The High-Cycle Accumulation framework is modified and coupled with a practice-oriented cyclic sand constitutive model and implemented in a geotechnical finite element
software to test the approach’s ability to predict the outcomes of monotonic and cyclic lateral loading field tests performed in Dunkirk, France, under the Pile-Soil Analysis (PISA) Joint Industry Project. A consistent and rational calibration procedure using only site-specific in-situ investigation and laboratory tests is presented and a single set of calibrated parameters is shown to reproduce Dunkirk sand’s response in monotonic, drained cyclic and undrained cyclic triaxial element tests up to 10,000 cycles, covering a
wide range of densities and stress conditions. The finite element analyses are shown to match well the monotonic lateral loading responses of fully instrumented 2m and 0.76m diameter open steel driven test piles and the latter’s cyclic lateral response up to 30,000 cycles. New insights into the evolution of the ground state under long-term lateral cyclic loading are gained to inform future research into practical site-specific methods for cyclic loading design over the full lifespan of piled foundations.