Vibration mitigation in porous soil using periodic rock-socketed pile barriers

This study aimed to reveal the vibration mitigation effect of periodic rock-socketed piles installed in porous soil. Biot's theory and the periodic theory from solid-state physics were applied to observe the ultralow and surface -wave bandgaps in rock-socketed pile barriers. The bandgaps of the pile barriers in dry and saturated soils were subsequently compared, indicating that the width of the ultralow bandgap decreased slightly when the porous soil was fully saturated. To overcome the limitations of the sound cone method for calculating the surface-wave bandgap of a periodic rock-socked pile barrier, a critical frequency for Rayleigh waves was defined. Next, the screening effectiveness of pile barriers for both the ultralow and surface-wave bandgaps was validated using three-dimensional numerical simulations. Finally, the influences of the geometric and material parameters of the piles and soil as well as the water table level on the ultralow bandgap were evaluated using a parametric study. The results of this investigation provide a reference for the application of periodic rock-socketed piles in geological conditions with groundwater.