Longitudinal vibration characteristics of a tapered pipe pile considering the vertical support of surrounding soil and construction disturbance

This research is concentrated on the longitudinal vibration of a tapered pipe pile considering the vertical support of the surrounding soil and construction disturbance. First, the the pile–soil system is partitioned into finite segments in the vertical direction and the Voigt model is applied to simulate the vertical support of the surrounding soil acting on the pile segment. The surrounding soil is divided into finite ring-shaped zones in the radial direction to consider the construction disturbance. Then, the shear complex stiffness at the the pile–soil interface is derived by solving the dynamic equilibrium equation for the soil from the outermost to innermost zone. The displacement impedance at the top of an arbitrary pile segment is obtained by solving the dynamic equilibrium equation for the pile and is combined with the vertical support of the surrounding soil to derive the displacement impedance at the bottom of the upper adjacent segment. Further, the displacement impedance at the pile head is obtained based on the impedance function transfer technique. Finally, the reliability of the proposed solution is verified, followed by a sensitivity analysis concerning the coupling effect of the pile parameters, construction disturbance and the vertical support of the surrounding soil on the displacement impedance of the pile.