Horizontal Vibration Model Tests on Pile Foundation in Sand

Horizontal vibration tests usings the shaking table on the model of pile foundation in sand are conducted to investigate the effects of thickness of sand layer, vibrating acceleration and shear deformation of sand layer on the dynamic characteristics of pile foundation. The model of pile foundation is a single pile or four piles, and the toe of each pile is fixed at the bottom of the sand box. From the experimental results, it is found that thickness of sand layer and vibrating acceleration have dominant effects on the characteristics such as natural frequency, damping constant and deflection of the pile foundation. Though, the increase of shear deformation of sand layer owing to the increase of vibrating acceleration has the secondary effect on the dynamic characteristics of the pile foundation.