Effect of Cyclic Loading on the Lateral Behavior of Offshore Monopiles Using the Strain Wedge Model

Abstract

This paper presents the effect of cyclic loading on the lateral behavior of monopiles in terms of load-displacement curves, deflection curves, and p-y curves along the pile. A commercial software, Strain Wedge Model (SWM), was employed, simulating a 7.5 m in diameter and 60 m long steel monopile embedded into quartz sands. In order to account for the effect of cyclic loading, accumulated strains were calculated based on the results of drained cyclic triaxial compression tests, and the accumulated strains were combined with static strains representing input strains into the SWM. The input strains were estimated for different numbers of cycles ranging from 1 to 10 5 and 3 different cyclic lateral loads (25%, 50%, and 75% of static capacity). The lateral displacement at pile head was found to increase with increasing number of cycles and increasing cyclic lateral loads. In order to model these deformations resulting from cyclic loading, the initial stiffness of the p-y curves has to be significantly reduced.