Monotonic and cyclic lateral behaviour of helical pile specialized connectors

The helical pile is a foundation system used to support new residential and commercial buildings, and to stabilize repairs of existing structures. It also represents an attractive alternative to upgrade the seismic resistance of existing foundations. This paper is part of a comprehensive study to assess the seismic performance of foundations supported by helical piles. The paper presents an experimental study conducted to evaluate the seismic performance of the specialized connectors, linking the pile shaft to the concrete foundation, in the lateral direction. The paper also presents a simplified model that can be used to account for the connector behaviour while conducting seismic analysis of structures supported by helical piles.