Approximate Experimental Simulation of Clogging of Pervious Concrete Pile Induced by Soil Liquefaction during Earthquake

It has been reported by previous studies that the pervious concrete pile (PCP) has the advantages of high permeability and strength as a novel ground-improvement technology. However, during an earthquake, the liquefied soil particle is bound to migrate into the PCP under the excess pore water pressure because of dynamic stress. This leads to the clogging of PCP. In this study, a permeability test system for an approximate simulation of this clogging is presented. The experimental results obtained by employing this system were reported and validated. In order to gain insight into the clogging caused by earthquake, the effects of the porosity on pervious concrete were evaluated. Clogging that accounted for the acceleration peak, the frequency, and the duration of vibration were characterized. The thickness of the impervious layer of ground surface and the pile spacing on the clogging were studied as well. Results show that within the scope of this study, the clogging of PCP is significantly related to the aforementioned factors. In addition to the thickness of the impervious soil layer, the clogging becomes more obviously with the increase of the other five factors. However, the overlarge values of some factors, such as the porosity of pervious concrete, the acceleration peak, and the frequency/duration of vibration, cannot obviously aggravate the clogging of pervious concrete. Based on the experimental evidence, a preliminary dynamic clogging model is proposed, which is helpful for the design of PCP composite foundation.