Effect of Soil Types on Attenuation of Piled Induced Ground Vibration: Experimental and Numerical Study

Ground vibration induced by pile driving has become a major concern in the construction industry, mainly due to its negative impact on the structural health of surrounding structures. Therefore, it is necessary to estimate the level of vibration propagating to surroundings before processing the pile driving to avoid any adverse impact. Pile driving is usually done in different types of soils. However, experimental evaluation of ground vibration propagation and attenuation through different soil types is not feasible, both technically and economically. The objective of the current study is to investigate the ground vibration propagation and attenuation through different types of soil by using a numerical model, which is validated with experimental measurements.

 

A two-dimensional axisymmetric Finite Element Model (FEM) was developed by using Abaqus/CAE software. The boundary condition of the model was addressed by illustrating the application of nonreflecting boundary and fixed boundary. To minimize excessive mesh distortion during pile penetration into the soil, Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) adaptive mesh was used. The model was validated by comparing Peak Particle Velocities (PPVs) obtained from a full-scale field experiment for peat soil and laterite soil. The validated model was used to predict the ground vibration propagation and attenuation through different soil types: loess, silt, and sandy clay. A rate of vibration attenuation over a distance of 9 m was found to be 1.14 mms^-1/m, 0.66 mms^-1/m, 0.572 mms^-1/m, 0.5 mms^-1/m, and 0.41 mms^-1/m for laterite, loess, sandy clay, silt, and peat, respectively, indicating that among these five different soil types, the highest ground vibration attenuation was revealed by laterite soil while the least ground vibration attenuation was revealed by peat soil.