A modified p-y model considering local scour effects for monopile foundations in soft clays

In offshore wind power projects, large-diameter monopiles are subjected to scour resulting in reduced horizontal bearing capacity. Analytical p-y models are widely used to calculate the horizontal bearing capacity of monopiles. However, traditional p-y models for soft clays do not consider the effect of pile diameter on the horizontal bearing capacity of large-diameter monopiles subjected to local scour. In this study, well-calibrated three-dimensional finite element numerical models are used to modify the traditional p-y model for soft clays considering local scour. A p-y model suitable for analyzing the horizontally loaded large-diameter monopile foundations subjected to local scour in soft clays is proposed. The proposed p-y model and the traditional p-y model are compared with the finite element calculation results for horizontally loaded large-diameter monopile foundations in soft clays. The results show that the proposed p-y model performs better than the traditional p-y model in predicting the horizontal bearing capacity of large-diameter monopile foundations in soft clays under local scour conditions.