Uplift Behavior of Pile Anchors Subjected to Lateral Cyclic Loading

There are many onshore and offshore situations where the lateral cyclic loading may affect both the pullout and lateral capacity of pile anchors. In this paper, an attempt has been made to study the effect of lateral cyclic loading on pullout capacity of rigid piles in clayey soil through an experimental investigation carried out on model piles. It is found that the reduction in the pullout capacity depends upon lateral deflection of the pile during cyclic loading and on its $L/d$ value. However, if the ratio of lateral cyclic load/static lateral capacity is kept below a value of 0.3–0.4, the lateral deflection of the pile will be less than 0.025 diameters to 0.03 diameters and hence, there will be no reduction in capacity.