Centrifuge modelling of inclined pile foundations under seismic actions

International audienceAlthough inclined pile foundations are sometimes used in civil engineering structures, their behavior under seismic loadings is not yet thoroughly understood. This paper presents an experimental work on inclined pile foundations under earthquake loadings. Dynamic centrifuge tests are performed to investigate the influence of inclined piles on the superstructures and to quantify the soil-structure interaction. Some key parameters are analyzed such as the residual bending moment, the total bending moment and the axial forces. It is found that in certain cases inclination plays a beneficial role to the seismic behavior of the pile foundation system and that the presence of inclined piles increases its natural frequency. Comparing to a vertical pile foundation, the residual bending moment envelope curve is different and larger values are observed. This novel experimental work provides significant data to understand the behavior of inclined pile foundations in seismic regions