Offshore wind turbines (OWTs) are subjected to prolonged external loading, including loads induced by wave action. The soil undergoes bi-directional coupled shear, due to this low-frequency and long-duration loading, the cumulative deformation of the offshore foundation is observed to increase, which poses a threat to the functional reliability of the offshore wind turbines. The soil around the piles is distributed with clay layers. Due to the complex mechanical properties of clay, bi-directional cyclic loading tests are performed to research the drainageinduced deformation characteristics of clays in this paper. Based on these test results, the variation of hysteresis loops of stress-strain, resilient modulus, and the cumulative strain are found to exhibit a strong correlation with both the cyclic stress level and the confining pressure. The stress-strain hysteresis loops and resilient modulus have significantly different trends at higher or lower cyclic stress levels. Then an empirical model that uniformly reflects the strain-hardening and softening characteristics, and an empirical model reflects the characteristics of cumulative strain development in soils is established. Finally, the performance of the permanent cumulative strain prediction model is assessed based on the in-situ test findings from the clay foundation.

A dynamic triaxial test was conducted to assess the deformation characteristics of sodium silicate modified EPS (expanded polystyrene) particle lightweight soil (SCS) under cyclical loading. The hysteresis curves, dynamic elastic modulus, damping ratio, and cumulative strain were obtained for SCS samples with varying EPS particle content. We found that the samples' stress-strain hysteresis curves, became crescent-shaped for different dynamic stress situations, and were largely elastic in the latter phases. Furthermore, there was a progression from dense to sparse as EPS content increased. With increasing dynamic stress, the dynamic elastic modulus and damping ratio of SCS also rose. The damping ratio of SCS rose as the EPS particle content increased, whereas the dynamic elastic modulus decreased. Notably, increases in the PS particle content and dynamic stress largen the deformation of the SCS samples. Moreover, we found that when the cumulative strain curve becomes stable, varying the contents of EPS particles under different dynamic stresses leads to a power function relationship with the logarithm of the number of cyclic loading cycles. In cases where the cumulative strain curve reaches a critical or destruction point, the cumulative damage variable displays a power function relationship with the vibration count.

Embankments and foundation geotechnical structures are frequently subjected to long-term cyclic loading due to traffic during their service life. Excessive cumulative deformation can lead to pavement cracking and uneven settlement of the subgrade. This study conducts a series of dynamic triaxial tests to analyze the effects of the number of cycles (N), effective confining pressure (sigma(c)), and dynamic stress amplitude (sigma(d)) on the axial cumulative strain (epsilon(d)) characteristics of solidified mud samples. Additionally, it investigates the evolution model of epsilon(d) of solidified mud and establishes a predictive model for this strain. In conjunction with the NMR tests, this research further investigates the effects of sigma(c) and sigma(d) on the pore distribution of solidified mud after loading. Ultimately, the correlation between microscopic pore structure indicators and epsilon(d) is elucidated. The results indicate that the epsilon(d) behavior of solidified mud under cyclic loading exhibits characteristics of plastic shakedown. Furthermore, the exponential hyperbolic function model more accurately characterizes the relationship between epsilon(d) of the samples and N. Before and after cyclic loading, the micropores of the samples accounted for over 95 % of the total pore volume, predominantly concentrated in the radius range of r < 0.3 mu m. A correlation exists between the average pore size of the sample and epsilon(d), which is primarily influenced by sigma(d) and sigma(c).

Accurate evaluation of cumulative strains in marine soils under long-term cyclic loading is essential for the design and safe operation of offshore wind turbines. This study proposes an enhanced machine learning model to predict the cumulative strain in marine soils subjected to cyclic loading. Cumulative strains of marine soils from five offshore wind farms under long-term cyclic loading were tested. Four prediction models for cumulative strains were developed and evaluated based on test results using the Back Propagation Neural Network (BP-NN), Random Forest (RF), Support Vector Regression (SVR), and eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) models, each combined with the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm. The prediction model with the highest accuracy was further analyzed using the SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) method. Results show that the RF and XGBoost algorithms have higher prediction accuracy, with R2 values above 0.99, compared to the BP-NN and SVR models. Furthermore, dynamic triaxial test parameters significantly influence the cumulative strain predictions more than the soil properties. This study provides a more efficient method for cumulative strain assessment of marine soils under long-term cyclic loading.

Red mudstone is a problematic soil that is easily subjected to weathering, disintegrating, and swelling. In this study, a series of large-scale cyclic triaxial tests were performed to investigate the cumulative deformation behavior of red mudstone clay mixed with weathered red mudstone gravel as an improved coarse-grained red mudstone soil (IRMS). The influences of compaction moisture content and confining pressure were investigated. The cyclic loading was applied from 25 to 225 kPa with an increment of 25 kPa and 1,000 or 2,000 cycles for each stage at a frequency of 2 Hz. The experimental results indicate that the strains at the onset of failure are approximately 1% for the optimal moisture content (OMC) with the number of cycles N = 14,000-16,000, and the strains are approximately 1% for the moisture content 2% dry of OMC with N = 12,000-14,000, while the strains exceed 10% for the moisture content 2% wet of OMC with N = 3,000-4,000. The cumulative strain decreases with increasing confining pressure from 20 to 50 kPa, but the influence becomes more significant under higher dynamic stress. A prediction model is proposed for the evolution of cumulative strain under cyclic loading. The IRMS could be used as a construction material for railway subgrade with proper control of field compaction moisture content.

The deformation behavior of coarse-grained soil under large cyclic stresses, such as those induced by strong earthquakes, has received limited attention. This study aims to investigate the cyclic accumulation behaviors and hysteresis loops of coarse-grained soil during drained cyclic triaxial tests, spanning a range from small to large cyclic stresses. The cyclic triaxial tests were primarily conducted under anisotropic consolidation conditions, with an axial-to-radial stress ratio of 2.0, confining pressures ranging from 100 to 500 kPa, and cyclic stresses varying from 0.01 to 1.85 times the confining pressure. Additionally, cyclic triaxial tests under isotropic consolidation conditions and constant mean stress conditions were performed for comparison and validation. The test results reveal that the properties of the hysteresis loops exhibit significant nonlinear behavior as cyclic stress increases, particularly concerning their shape, symmetry, degree of closure, and initial tangent modulus of elasticity. The cumulative axial strain displays three stages: strain increases slightly and gently at small cyclic stress, increases rapidly and substantially at medium cyclic stress, and decreases at large cyclic stress. The delineation of these phases is largely governed by the behaviors observed during the first cycle. Moreover, the cumulative volumetric strain increases monotonically with the increase of cyclic stress, with a more rapid increase at large cyclic stress. This study provides valuable insights into the cyclic deformation and constitutive modeling of coarse-grained soil under significant cyclic stress.

Clay, as the most common soil used for foundation fill, is widely used in various infrastructure projects. The physical and mechanical properties of clay are influenced by the pore solution environment. This study uses a GDS static/dynamic triaxial apparatus and nuclear magnetic resonance experiments to investigate the effects of cyclic loading on clay foundations. Moreover, the development of cumulative strain in clay is analyzed, and a fitting model for cumulative plastic strain is introduced by considering factors such as NaCl solution concentration, consolidation stress ratio, and cycle number. In particular, the effects of the NaCl solution concentration and consolidation stress ratio on the pore distribution of the test samples before and after cyclic loading are examined, and the relationship between microscopic pore size and macroscopic cumulative strain is obtained accordingly. Our results show that as the consolidation stress ratio grows, an increasing number of large pores in the soil samples are transformed into small pores. As the NaCl solution concentration becomes higher, the number of small pores gradually decreases, while the number of large pores remains unchanged. Cyclic loading causes the disappearance of the large pores in the samples, and the average pore size before cyclic loading is positively correlated with the axial cumulative strain after cyclic loading. The cumulative strain produced by the soil under cyclic loading is inversely proportional to the NaCl solution concentration and consolidation stress ratio.