Abstract
In lateral resistance of piles with a pile cap, marked contribution of the pile cap resistance can be expected. For seismic performance assessment of pile foundations, mobilisation of the earth pressure acting on pile caps, induced by interactions between the pile cap and surrounding soils, has to be properly considered. In this study, a series of centrifuge model tests were conducted (1) to examine the effect of strain history on the mobilization of lateral earth pressure acting on pile caps and (2) to show the importance of considering strain history when modelling the interaction between a surface soil layer and a pile cap. Observations into the physical model tests reveal that mobilisation of the earth pressure acting on pile caps under cyclic loading can drastically change depending on soil type and/or conditions. Especially, relocation of soil adjacent to the pile cap in unload-reload phase plays an important role for the earth pressure mobilisation, as it completely alters the shape of the earth pressure-displacement curves. Based on the physical model test results, a simple empirical model that can be used for the beam on non-linear Winkler foundation type analysis is proposed and compared to the test results.
