Parametric Study on the Effects of Pile Inclination Angle on the Response of Batter Piles in Offshore Jacket Platforms

Offshore jacket-type platforms are attached to the seabed by long batter piles. In this paper, results from a finite element analysis, verified against experimental data, are used to study the effect of the pile＇s inclination angle, and its interaction with the geometrical properties of the pile and the geotechnical characteristics of the surrounding soil on the behavior of the inclined piles supporting the jacket platforms. Results show that the inclination angle is one of the main parameters affecting the behavior of an offshore pile. We investigated the effect of the inclination angle on the maximum von Mises stress, maximum von Mises elastic strain, maximum displacement vector sum, maximum displacement in the horizontal direction, and maximum displacement in the vertical direction. Results indicate that the pile＇s operationally optimal degree of inclination is approximately 5°. By exceeding this value, the instability in the surrounding soil under applied loads grows extensively in all the geotechnical properties considered. Cohesive soils tend to display poorer results compared to grained soils.

Numerical analysis of bearing behaviors of single batter piles under horizontal loads in various directions

The horizontal bearing behavior of a single batter pile(SBP)is vital to its application in practical engineering;however,the horizontal responses of SBPs change with the directions of horizontal loads,and this phenomenon is rarely investigated.Therefore,the directional differences in the horizontal bearing behaviors of SBPs are investigated in this study.Four model tests are conducted to preliminarily examine the effects of the skew angle of horizontal loads on the horizontal bearing capacities and distributions of the bending moments of the SBPs.Subsequently,the differences in the responses of the SBPs under horizontal loads in various directions at full scale are analyzed comprehensively via finite-element(FE)analysis.The effects of the skew angle on SBP-soil interaction are discussed.Moreover,an empirical design method is proposed based on the FE analysis results to predict the bearing ratios of SBPs in medium-dense and dense sand while considering the effects of the skew angle,batter angle,and pile diameter.The method is confirmed to be effective,as confirmed by the close agreement between the predicting results with the model test(reported in this study)and centrifuge model test results(reported in the literature).

Stabilized effects of L-S cement-mixed batter pile composite foundation for existed warm frozen soil subgrade

In permafrost regions with warm frozen soil,subgrade thaw-collapse phenomenon commonly occurs,facing thaw collapse problems of the existed frozen soil subgrade,thus it is difficult to use traditional methods such as active cooling and passive protection technology to stabilize the existed warm frozen soil subgrade.This study derives a novel stabilizer method,a long-short(L-S)cement-mixed batter pile composite foundation to stabilize the existed warm frozen soil subgrade.To solve the thawcollapse problems in warm frozen soil subgrade,high water content and large compressibility characteristics were compared between soft soil and warm frozen soils.Theoretical analysis of heat conduction and numerical simulation of finite element model were used to study the freeze–thaw process and evaluate the stabilized effects of the L-S cement-mixed batter piles on the warm frozen soil foundation of the Qinghai-Tibet Highway.Furthermore,the thaw process and mechanical properties of foundation and piles were analyzed by introducing the hydration heat factor in the thermodynamic control equation.The results indicate that the thawing displacement of the existed warm frozen soil subgrade was reduced owing to the“support”and“grasp”effects of the L-S cement-mixed batter piles on the surrounding soil.The composite ground formed by strengthening the warm frozen ground with batter piles could considerably improve the bearing capacity of the existed warm frozen ground,effectively restrain the deformation of the upper embankment,and improve the strength of the ground.The analysis can provide method for the construction design of cement mixing batter pile foundation in cold regions.

Experimental study of vertical and batter pile groups in saturated sand using a centrifuge shaking table

To study the dynamic response of vertical and batter pile groups in saturated sand,dynamic tests of these pile groups in saturated sand were carried out using the ZJU400 geotechnical centrifuge at Zhejiang University.The following results were obtained.(1)As the motion intensity increased,the peak acceleration in soil layers at different depths significantly decreased,indicating that the soil stiffness was significantly reduced.(2)During the motion process,the instantaneous bending moment of the vertical and batter pile groups at different depths changed continuously,which had a strong relationship with the saturated sand liquefaction.In the process of sand liquefaction,the residual bending moment generated by the batter pile was more obvious than that of the vertical pile.(3)With the liquefaction of the saturated sand,the distribution of the maximum bending moment of the vertical pile group changed,and the bending moment near the pile cap of the vertical and batter pile groups was always large.(4)In certain cases,the horizontal acceleration and dynamic displacement of the vertical pile cap were amplified.When the motion intensity was large,residual displacement of the batter pile cap occurred.

Seismic behavior of batter pile groups embedded in liquefiable soil

A comparative study of the seismic performance of 2×1 pile groups considering different degrees of batter(0°for vertical,10°and 20°)embedded in single homogeneous liquefiable sand through fully coupled three-dimensional dynamic analyses is presented.The effects of inertial interaction are considered with structures having two different periods.The performance of pile groups is investigated for the fixed and pinned pile to cap connections for both floating and end bearing types of pile groups.Slenderness ratios of piles were also varied to enable a comprehensive understanding.Investigations have been carried out for three earthquake motions having varied dominant frequencies.It is observed that batter pile groups in liquefiable soils provide beneficial effects on piles and superstructure responses for both fixed and pinned head pile to cap connections for long period structures.However,for short period structures,a beneficial effect is most evident for fixed head connection.