Geotechnical criteria for serviceability limit state of horizontally loaded deep foundations

This paper presents a first approximation of the elastic limit displacement of soilresistance to horizontally loaded piles. 37 field test data sets were consistently chosen froma vast database. Both mathematical and graphical approaches were adopted to interpret theelastic limit of soil resistance from the measured load-displacement curve. The data setsindicate that the mean value of the elastic limit displacement is 5% to 6% of the pilediameter, and its coefficient of variation is approximately 40% to 60%. A design horizontalthreshold displacement can be also proposed as 2% to 4% of the pile diameter, consideringthe variation in elastic limit displacement.