Experimental and Theoretical Study of One-Way Cyclic Lateral Responses of Piles in Sloping Ground

This study aims to investigate the one-way cyclic lateral responses of piles in sloping ground by means of experimental and theoretical analyses. For this purpose, a series of laboratory model experiments were performed for different cases of cycle number, load amplitude, and slope angle, and lateral static loading tests on both level ground and sloping ground were conducted for comparison. Based on these experimental observations, the effects of cycle number, load amplitude, and slope angle on the pile head deflection and the profiles of bending moment and subgrade reaction are discussed. The pile deflection profile is difficult to measure directly owing to the restriction of experimental conditions, and thus a supplementary finite beam element method (FBEM) is provided to compensate for this deficiency. The comparisons between experimental and theoretical results demonstrate that the FBEM can well predict the pile responses in sloping ground, either under one-way cyclic lateral loading or lateral static loading.