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Title: Seismic Performance of Pile-Supported Wharves

Author(s): Carlos A. Blandon, Jose I. Restrepo, Yohsuke Kawamata and Scott Ashford

Publication: Symposium Paper

Volume: 295

Issue:

Appears on pages(s): 1-16

Keywords: Performance-based seismic design, Precast concrete piles, Soil-structure interaction, Testing, Wharves

DOI: 10.14359/51686344

Date: 10/4/2013

Abstract:
This paper discusses the results of an experimental program carried out at the Englekirk Structural Engineering Center of the University of California in San Diego (UCSD) to provide data for the performance-based seismic design of vertical pile-supported marginal wharves. Strong earthquake-induced inertial lateral loading may cause significant damage to the wharf in two critical locations (i) at the pile-cap connection, and (ii) at the location of the pile maximum bending moment below the ground. Two pile-cap assemblies, representative of the two most critical piles of a marginal wharf and the surrounding quarry-run fill, were built at full-scale and tested under quasi-static reversed cyclic loading to large lateral displacements. The piles in the test units were precast pretensioned and were connected to the deck through grouted dowels and were also embedded in quarry-run fill, as is often the case in these marine structures. The test units displayed a very stable hysteretic response. This paper describes the test specimens, their hysteretic response together with the predicted response, the progression of damage in the test units, and the distribution of the applied lateral force among the two piles. The paper also highlights the most relevant implications for performance-based design of marginal wharves.