Abstract :

This paper is aimed at analyzing the effects of seismic load on piles supporting the electric transmission towers erected between Ethiopia and Kenya. Due to the significance of the project, failure of the foundations shall be avoided and analyzing the lateral response of piles is crucial. To carry out the dynamic analyses, ground motion analyses were executed and a peak ground acceleration of 0.13 g has been obtained from seismic hazard analysis for design basis earthquake. Acceleration-time history data has been obtained from Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center ground motion database. Three-dimensional finite element analyses were performed to study the response of a single pile under earthquake loading by incorporating infinite element boundary conditions to simulate damping. The non-linear Finite Element Analyses performed by modeling the soil using elasto-plastic material model of the Mohr-Coulomb failure criteria indicated that the calculated maximum deformations of the unreinforced pile section are not within the recommended limits of the literature, and the use of 0.6 m diameter pile calls for further detailed analyses.