Quantifying the increase in lateral capacity of monopiles in sand due to cyclic loading

Abstract

The contribution of this paper is a simple method to predict the higher moment capacity of a monopile in dense silica sand after drained cyclic loading. The method accounts for the effect of cyclic load magnitude, symmetry and number of cycles, and is calibrated against a series of single gravity and centrifuge tests. The agreement between the model test data and the predictions is typically within 2%. Application of the method shows that the moment capacity of a monopile in dense sand, for the conditions tested here, is up to 36% higher after cycling. This contrasts with a 10% reduction that would be predicted using the existing industry standard p–y approach for cyclic loading in sand.