load, material behaviour prediction and the
• it is possible to assess quantitatively the impact of each
taking into account of climatic and environmental conditions. It is
change of the material property on the change of maximum defor-
The method of sensitivity analysis presented here is in refer-
ence to laterally loaded piles embedded in nonlinear soil and is
Received April 7, 2003; revised manuscript received by the editors
based on the virtual work principle. Thus it contains intrinsically
July 25, 2003. The original version was submitted directly to the
all the characteristic features this principle requires. It demands
knowledge of the physical behavior of the entire system through
KEY WORDS: Laterally loaded piles, nonlinear soil-structure interac-
tion systems, infrastructure systems, distributed parameter sensitivity
the fact of involvement of the work of all internal forces of the
analysis of nonlinear systems, adjoint method, sensitivity operators/
entire system. This is mathematically expressed by means of a
spatial integral. In the sensitivity formulation presented here, the
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asympTest: A Simple R Package for Classical Parametric Statistical Tests and Confidence Intervals in Large Samples by J.-F. Coeurjolly, R. Drouilhet, P. Lafaye de Micheaux An important point to be noticed is that stu-dents are usually told that mean tests are robust tonon-normality for large samples as indicated by the Abstract: asymptotic N (0, 1) distribution in the last two cellsmenting