Cyclic lateral response of model pile groups for wind turbines in clay soil

Abstract

Due to the large diameter and the cyclic loading, it is necessary to investigate the lateral response of pile groups for wind turbines in clay soil. This paper presents an experimental research on 2x2 model pile groups embedded in different types of clay soil, relatively density of 90% and 10%, subjected to one-way lateral cyclic loading. Analysis on the experimental results, such as load-deflection curves and bending moment profiles, were processed. It is found that the magnitude of the head level deflections and the maximum bending moment increased with the number of loading cycles. The group interaction effect under cyclic lateral loading is more significant in loose soil.