1

Seasonally Frozen Soil Effects on the Seismic

Performance of Highway Bridges


Qiang Li


University of Alaska Anchorage
Sep. 2, 2011
SIMPLIFIED DESIGN TOOL: P-Y APPROACH
2
Acknowledgement
Sponsors
Alaska University Transportation Center (AUTC)
Alaska Dept. of Transportation and Public
Facilities
NSF EPSCoR

Co-Workers
Prof. J. Leroy Hulsey (UAF)
Mr. Marx Elmer (Alaska DOT&PF)
3
Impact on Single Pile Performance
Piles constructed in Aug. 2008
4
Single Pile Testing
The tests conducted in Sept. 2009 and Mar. 2010
5
Deriving Soil Lateral Resistance from Experimental Data
Using a polynomial to interpolate bending moment data
M = a+bz+cz
2.5
+dz
3
+ez
4
+fz
5
+gz
6
where
M = Bending Moment
z = depth
With the assumption of zero lateral resistance at the surface. The
polynomial is fit to the data using a least-squared fit.
6
Shear force and lateral resistance can be calculated by
differentiation
V = dM/dz = b+2.5cz
1.5
+3dz
2
+4ez
3
+5fz
4
+6gz
5
p = d
2
M/dz
2

=2.5*1.5cz
0.5
+3*2dz
1
+4*3ez
2
+5*4fz
3
+6*5gz
4
Where
V = Shear force
p = Lateral resistance
z = depth
Deriving Soil Lateral Resistance from Experimental Data
7
Bending Moment Profile (Disp. of pile head = 6.6 in)
-2000 0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000
-50
0
50
100
150
200
250
Bending Moment (lb-in)
D
e
p
t
h

(
i
n
)
Polynomial-200 kips
Experimental-200 kips
Polynomial-187 kips
Experimental-187 kips
Polynomial-150 kips
Experimental-150 kips
Polynomial-120 kips
Experimental-120 kips
Polynomial-98 kips
Experimental-98 kips
Polynomial-78 kips
Experimental-78 kips
Polynomial-5 kips
Experimental-5 kips
-20 -15 -10 -5 0 5
-50
0
50
100
150
200
250
Pressure (kips/in)
D
e
p
t
h

(
i
n
)
200 kips
187 kips
150 kips
120 kips
98 kips
78 kips
5 kips
8
Lateral Displacement vs. Load at Pile Head
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
0
50
100
150
200
250
Lateral Displacement at Pile Head (in)
L
a
t
e
r
a
l

F
o
r
c
e

(
k
i
p
s
)
Experimental
OpenSees
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
-20
-15
-10
-5
0
5
Displacement (in)
D
e
p
t
h

(
f
t
)
Experimental 78 kips
Experimental 98 kips
Experimental 120 kips
Experimental 150 kips
Experimental 187 kips
Experimental 200 kips
OpenSeesPL
OpenSeesPL
OpenSeesPL
OpenSeesPL
OpenSeesPL
OpenSeesPL
9
p-y curves obtained from experiment
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
y (in)
p

(
k
i
p
s
/
i
n
)
5 in - Experimental
10 in - Experimental
15 in - Experimental
20 in - Experimental
10
p-y Curve for Weak Rock in
Sketch of p-y Curve for Weak Rock
p
ur
where,




p
ur
= ultimate resistance


k
ir
= dimensionless constant
k
rm
= axial strain developed at a stress level of 50
percent of the uniaxial compressive strength
1. Initial straight-line section
2. Parabolic section y y
A
, p p
ur
3. Constant section
11
Construction of p-y Curve for Frozen Soil
1. Parabolic section
2. Constant section
for y<y
u

modified from clay model
for y>y
u

K
m
is a constant and equal to the strain at
which 50% of the ultimate strength is
developed
12
LPile (Reese et al., 2004), a finite difference software,
was used to used to do pushover analysis with a section
with steel shell as shown in following figure

Reinforced concrete in steel shell model from Lpile was
used
Comparison of Proposed p-y Curve with Experimental
Data
13
Comparison of Proposed p-y Curve with Experimental
Data
14
Comparison of Proposed p-y Curve with
Experimental Data
q
u
= 0.145 (2.15-0.33T+0.01T
2
)
The compressive strength of the frozen silt was
obtained from the experiments done by Haynes
and Karaluis (1977).
The water content of the frozen slits at the test site was
around 35% and the soil can be defined as ice-poor soil
according to Weaver and Morgenster (1981).
was estimated to be 0.01 based on Haynes and
Karaluis (1977) and Crowther (1990).
15
Comparison of Proposed p-y Curve with
Fairbanks Test Data
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
y (in)
p

(
k
i
p
s
/
i
n
)
5 in - LPile
5 in - Experimental
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
y (in)
p

(
k
i
p
s
/
i
n
)
10 in - LPile
10 in - Experimental
16
Comparison of Proposed p-y Curve with
Fairbanks Test Data
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
y (in)
p

(
k
i
p
s
/
i
n
)
15 in - LPile
15 in - Experimental
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
y (in)
p

(
k
i
p
s
/
i
n
)
20 in - LPile
20 in - Experimental
17
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
y (in)
p

(
k
i
p
s
/
i
n
)


10 in - LPile
20 in - LPile
40 in - LPile
60 in - LPile
90 in - LPile
Unfrozen
Comparison of p-y Curve for Frozen and
Unfrozen Soil
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
0
0.02
0.04
0.06
0.08
0.1
0.12
y (in)
p

(
k
i
p
s
/
i
n
)
LPile__Unfrozen
18
Lateral Displacement vs. Load at Pile Head
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
220
Lateral Displacement at Pile Head (in)
L
a
t
e
r
a
l

F
o
r
c
e

(
k
i
p
s
)
Experimental
LPile
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Bending Moment & Pressure Profile
(Disp. of pile head = 8.9 in)
-2000 0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000
-50
0
50
100
150
200
250
Shear Force (kips)
D
e
p
t
h

(
i
n
)
LPile
Experimental
-20 -15 -10 -5 0 5
-50
0
50
100
150
200
250
Pressure (kips/in)
D
e
p
t
h

(
i
n
)
LPile
Experimental-Polynomial
20
Validation of Proposed p-y Curve with Field Test
Results
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
y (in)
p

(
k
i
p
s
/
i
n
)
Average ground temperature for the
depth of pile embedment was -1.5
o
C
q
u
= 0.145 (2.15-0.33T+0.01T
2
)= 413 psi
For this ice-rich soil, k
m
was estimated
to be 0.005 based on Crowther (1990).
21
Validation of Proposed p-y Curve with Field Test
Results
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Deflection (in)
L
a
t
e
r
a
l

F
o
r
c
e

(
k
i
p
s
)
Experimental
LPile
22
Validation of Proposed p-y Curve with Field Test
Results
-60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60
-10
-8
-6
-4
-2
0
2
Shear Force (kips)
D
e
p
t
h

(
f
t
)
-200 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800
-10
-8
-6
-4
-2
0
2
Bending Moment (kip-in)
D
e
p
t
h

(
f
t
)
23
Summary
A project focusing on the seasonally frozen ground effects on the
seismic behavior of highway bridges in cold regions has been
initiated
This project consists of two integral parts: element testing
including material and pile testing, and bridge testing.
Experimental and numerical simulation results indicate the
seasonal freezing has great impact on the lateral behavior of the
soil-pile system.
Pile fixity depth decreases substantially during ground freezing.
P-y curve for weak rock produces good match of experimental
results
24
On-going and Future Work
On-going: continue to refine the p-y curve for
frozen soils


Future work: conduct experimental study on the
properties of frozen soils of various type at
different conditions for constructing frozen soil p-
y curves
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Reference
Da Re G, Germaine JT, Ladd CC. 2003. Triaxial testing of frozen
sand: equipment and example results. Journal of Cold Regions
Engineering, ASCE 17: 90118.
Reese, L.C., Wang, S.T., Isenhower, W.M., Arrellaga, J.A., (2004)
Computer Program LPile Plus version 5.0. Ensoft Inc. Austin,
Texas.
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Thank You!