Generalization of an Evaluation Formula for Bearing Pressures on the Rubble Mound of Gravity-Based Harbor Structures

Abstract

In this study, the bearing pressure on the rubble mound of a gravity-based harbor structure with an arbitrarily shaped bottom was targeted. Assuming that the bottom of the structure is a rigid body, the rubble mound was modeled as a linear spring uniformly distributed on the bottom that resists compression only, and the bearing pressure evaluation formula was derived. It was confirmed that there were no errors in the derivation process by showing that when the bottom was square, the derived equation was converted to the equation used in the design. In addition, the validity of the derived equation was proven by examining the behavior and convergence value of the bearing pressure when an arbitrarily shaped bottom converges into a square one. In order to examine the adequacy of the method used in the current design, the end bearing pressure for the pre-designed breakwater cross-section was calculated and compared with the values in the design document. As a result, it was shown that the method used for design was not appropriate as it gave unsafe results. In particular, the difference was larger when the eccentricity of the vertical load was large, such as in the case of extreme design conditions.