An Experimental Comparison of Horizontal Resistance of Single Suction Pile and Group Suction Piles

In this study, a new type of suction pile foundation for floating structures, namely group suction piles, was proposed to improve the shortcomings of conventional single suction piles. Small-scale model tests were performed to estimate the horizontal behavior of single suction piles and group suction piles with different pile spacing (2, 3 and 4 times the pile diameter). The horizontal behavior of group suction piles with different pile spacing was analyzed for various loading locations based on the model tests. For the given group pile configurations (a group pile having 9 component piles with a pile formation of 3 × 3), the horizontal resistance increased with increasing pile spacing. The maximum ultimate horizontal resistances were found at the loading locations of 50% of the embedded depth. Unlikely in the single suction pile case, the significantly maintained residual resistances were found for group suction piles. The residual resistances of group suction piles were at least higher than 40% of the corresponding ultimate horizontal resistances.