Response of monopiles under cyclic lateral loading in sand

Currently the main design guidelines propose to reduce the lateral resistance of offshore piles when accounting for cyclic loading. The present work provides results from laboratory tests in which such reduction has not occurred. The experimental investigation is based on testing a small-scale monopile model in dense saturated sand. The experimental setup used to carry out the laboratory tests is able to apply thousands of load cycles and static loading to the monopile model. The purpose of the laboratory tests is to investigate the effects of cyclic loading on the lateral resistance of the monopile. It is shown that the soil-pile system becomes stiffer and more resistant after applying cyclic loading, depending on the number of cycles.