Shaking table tests on stabilizing piles of slopes under earthquakes

The seismic behaviors of piles retaining the slopes are studied by means of large-scale shaking table tests. The model slope is installed into a model box with a length of 3.7 m, width of 1.5 m and height of 1.8 m. The sizes of model and prototype slope are designed by using the similar principles with a scale factor of 1 ∶ 20. Similar materials are made up of the standard fine sand, gypsum powder, talc powder, glycerin and water, and the specimens are reconstituted with density of 2.5 g/cm³. Three different kinds of seismic waves are input to study the dynamic response stabilizing piles by increasing the amplitude of input seismic waves. By monitoring the soil pressure after the piles, the acceleration and displacement response of the slope, the distribution of the soil pressure behind the piles and the seismic performance of the piles are studied. This research provides a good foundation for seismic design of stabilizing piles.