Abstract
A series of 3D finite element (FE) analyses were performed to estimate the peak penetration resistance of spudcan foundations in sand over clay soil profiles. Elasto-perfectly plastic models following Mohr–Coulomb and Tresca failure criteria were used for sand and clay layers, respectively. The coupled Eulerian–Lagrangian (CEL) approach was used to simulate the large deformation in soil that occurs during the spudcan penetration. The performance of the numerical model was validated against centrifuge test results. A parametric study with a broad range of strength parameters for sand and clay was performed. The numerical results were used to assess the influence of sand thickness (Hs), the diameter of spudcan (D), friction angle of sand, and undrained shear strength of clay (su). A wide range of su was utilized to predict the resistance both of the soft and stiff clays. The calculated peak resistances are compared with a published analytical model. It is demonstrated that the model highly overestimates the peak resistance for stiff clays, most likely because it was developed specifically for soft clays and, therefore, does not account for the influence of su. One of the parameters of the model is revised to account both for su. Comparisons highlight that the modified model is able to capture the simulated peak penetration resistance for both soft and stiff clays.
Highlights
Spudcan foundations are widely used to support jack-up barges, which are widely used for offshore construction
Shu et al [19] performed random field finite element (FE) analyses for probabilistic evaluation of bearing capacity of spudcan foundations embedded at various depths
Comparisons show that an increase in su produces corresponding penetration depth, because the results demonstrated that in stiff clays, the peak resistance does not always develop at a depth of 0.12 Hs as reported in Hu et al [12]
Summary
Spudcan foundations are widely used to support jack-up barges, which are widely used for offshore construction. Okamura et al [7,8] performed the centrifuge experiments to measure the bearing capacity of shallow foundations on dense sand overlying clay. Centrifuge model tests have been extensively performed to investigate the peak penetration resistance (qpeak ) of spudcan foundations. Chwała and Puła [18] conducted analyses for probabilistic prediction of bearing capacity of shallow foundations on homogenous sand overlying spatially variable clay soil. Shu et al [19] performed random field FE analyses for probabilistic evaluation of bearing capacity of spudcan foundations embedded at various depths. Qpeak of spudcan foundations in sand overlying a soft to stiff clay layer was calculated using three-dimensional (3D) finite element analyses incorporating the CEL approach. The enhancement in the prediction accuracy is thoroughly investigated through comparisons with the baseline simulations
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