Capacity of a multi-compartment single-bucket breakwater structure in silt-over-clay under combined V-H-M loading

Abstract

Foundations are subjected to combined vertical-horizontal-moment (V-H-M) loadings during operation, and no investigations have been carried out for multicompartment single-bucket structures under combined loadings. Based on the actual stratum distribution of Xu Wei port in Lianyungang, a series of finite element analyses were performed through the finite element software ABAQUS to explore the influence of silt layer thickness, silt strength non-homogeneity and foundation embedment depth on the structural bearing capacity, and the bearing capacity of the structure under combined loading was systematically analyzed. The results suggested that the uniaxial capacity of the structure showed an evident trend with the above parameters. The normalized failure envelopes were not affected by the silt strength non-homogeneity index and were influenced to some extent by the silt layer thickness for a given embedment depth. The normalized V-H and V-M failure envelopes shrank inward, while the normalized H-M failure envelopes tended from negative eccentricity to positive eccentricity with an increasing embedment depth. On this basis, formulas for predicting the uniaxial capacity and the failure envelopes as a function of the overlying silt layer thickness, silt strength non-homogeneity and embedment depth were proposed to provide a reference for its design.