A numerical study into lateral cyclic nonlinear soil-pile response

Pile foundations are generally designed to resist both axial and lateral loads. Under lateral cyclic loading, the response of the pile foundation is affected by factors such as soil and pile yielding, gapping, and soil cave-in. These factors directly influence the effective lateral stiffness and strength of the foundation and can govern the design. In this paper, two case studies of single piles, one in clay and one in sand, are used to examine the influence of the aforementioned factors on nonlinear cyclic response of piles. The numerical study is conducted using a recently developed beam on a nonlinear Winkler foundation (BNWF) model. The results of the study point to the important role soil cave-in and recompression play in the cyclic soil-pile response, and elucidate how this could particularly be beneficial to piles that develop plastic hinges below ground level.