Soil-Pile-Structure Interaction (SPSI) in Bridges: A Review

Response of soil influencing motion of pile supported structures or vice-versa is called Soil-Pile-Structure Interaction (SPSI). A part of SPSI is considered beneficial for the structure wherein it increases damping, and period of vibration. This study provides a comprehensive review addressing SPSI in bridge structures. Past research in this field has typically emphasised on Soil-Structure Interaction (SSI), rather than SPSI. An attempt is made here to compile the work done so far in this field. Detailed study, based on discretising the considered models in various articles, and the method for determining the stiffness of the underlying soil was carried out. The articles in this study were carefully chosen such that even if they have not considered SPSI, their models were worth reporting in this study. Response of soil and structure on the application of earthquake ground motion was also studied and discussed here with emphasis given on calculation of stiffness of soil and the interaction between them. It was observed that the material/spring used for modelling of soil is of utmost importance. The theories for the calculation of stiffness of the soil material for different locations of the pile length are also discussed. Few studies have also considered the vertical component of earthquake ground motion in the past. A detailed justification regarding the selection of method of analysis such as linear or non-linear analysis, and adopted approaches for analysis such as discrete or continuous approaches, and their overall influence on the study was observed, and reported here in a concise manner. This article primarily aims to summarize the previously published researches on SSI and SPSI, including their advantages and issues over the structure.