NONLINEAR EQUILIBRIUM AND STABILITY ANALYSIS OF AXIALLY LOADED PILES UNDER BILATERAL CONTACT CONSTRAINTS

Authors

  • RICARDO AZOUBEL DA MOTA SILVEIRA FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF OURO PRETO
  • FELIPE VIEIRA MACIEL FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF OURO PRETO
  • ANDRÉA REGINA DIAS SILVA FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF OURO PRETO
  • FERNANDO CARLOS SCHEFFER MACHADO FEDERAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY OF SãO PAULO
  • CHRISTIANNE DE LYRA NOGUEIRA FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF OURO PRETO

Keywords:

PILES, ELASTIC FOUNDATION, STABILITY, NONLINEAR ANALYSIS, GEOMETRIC NONLINEARITIES, BILATERAL CONTACT

Abstract

THIS PAPER PRESENTS A NONLINEAR STABILITY ANALYSIS OF PILES UNDER BILATERAL CONTACT CONSTRAINTS IMPOSED BY A GEOLOGICAL MEDIUM (SOIL OR ROCK). TO SOLVE THIS CONTACT PROBLEM, THE PAPER PROPOSES A GENERAL NUMERICAL METHODOLOGY, BASED ON THE FINITE ELEMENT METHOD (FEM). IN THIS CONTEXT, A GEOMETRICALLY NONLINEAR BEAM-COLUMN ELEMENT IS USED TO MODEL THE PILE WHILE THE GEOLOGICAL MEDIUM CAN BE IDEALIZED AS DISCRETE (SPRING) OR CONTINUUM (WINKLER AND PASTERNAK) FOUNDATION ELEMENTS. FOUNDATION ELEMENTS ARE SUPPOSED TO REACT UNDER TENSION AND COMPRESSION, SO DURING THE DEFORMATION PROCESS THE STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS ARE SUBJECTED TO BILATERAL CONTACT CONSTRAINTS. THE ERRORS ALONG THE EQUILIBRIUM PATHS ARE MINIMIZED AND THE CONVOLUTED NONLINEAR EQUILIBRIUM PATHS ARE MADE TRACEABLE THROUGH THE USE OF AN UPDATED LAGRANGIAN FORMULATION AND A NEWTON-RAPHSON SCHEME WORKING WITH THE GENERALIZED DISPLACEMENT TECHNIQUE. THE STUDY OFFERS STABILITY ANALYSES OF THREE PROBLEMS INVOLVING PILES UNDER BILATERAL CONTACT CONSTRAINTS. THE ANALYSES SHOW THAT IN THE EVALUATION OF CRITICAL LOADS A GREAT INFLUENCE IS WIELDED BY THE INSTABILITY MODES. ALSO, THE STRUCTURAL SYSTEM STIFFNESS CAN BE HIGHLY INFLUENCED BY THE REPRESENTATIVE MODEL OF THE SOIL.

Author Biographies

RICARDO AZOUBEL DA MOTA SILVEIRA, FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF OURO PRETO

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, ASSISTENT PROFESSOR

FELIPE VIEIRA MACIEL, FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF OURO PRETO

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

ANDRÉA REGINA DIAS SILVA, FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF OURO PRETO

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

CHRISTIANNE DE LYRA NOGUEIRA, FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF OURO PRETO

DEPARTMENT OF MINES ENGINEERING

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Published

2014-10-13

Issue

Vol. 12 No. 2 (2015)

Section

Articles

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