Model Tests on Lateral Bearing Behaviors of Cone-shaped Hollow Flexible Reinforced Concrete Foundation in Coarse Sand under Monotonic Lateral Load

With the rapid increase in installed onshore wind turbine capacity, greater lateral bearing capacity of foundations is required. The cone-shaped hollow flexible reinforced concrete foundation (CHFRF) is proposed. Model tests and numerical simulations are conducted to investigate the lateral bearing behavior of the CHFRF in coarse sand. The results indicate that the lateral bearing capacity of CHFRF increases with the aspect ratio and decreases with loading eccentricity. Compared with a circular foundation with the same height, the CHFRF with a diameter of 400 mm exhibits an average increase of 17.6% in lateral bearing capacity while using only 65% of the concrete volume. The rotation center is located at 0.5–0.65 times the foundation height. Based on the earth pressure distribution at the limit state and the limit equilibrium method, a theoretical approach for predicting the CHFRF lateral bearing capacity is proposed.