Horizontal Vibration of a Large-Diameter Pipe Pile in Viscoelastic Soil

An analytical solution is developed in this paper to investigate the horizontal dynamic response of a large-diameter pipe pile in viscoelastic soil layer. Potential functions are applied to decouple the governing equations of the outer and inner soil. The analytical solutions of the outer and inner soil are obtained by the method of separation of variables. The horizontal dynamic response and complex dynamic stiffnesses of the pipe pile are then obtained based on the continuity conditions between the pile and the outer and inner soil. To verify the validity of the solution, the derived solution in this study is compared with an existing solution for a solid pile. Numerical examples are presented to analyze the vibration characteristics of the pile and illustrate the effects of major parameters on the stiffness and damping properties.