Experimental p‐y Model for Submerged, Stiff Clay

Abstract

A series of full‐scale, cyclic, lateral load tests on instrumented piles of varying diameter at a test site in submerged, overconsolidated clay is described. A p‐y model is derived from the tests that defines the effect of pile diameter, relative pile‐soil stiffness, and number of load cycles on the unit load‐deflection relationship for soil of the type encountered at the test site. The model is particularly well‐suited to large‐diameter piles. It reflects observations that there is a threshold deflection below which cyclic soil degradation does not occur and the consequences of the fact that degradation was primarily caused by gap formation, intensified by hydraulic scour. Rest periods between loading events did not result in recovery of soil resistance and in fact appeared to produce further degradation through swelling.