Numerical study on mechanical characteristics of pile groups of wharf foundation under lateral and vertical cyclic loadings

Based on a liquefied natural gas terminal wharf project in Tianjin, the finite element software ABAQUS is used to study the mechanical characteristics of pile groups of wharf foundation under lateral and vertical cyclic loadings, and the influence of cyclic period of lateral and vertical loadings is discussed. The results indicate that under the lateral and vertical cyclic loadings, the stress of piles redistributes, the shaft force of piles increases, and the side resistance decreases. The increase amplitude of shaft force row piles is the largest. The range of side resistance is mainly concentrated in the area of more than 1/3 of pile length. The cyclic period has great influence on the stress redistribution: with change of the cyclic period, load distribution of piles adjustes gradually, the shaft forces of front and back row piles increase, and the shaft forces and side resistances of the middle row piles decrease. When the cyclic period reaches a certain value, the shaft forces and side resistances of piles no longer change and tend to a steady state.