Longitudinal Vibrations of a Single Pile in Saturated Viscoelastic Soil

Based on Biot's theory, the longitudinal vibrations of a single pile in saturated viscoelastic soil are investigated in the frequency domain subject to the harmonic load. By the Novak plane strain model, the control equations for the saturated viscoelastic soil are derived. Regarding the pile as the one-dimensional rod model, the vibration equation of the pile is established. Based on the continuity conditions of the pile and soil, the dynamic stiffness and dynamic damping of the pile top are obtained. It is compared with the solution for Novak, and the influence of different physical parameters of the pile and soil on the longitudinal vibrations of the soil and pile system is examined. It is shown that the dynamic characteristics of the pile in the dry soil as well as the saturated soil have some differences; the resonance effect of dynamic stiffness factor and equivalent damping is obvious weakening with the increase of the ratio of the length to radius of the pile. The resonance effect and natural frequency are increasing when the modulus ratio of the pile to soil increases; the interaction coefficient of the flow-solid and the damping ratio of soil skeleton have few influences on the responses.