Numerical simulation of a fluid-saturated soil under a dynamically loaded pile

The behaviour of the soil under a dynamically loaded pile toe is studied. The soil is modelled as a fluid saturated porous continuum. The constitutive behaviour of the solid skeleton is described by the elasto-plastic model of Drücker-Prager. The wave propagation is simulated with a dynamical finite-element program.A two-phase model of soil gives useful information about effective stress and pore pressure in the soil. In saturated soil the main wave under the pile toe propagates more downards than in dry soil, due to the higher compressional stiffness in saturated soil. The plastic zone under the pile toe propagates with the velocity of the fast compressional wave. The pore fluid influences the plasticity strongly and can be expected to affect pile driving too.The distribution of effective stress and pore pressure under the pile toe depends on the permeability of the soil and cannot be calculated uniquely from a single-phase calculation. Therefore, a nonlinear soil cannot be modelled correctly as a conventional single-phase material.