An Overview of Soil-Pile Interaction in Liquefying Soils under Earthquake Condition

Piles are of enormous structural and geotechnical importance as they help to transfer heavy superstructural loads to the geological formation that carries the superstructure. Piles are used in bridges, high-rise structures and other structures of importance. However, in seismic zones, piles in liquefiable soils are susceptible to failure during earthquake events despite that the current codes of practice provides for the design of piles against seismic effect. This study summarizes the current knowledge of the soil-pile-structure interaction, and behaviour in liquefiable soils subjected to earthquake loadings; and investigates the failure mechanisms of seismic piles despite that codes of practice covers seismic design of piles; and goes further in suggesting design approaches that allow for a conservative design of seismic piles