Chapter 8: Scour effects on p–y curves for shallowly embedded piles in sand

Piles have been used widely for the foundations of offshore structures. The lateral response is commonly evaluated using a load transfer approach, with ‘p–y’ curves quantifying the non-linear interaction between the pile and the surrounding soil. The p–y curves idealise the soil as a series of independent springs distributed along the pile length, with each spring describing the non-linear relationship between the lateral soil resistance (p) and the lateral deflection of the pile (y). Various formulations for p–y curves have been developed for sands, for example Reese et al. (1974) and O’Neill & Murchison (1983), which form the basis of the widely used API method (API, 2011), and a recent approach based on cone penetration data (Suryasentana & Lehane, 2014).