Model tests on characteristics of ocean and offshore elevated piles with large lateral deflection

Large-scale model tests on large lateral deflection of a single elevated pile are carried out using the Large Foundation and Slope Engineering Simulation System of Zhejiang University, and the lateral displacement and moment of the pile shaft at different depths for each pile are studied. Through establishing relationships among the lateral displacement, the moment of the pile shaft and the soil reaction force based on the test results, the characteristics of p–y curves at different depths are studied. It is found that the p–y curves of the traditional Reese method and API method have the relatively larger initial stiffness but smaller ultimate soil-pile interaction compared with the test results. By fitting the test soil reaction force, a hyperbolic p–y curve to compute large lateral displacement of the elevated pile is presented.