An experimental investigation of the cyclic response of bucket foundations in soft clay under one-way cyclic horizontal loads

Abstract

This study conducted 1 g laboratory tests to investigate the accumulated rotation and unloading stiffness of two model bucket foundations embedded in soft clay under one-way cyclic horizontal loads. The model bucket foundations were specifically designed to have embedment ratios of 0.5 and 1. Ground models were prepared by consolidating the kaolin slurry. One-way cyclic horizontal loads of up to 104 cycles were applied varying loading magnitudes. Test results showed that the accumulated rotations of the bucket foundations increased with increased number of load cycles and cyclic horizontal load magnitudes. The unloading stiffness of the bucket foundations increased with increasing number of cycles and embedment ratios but decreased with increasing cyclic horizontal load magnitude. Based on the model test results, empirical equations were proposed to evaluate the accumulated rotation and unloading stiffness of the bucket foundations in soft clay under one-way cyclic horizontal loads.