Effect of stress rotation angles on dynamic responses of soft clay under multi-directional loading

Abstract

Offshore wind turbines are subjected to significant combination environmental loads from wind and wave action. Under such conditions, the directions of these environmental loads vary over the structure's service life, and the stress directions of subsoil rotates during the wind turbine operating process. Tests were conducted on saturated soft clay using multi-directional cyclic simple apparatus to investigate the influence of stress rotation angle. All test results implied that both the stress rotation angles and cyclic stress ratios influence the dynamic responses of the reconstituted clay greatly and regularly: shear strain and pore pressure decrease as θ values vary from 0° to 90° and increase as θ changes between 120° and 180°. Shear strain accumulative ratio for θ = 0°, 30°, 150°, and 180° is more incredible than that of 60°, 120°, and 90°. Increasing the cyclic shear stress ratio will enhance the effect of θ on the cyclic strain and excess pore water pressure.