Shaking table test for a building model supported by the pile group on a sloping bedrock

Abstract

When constructing a building on a site with a soft ground layer on top of a sloping bedrock (supporting layer), a pile foundation with mixed piles of different lengths is often used. In this paper, the seismic response of pile-supported buildings constructed on a sloping bedrock is analyzed by the shaking table model test. In the test, excitations in the sloping direction of the bedrock surface and in the direction perpendicular to the slope were conducted. Test results showed that for the specimen with sloping bedrock, the effect of the constraint condition at the pile tip became noticeable as the input amplitude increased and the ground became non-linear, and the bending moment at the pile tip increased for the short piles. In addition, it was shown that the characteristics of pile-soil springs are different from those of the parallel stratified ground due to the presence of bedrock near the tip of the short piles. Additionally, it was confirmed that the characteristics of the pile-soil springs depend on whether the excitation exists in the sloping direction or perpendicular to the slope, or whether the pile becomes the leading or the trailing pile.