Experimental study on bucket foundations' responses in calcareous sand under dynamic load

This paper performs experimental study on responses of the bucket foundations in calcareous sand layers under dynamic loading. Experiments to determine the horizontal static bearing capacity are carried out first. The obtained static loading-displacement curves can be referred to for determining the amplitudes of dynamic loads. Then a series of experiments are conducted to study the influences of some factors including the size of bucket, the amplitude and frequency of load, the density of soils, pressing load etc.. Analyzing experimental results, the responses' characteristics of bucket foundations in calcareous sand under horizontal dynamic loads are obtained. It is shown that 1) the amplitude and frequency of loading, the soil density and the size of bucket foundation influences the dynamic responses of the bucket foundation obviously; 2) the pore pressure increases under dynamic loading, but the rate is smaller than that in other type of sand; 3) the bucket foundation would rise if the structure's weight is small; 4) the dynamic responses of the bucket foundation and the soil layer decreases with an overlayer of stiff clay covering.