Abstract: In order to explore the lateral bearing characteristic of single energy piles, the bearing behavior of energy piles subjected to lateral load in sand is studied. Based on model tests, the pile top displacement, the soil pressure in front of the pile, and the bending moment during cooling and heating of the energy pile subjected to lateral load are analyzed. The results show that cooling process will slightly increase the pile top lateral displacement by 0.48%D (D is the pile diameter). The heating process will also significantly increase the pile top lateral displacement, and the increment reaches 2.38%D. In the initial stage cooling and heating, the soil pressure in front of the pile will increase, and after the initial stage, the change of pressure is small with slow or no increment. The horizontal soil pressure increases generally after cooling and heating, and the pressure decrease is observed only at a few points. After cooling, the pile bending moment at the depth of 0%L ~ 40%L (L is the effective pile length) will increase, while the bending moment at the depth of 40%L ~ 100%L will have less change. During heating, the bending moment at the depth of 0%L ~ 60%L will increase significantly, and the bending moment at the depth of 0%L ~ 40%L has the most obvious increase. The maximum bending moments during heating and cooling are both produced at the depth of 20%L, and the increment reaches 9.93% and 10.32% respectively. Based on the cavity expansion theory, the theoretical solution of the bending moment is proposed. Compared with the experimental results, the calculated values are in good agreement with the measured values.