CPT-based p-y analysis for mono-piles in sands under static and cyclic loading conditions

In the present study, a CPT-based p-y analysis method was proposed for offshore mono-piles embedded in sands. Static and cyclic loading conditions were both taken into account for the proposed method. The continuous soil profiling capability of CPT was an important consideration for the proposed method, where detailed soil profile condition with depth can be readily incorporated into the analysis. The hyperbolic function was adopted to describe the non-linear p-y curves. For the proposed hyperbolic p-y relationship, the ultimate lateral soil resistance p_u was given as a function of the cone resistance, which is directly introduced into the analysis as an input data. For cyclic loading condition, two different cyclic modification factors were considered and compared. Case examples were selected to check the validity of the proposed CPT-based method. Calculated lateral displacements and bending moments from the proposed method were in good agreement with measured results for lateral displacement and bending moment profiles. It was observed the accuracy of calculated results for the conventional approach was largely dependent on the selection of friction angle that is to be adopted into the analysis.