Dynamic performance of a full-scale micropile group: Relevance of nonlinear behaviour of the soil adjacent to micropiles

An extensive experimental in-situ campaign of dynamic tests carried out on a full-scale 2 x 2 group of inclined injected micropiles in alluvial soils is described in this paper. The campaign includes ambient vibration and impact load tests to investigate the dynamic behaviour of the soil-micropile system in the small strain range, and forced vibration tests to investigate the performance of the system in the nonlinear field. Accelerometers and geophones are adopted to acquire the dynamic response on the cap and the soil nerby the cap, while strain gauges are installed along the shaft of one micropile to capture the local curvatures and deflections. The influence of the micropile inclination on the translational and rotational behaviour of the group is evaluated. Moreover, the evolution of degradation phenomena such as the gap opening and slippage at the soil-micropile interface and the radial cracking of soil surrounding micropiles, are recognized, critically commenting the relevant effects on the fundamental frequencies and damping ratios of the system.