Behavior of laterally loaded pile group model in sand

The behavior of laterally loaded pile groups can be studied easily in the laboratory on small scale model, saving a lot of expenses, efforts and time. This research presents investigations on small scale closely spaced pile groups embedded in sandy soil in order to understand the behavior of such model when subjected to lateral load. The experimental program consisted of studying the behavior of twelve models by varying the following parameters: number of piles, loading conditions (static or cyclic) and sand saturation conditions (dry or submerged). The static and cyclic loading were achieved by means of specially designed loading actuator. The cyclic loading represents the wave action exerted on offshore structures. Experimental bending moment and deflection along the pile length were compared with semi-empirical ones. The behavior of the small scale model was compared to full scale model which shows reasonable results. Experimental results have shown that the behavior of pile groups was greatly influenced by the study parameters. Finally, the small scale model in laboratory can be used to study the behavior of laterally loaded closely spaced pile groups.