A revised solution for the horizontal vibration of an end-bearing pile in viscoelastic soil

This note presents a new method to derive closed-form expressions describing the horizontal response of an end-bearing pile in viscoelastic soil subjected to harmonic loads at its head. The soil surrounding the pile is assumed as a linearly viscoelastic layer. The propagation of waves in the soil and pile is treated mathematically by three-dimensional and one-dimensional theories, respectively. Unlike previous studies of the problem, the formulation presented allows the governing equations of the soil to be solved directly, eliminating the need to introduce potential functions. Accordingly, the dynamic response of the pile is obtained by means of the initial parameter method, invoking the requirement for continuity at the pile-soil interface. It is demonstrated that the derived compact solution matches exactly an existing solution that utilises potential functions to formulate the problem. Copyright (C) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.