Deep Penetration of Spudcan Foundation into Double Layered Soils

The spudcan foundation has been widely used in offshore engineering for jack-up rigs. However, “punch through' failure often occurs where a stronger soil layer overlays a softer soil layer. In this study, spudcan penetration into double layered soils is investigated numerically. The soil profile is set up as a stronger soil layer overlaying a softer soil layer, with the soil strength ratio (bottom soil strength / top soil strength) varied from 0.1 to 1.0 (1 means uniform soil). The bearing behaviour is discussed and the bearing capacity factors are given for various cases involving different layer thicknesses and different strength ratios of the two clay layers. The development of the plastic zones and the effect of soil self-weight on the bearing capacity are also discussed. From this study, it is found that, when a spudcan is distant from the soil layer boundary, the spudcan can be analysed with single soil layer data. However, when a spudcan becomes closer to the soil boundary layer, the influence of the lower soft soil layer is significant, and the bearing capacity of the spudcan decreases. The critical distance is an indication of the occurrence of “punch through' failure. The critical distance between the spudcan and the layer boundary is larger for a rough spudcan than the one for a smooth one, and the critical distance decreases with increasing soil strength ratio. The depth of cavity formed during initial spudcan penetration depends on the top layer soil strength, soil strength ratio and unit soil self-weight, and the cavity affects the spudcan bearing behaviour as well.

Bearing Capacity and Critical Punch-Through Depth of Spudcan on Sand Overlying Clay

Spudcan may experience punch-through failure on strong over weak layered soils, such as sand overlying clay. A large deformation finite element method （LDFE） is used to simulate the penetration process of spudcan into sand overlying clay. The sand is simulated by smoothed hyperbolic Mohr-Coulomb model, and the clay is simulated by a simple elasto-plastic model which obeys Tresca yield criterion. According to the LDFE results of a large amount of cases, the effects of the strength, unit weight and thickness of the top sand layer, as well as the effect of the strength of the underlying clay on the spudcan punch-through behavior, are investigated. The critical depth occurring punch-through and the critical bearing capacity are presented in charts. Fitting equations to calculate the critical punch-through depth and the critical bearing capacity are proposed for the convenience of engineering practice.

Undrained Bearing Capacity of Spudcan Under Combined Loading

The bearing capacities of spudcan foundation under pure vertical （/1）, horizontal （H）, moment （M） loading and the combined loading are studied based on a series of three-dimensional finite element analysis. The effects of embedment ratio and soil non-homogeneity on the bearing capacity are investigated in detail. The capacities of spudcan under different pure loading are expressed in non-dimensional bearing capacity factors, which are compared with published results. Ultimate limit states under combined loading are presented by failure envelopes, which are expressed in terms of dimensionless and normalized form in three-dimensional load space. The comparison between the presented failure envelopes and available published numerical results reveals that the size and shape of failure envelopes are dependent on the embedment ratio and the non-homogeneity of the soil.

Design of A Bionic Spudcan and Analysis of Penetration and Extraction Performances for Jack-up Platform

The mechanisms of soil structure interaction have drawn much attention in the past years in the installation and operation of jack-up platform. A bionic spudcan produced by biomimetic of egg and snail shell is proposed, and the performance of the penetration and extraction are analyzed by numerical method. The geometric contour of egg and snail shell is measured, and its mathematical model is established respectively. According to the structure of existing spudcan of jack-up platform, three kinds of typical biomimetic spudcan are designed. Furthermore, numerical analysis models of biomimetic spudcan are established respectively to study the soil structure interaction mechanism in the process of penetration and extraction, and contrastive analysis of resistance characteristics are carried out. To conclude, the results show that the biomimetic spudcan facilitates the platform installation, and it is also beneficial to the improvement of the bearing capacity of spudcan.

Analysis of spudcan-footprint interaction in a single soil with nonlinear FEM

The footprints that remain on the seabed after offshore jack-up platforms completed operations and moved out provide a significant risk for any futurej ack-up installation at that site. Detrimental horizontal and/or rotational loads will be induced on the base cone of the jack-up platform leg （spudcan） in the preloading process where only vertical loads are normally expected. However, there are no specific guidelines on design of spudcan re-installation very close to or partially overlapping existing footprints. This paper presents a rational design approach for assessing spudcan-footprint interaction and the failure process of foundation in a single layer based on nonlinear finite element method. The rela- tionship between the distance between the spudcan and the footprint and the horizontal sliding force has been obtained. Comparisons of simulation and experimental results show that the model in this paper can deal well with the combined problems of sliding friction contact, fluid-solid coupling, and convergence difficulty. The analytical results may be useful to jack-up installation workovers close to existing footprints.

Spudcan Penetration Simulation Using the Coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian Method with Thermo-Mechanical Coupled Analysis

A novel modeling technique based on the coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian(CEL) method is provided to solve the geotechnical problems with large deformations. The technique is intended to solve the update problem of soil mechanical properties during spudcan penetration in normally consolidated clay soil. In the CEL model, the normal method of assigning an increasing shear strength profile with depth(NA) is defective due to its Eulerian framework. In this paper, a new technique is proposed to update soil material properties by introducing thermo-mechanical coupled analysis(TMCA) to the CEL models. During establishment of the CEL models, the optimal penetration velocity and minimum mesh size are determined through parametric studies. Reasonability and accuracy are then verified through comparison of the preliminary results with the soil flow configuration and penetration resistance(Fv) of a centrifuge test, and the results of the proposed method are compared with those of the remeshing and interpolation technique with small strain(RITSS) method. To achieve a CEL model with satisfactory accuracy, the NA and TMCA methods implemented in the CEL models and the RITSS method are first adopted in weightless soil. Comparison of the findings with those obtained in previous studies shows that the TMCA method can update material properties and predict Fv. The TMCA method is then applied to soils with self-weight and different shear strength profiles. Results show that the proposed method is capable of accurately modeling the large deformation problem of spudcan penetration in non-homogeneous clay.

Prediction Methods of Spudcan Penetration for Jack-up Units

Jack-up units are extensively playing a successful role in drilling engineering around the world, and their safety and efficiency take more and more attraction in both research and engineering practice. An accurate prediction of the spudcan penetration depth is quite instrumental in deciding on whether a jack-up unit is feasible to operate at the site. The prediction of a too large penetration depth may lead to the hesitation or even rejection of a site due to potential difficulties in the subsequent extraction process; the same is true of a too small depth prediction due to the problem of possible instability during operation. However, a deviation between predictive results and final field data usually exists, especially when a strong-over-soft soil is included in the strata. The ultimate decision sometimes to a great extent depends on the practical experience, not the predictive results given by the guideline. It is somewhat risky, but no choice. Therefore, a feasible predictive method for the spudcan penetration depth, especially in strata with strong-over-soft soil profile, is urgently needed by the jack-up industry. In view of this, a comprehensive investigation on methods of predicting spudcan penetration is executed. For types of different soil profiles, predictive methods for spudcan penetration depth are proposed, and the corresponding experiment is also conducted to validate these methods. In addition, to further verify the feasibility of the proposed methods, a practical engineering case encountered in the South China Sea is also presented, and the corresponding numerical and experimental results are also presented and discussed.

Influence of the Spudcan Angle on the Ultimate Bearing Capacity of Jack-up Platform

Jack-up platforms of the Ocean engineering structures always withstand the vertical gravity loads which are applied to the seabed by spudcan, so it is important to determine the bearing capacity and the penetration depth of the spudcan for its geometry. In fact, it is up to the deformation law and the failure modes of soil surrounding the spudcan which can calculate the ultimate bearing capacity of the spudcan foundation on the soil seabed. By using the finite element analysis software Abaqus, the deformation law of soil around the spudcan is analyzed in detail, and the failure modes of soil surrounding the spudcan foundation are achieved. At the same time, based on the limit equilibrium theory, by use of static permissible slip-line field, the ultimate bearing capacity of the spudcan foundation is analyzed and the lower limit solution is derived theoretically, and the effect of the spudcan angle on the ultimate bearing capacity is investigated. The numerical results are compared with those obtained by the theoretical formulas deduced in this paper. On the basis of the lower limit solutions in this paper, the effect of the spudcan angle on the ultimate bearing capacity is revealed, and a practical bearing capacity formula is given to take the effect of the spudcan angle into consideration.

Failure mechanisms of a spudcan penetrating next to an existing footprint

Reinstallation of mobile jack-up rigs next to existing footprints is a problematic operation because the spudcan located near the footprints is subjected to eccentric and/or inclined loading conditions. Geotech- nical centrifuge studies have measured these loads for combinations of changing footprint geometry, footprint soil properties and the offset of the reinstallation from the footprint centre. These tests have been of full model spudcans in order to accurately measure the combined loads developed. They have not provided information on the mechanisms of failure occurring during this complex installation. Ob- servations from a visualisation test, where a half spudcan is penetrated against a transparent window in a geotechnical centrifuge, are reported in this paper. The mechanisms of failure at different stages during the nenetrntirm are nr^nted

Combined Bearing Capacity of Spudcans on a Double Layer Deposit of Strong-Over-Weak Clays

An extreme sea storm process can lead to a jack-up rig under the combined loading condition of vertical load(V), horizontal load(H), and moment(M) to have stability problems. This paper presents the analysis of combined bearing capacities of a circular spudcan on layered clays with a strong layer overlying a comparatively weaker layer. Numerical models combined with displacement-based load tests, swipe tests, and constant ratio displacement probe tests are adopted to calculate the uniaxial bearing capacities, failure envelopes in combined V-H, V-M planes, and failure envelopes in a combined V-H-M load space, respectively. A parametric study on the effects of vertical load level V, the layer strength ratio s_(u,t)/s_(u,b), and the hard layer thickness t_1 on the bearing capacities is then performed. Results show that the vertical load level is a key factor that influences the values of H and M and the size of the H-M failure envelope. The existence of the underlying weak clay decreases the bearing capacities in all directions, and the vertical capacity Vult is affected more than the horizontal(H_(ult)) and moment(M_(ult)) capacities based on a single uniform deposit. The influence of the underlying weak clay on H-M failure envelope is mainly shown where H and M are coupled in the same direction. In contrast, little difference is observed when H and M are coupled in opposite directions.

Study of Spudcan Reinstallation Near Existing Footprint in Soft Clay

Spudcan extraction leaves a footprint and disturbed soil surrounding the footprint,which introduces uncertainty and complexity in the spudcan−footprint interaction during spudcan reinstallation.This paper reports large deformation from finite element results of spudcan reinstallation near the footprint considering the effect of soil disturbance.Three stages are proposed based on the failure mechanisms of a spudcan reinstalled in disturbed soil and undisturbed soil.Besides,the effects of soil disturbance on the position of the maximum horizontal force and moment are discussed.It could be found that the critical offset distance in the disturbed case is larger than that in the undisturbed case.In addition,the maximum horizontal force and moment occur at different depths in the disturbed case and undisturbed case.A critical area is proposed based on the analyses,which could be useful for determining the position of the maximum horizontal force and moment in practical design.

Collision Analysis Between Spudcan and Seabed During the Process of Jack-up Platform Lowering Jack-up Legs

In the leg-lowering process,the offshore jack-up platform is in a floating state,and the spudcan may collide with the seabed due to the platform motion in waves,thereby threatening the safety and stability of the platform.This paper first analyzed the hydrodynamic response of a jack-up platform under different sea states.Then a finite-element model was established which considered the material and geometrical nonlinearity in the structure and the nonlinear interaction between soil and structure to investigate the collision response between the spudcan and seabed during lowering jack-up legs.The results show that the dynamic response of the platform decreases and gradually tends to be stable as the wave period increases.The motion response of the platform reach the largest value when the wave period is 8 s and the wave direction is 0°.The collision angle between the spudcan and seabed has a large influence on the collision response,while the velocity of leg-lowering has little influence on the collision response.The collision response is also significantly affected by soil conditions.For clay,the increase in undrained shear strength and Young’s modulus will increase the impact force.

砂土中桩靴插桩对临近筒型基础的影响研究

通过物理模型试验和有限元法研究砂土中风电安装船桩靴插桩对临近筒型基础的影响。首先通过物理模型试验,验证有限元模型的合理性,初步确定桩靴在砂土中贯入的影响范围大致在2.5倍桩靴直径。基于有限元CEL方法进一步研究桩靴和筒型基础的净距与桩靴直径之比(S/D)对筒型基础在位稳定性的影响。结果表明:筒型基础的倾斜率、最大竖向位移以及筒壁应力随着S/D的增大而逐渐减小,插桩过程中,靠近桩靴一侧的筒裙和分舱板应力远大于远离桩靴一侧的筒型基础应力,且筒顶的土压力远小于筒底土压力。

自升式钻井平台插拔桩对邻近平台变形和桩靴承载力的影响研究

自升式钻井平台桩靴插拔过程会扰动周边土体,使邻近平台桩靴基础的承载性能受到不利影响。基于弹性理论,求解桩靴脚印周边土体卸荷程度与影响范围,结合模型试验,揭示距插拔位置不同距离/直径(L/D)条件下土体强度的衰减规律;利用CEL大变形和桩靴脚印拟静力计算方法,分析某油田的自升式钻井平台桩靴插拔过程,揭示桩靴插拔对周边土体应力、邻近平台变形和桩靴承载力的影响规律。

带扩大桩靴桩基施工挤土效应解析研究

提出新型带扩大桩靴预应力管桩基础.不同于均匀截面管桩的施工挤土效应,由于桩靴尺寸大于预制管桩桩身,桩端扩张不宜视作理想球体而更接近于扁球体(旋转椭球体).基于扁球体扩张源对新型带扩大桩靴桩基施工挤土位移场进行解析求解,基于圆孔扩张理论考虑桩周土塑性区域的体积变形,对扁球体扩张应变路径法计算结果进行修正.通过提出的解析解,研究带扩大桩靴桩基施工挤土效应.结果表明,桩周场地可以根据位移场分布规律,大致分为近地表、近桩端以及桩身附近3个区域.扩张源形态越“扁”,桩身附近区域水平“排开”效应略有增强,近地表区域地面“隆起”位移及近桩端区域竖向位移显著减小,这对于挤土桩施工而言是非常有益的.

自升式平台桩靴周围土体冲刷机制及数值模拟

为了评估自升式平台插桩后桩靴周围土体受波流-海流作用局部冲刷的安全性,基于计算流体动力学通过数值模拟建立波流作用下的桩靴周围土体局部冲刷的三维有限元数值模型,通过求解Navier-Stokes方程,准确模拟桩靴周围流场变化情况;基于现场作业场址参数和实际海况条件下建立适用于自升式平台桩靴周围土体局部冲刷的工程分析方法,将数值结果与试验结果进行对比;讨论自升式平台在不同入泥深度和作业周期下桩靴周围土体局部冲刷问题。结果表明:波流共同作用下自升式平台桩靴入泥深度对桩靴周围土体局部冲刷深度具有较大影响,当桩靴入泥深度越小时,桩靴周围越容易发生局部冲刷;基于桩靴不同入泥深度工况针对性地制定冲刷防护措施,降低桩靴周围土体局部冲刷深度,有效降低工程作业风险。

黏土中大直径钢圆筒在桩靴贯入时的稳定性研究

某在建水下生产系统附近有自升式平台的频繁桩靴插拔作业,采用了大直径薄壁钢圆筒作为水下生产系统的保护结构,因此钢圆筒在自升式平台桩靴插拔过程中的受力与变形备受关注。开展了离心模型试验,揭示了桩靴贯入过程导致的钢圆筒受力与变形规律;进而应用经离心试验验证的耦合欧拉与拉格朗日数值模拟方法,开展了筒-靴不同相对位置工况下,桩靴贯入对钢圆筒稳定性的影响分析。结果表明:桩靴贯入导致的筒壁附加应力及位移随筒-靴间距的增加而衰减,其衰减程度随筒靴间距的增加而减小,且由于筒靴间距的不同,钢圆筒对应存在两种受力模式。筒靴间距为2倍桩靴直径时,筒身附加应力可达110 MPa,表明桩靴对钢圆筒的影响距离可达2倍桩靴直径以上。

水下防护设施插桩响应的离心模型试验研究

某拟建水下油气生产系统采用大直径薄壁钢圆筒作为防护设施。自升式钻井船进行钻修井作业时,桩靴插拔会产生较大范围的挤土作用,当钻井船插拔桩位置靠近水下生产系统的防护设施时,会导致钢圆筒产生附加的应力和变形,从而对水下生产系统产生影响。为此开展离心模型试验,研究黏土中不同桩靴插桩深度,不同间距对水下生产系统防护设施钢圆筒的影响。研究表明,钢圆筒的筒壁应变、筒顶变形及筒壁土压力均随筒靴间距的增加而减小,随桩靴贯入深度的增加而增加,与桩靴下压阻力同步发展。插桩引起的筒身应变主要集中在正对桩靴一侧,当筒靴间距小于0.9倍桩靴直径时,钢圆筒筒壁发生屈服;筒顶位移主要为向筒内发展的水平向位移;筒壁土压力增量约为静止土压力的0.6倍。桩靴插桩对钢圆筒的影响范围超过了1.3倍的桩靴直径。

基于贝叶斯算法的自升式平台桩靴基础砂-黏地层峰值阻力预测

自升式平台在含有砂-黏地层井位就位过程中,受下卧软土层影响,易发生桩靴大位移贯入下卧地层造成穿刺破坏,准确预测桩靴基础砂-黏地层峰值阻力及相应深度,对保障平台安全至关重要。基于已有离心机模型试验数据,通过引入服从Beta-PERT分布的不确定性因子,构建了自升式平台桩靴基础砂-黏地层潜在峰值阻力及对应深度的先验概率和似然概率计算模型;结合桩靴贯入过程中的监测数据,利用贝叶斯算法计算并持续更新后验概率,以提高桩靴基础砂-黏地层峰值阻力的预测精度。在此基础上,通过反分析25组离心机模型试验,对基于贝叶斯算法的桩靴基础砂-黏地层峰值阻力预测方法的有效性进行了验证。结果表明,相较于现行ISO规范和SNAME规范推荐的荷载扩展法和冲剪法以及新近发展的3种峰值阻力计算方法,基于贝叶斯算法的概率预测方法可有效提高桩靴基础砂-黏地层峰值阻力的预测精度。研究成果为自升式平台桩靴基础在含有砂-黏地层井位就位安全评估提供了方法支持。

基于代理模型的自升式海洋平台桩靴结构优化

自升式海洋平台桩靴作为平台的重要组成部分存在结构庞大笨重、应力分布不均等问题,以自升式海洋平台JU2000E桩靴为研究对象,应用Ansys软件建立有限元模型,依据美国船级社(ABS)规范对其在预压载工况和风暴自存工况下进行强度分析与校核,采用桩靴各结构板厚作为优化设计变量,通过最优拉丁超立方抽样选取样本点,结合径向基函数(Radial Basis Function,RBF)神经网络算法建立设计变量和各响应的代理模型,并基于第二代非劣解遗传算法(NSGA-Ⅱ)对桩靴进行多目标优化。对优化后的桩靴进行仿真验证,桩靴重量减轻、应力减小且分布更均匀。