Seismic Performance Assessment of Wide Pile-Supported Wharf Considering Soil Slope and Waveform Duration

Abstract

Pile-supported wharf (PSW) is one of the primary port structures and is often damaged by earthquakes. To mitigate the risk of seismic damage to a PSW, its seismic performance should be thoroughly assessed. This study aimed to examine the impact of ground displacement on the seismic performance of PSW with a mild soil slope. We performed soil-structure system finite element analysis targeting a wide PSW. The analysis is divided into two scenarios. In the first scenario, the PSW was modeled without regard for the soil slope, whereas the second scenario considered the soil slope. Two waveforms that matched the target spectral acceleration were used to study the effects of the waveform duration on the seismic response of PSW. The analysis results revealed substantial influences of soil slope displacement as well as differences in waveforms on PSW’s seismic performance.

Keywords

• pile-supported wharf
• seismic response
• finite element analysis
• ground displacement
• residual displacement