ABSTRACT
Pile foundations in soft ground will usually be subjected to a lateral cyclic loading during an earthquake. In a major earthquake it is reasonable to assume that the mechanical behaviour of the pile foundation and the surrounding ground is non-linear. In recent years the limit state design method has become predominant in the design of foundations of bridges and other structures. The investigation on the mechanical behaviour of pile foundations subjected to lateral cyclic loading is therefore very important to validate the design methods. In this paper, field test of a pile foundation subjected to a cyclic lateral load up to the ultimate state is simulated with 3-D elastoplastic finite element analysis incorporating tij model. The purpose of the paper is to provide a numerical method for evaluating the mechanical behaviour of pile foundation subjected to cyclic lateral loads.
