Performance of composite foundations with different load transfer platforms and substratum stiffness over silty clay

The semi-rigid pile-supported composite foundation is widely used in highway projects due to its effectiveness in increasing the bearing capacity and stability of foundations.It is crucial to understand the stress distribution across the embankment width and the behaviour of unreinforced foundations.Thus,five centrifuge tests were conducted to examine the bearing and deformation behaviours of NPRS(Non-Connected Piled Raft Systems)and GRPS(GeosyntheticReinforced Pile-Supported systems)with varying substratum stiffness,then a comparative analysis was conducted on embankment settlement,pressures underneath the embankments,and axial forces along the piles.The results indicated that greater substratum stiffness correlates with reduced settlement and deformation at various depths.Deformation occurring 5 meters from the embankment toe includes settlement in NPRS and upward movement in GRPS.The potential sliding surface is primarily located within the embankment in NPRS,whereas it may extend through both the embankment and foundation in GRPS.The pile-soil stress ratio and efficiency in NPRS are higher than in GRPS across the embankment.The axial force borne by end-bearing piles is significantly greater than that by floating piles.As the buried depth increases,the axial force in GRPS initially rises then declines,whereas in NPRS,it remains relatively constant within a certain range before decreasing.This study aids in assessing the applicability of composite foundations in complex railway environments and provides a reference for procedural measures under similar conditions.

Experimental and numerical interpretation on composite foundation consisting of soil-cement column within warm and ice-rich frozen soil

Affected by climate warming and anthropogenic disturbances, the thermo-mechanical stability of warm and ice-rich frozen ground along the Qinghai-Tibet engineering corridor(QTEC) is continuously decreased, which may delay the construction of major projects in the future. In this study, based on chemical stabilization of warm and icerich frozen ground, the soil-cement column(SCC) for ground improvement was recommended to reinforce the foundations in warm and ice-rich permafrost regions. To explore the validity of countermeasures mentioned above, both the original foundation and the composite foundation consisting of SCC with soil temperature of -1.0℃ were prepared in the laboratory, and then the plate loading tests were carried out. The laboratory investigations indicated that the bearing capacity of composite foundation consisting of SCC was higher than that of original foundation, and the total deformation of original foundation was greater than that of composite foundation, meaning that overall stability of foundation with warm and ice-rich frozen soil can be improved by SCC installation. Meanwhile, a numerical model considering the interface interaction between frozen soil and SCC was established for interpretating the bearing mechanism of composite foundation. The numerical investigations revealed that the SCC within composite foundation was responsible for the more applied load, and the applied load can be delivered to deeper zone in depth due to the SCC installation, which was favorable for improving the bearing characteristic of composite foundation. The investigations provide the valuable guideline for the choice of engineering supporting techniques to major projects within the QTEC.

Experimental Study on Towing Characteristics of Composite Bucket Wellhead Platform

With the rapid development of large-scale development of marginal oilfields in China,simple wellhead platforms that are simple in structure and easy to install have become an inevitable choice in the process of oilfield development.However,traditional simple wellhead platforms are often discarded after a single use.In pursuit of a more costeffective approach to developing marginal oilfields,this paper proposes a new offshore oil field development facility—an integrated bucket foundation for wellhead platform.To verify the safety of its towing behavior and obtain the dynamic response characteristics of the structure,this paper takes a bucket integrated bucket foundation for wellhead platform with a diameter of 40 m as the research object.By combining physical model tests and numerical simulations,it analyzes the static stability and dynamic response characteristics of the structure during towing,complete with the effects of the draft,wave height,wave period,and towing point height,which produce the dynamic responses of the structure under different influence factors,such as roll angle,pitch angle,heave acceleration and towing force as well as the sensibility to transport variables.The results show that the integrated bucket foundation for wellhead platform is capable of self-floating towing,and its movement is affected by the local environment,which will provide a reference for actual projects.

Evaluation of the effects of EPS composite soil replacement on the dynamic performance of caisson structure using shaking table tests

The seismic performance of a caisson structure under two types of models with a saturated sandy foundation(CSS)and an expanded polystyrene(EPS)composite soil foundation(CES)are studied using shaking table tests.The macro phenomena of the two different foundation models are described and analyzed.The effects of the replacement of EPS composite soil on seismic-induced liquefaction of backfill and the dynamic performance of a caisson structure are evaluated in detail.The results show that the excess pore water pressure generation in the CES is significantly slower than that in the CSS during the shaking.The dynamic earth pressure acting on the caisson has a triangular shape.The response of horizontal acceleration,displacement,settlement,and rotation angle of the caisson in the CES is smaller than that in the CSS,which means the caisson in the CES has a better seismic performance.Furthermore,the out-of-phase phenomenon between dynamic earth thrust and inertial force in the CES is more obvious than that in the CSS,which is beneficial to reduce the lateral force and improve the stability of the caisson structure.

Dynamic analysis of bio-inspired helicoid laminated composite plates resting on Pasternak foundation excited by explosive loading

This paper uses isogeometric analysis(IGA)based on higher-order shear deformation theory(HSDT)to study the dynamic response of bio-inspired helicoid laminated composite(B-iHLC)plates resting on Pasternak foundation(PF)excited by explosive loading.IGA takes advantage of non-uniform rational Bspline(NURBS)basic functions to exactly represent the structure geometry models and the attainment of higher-order approximation conditions.This method also ensures a C1 continuous function in the analysis of transverse shear deformation via HSDT.Furthermore,IGA eliminates the requirement for correction factors and delivers accurate results.Pasternak foundation with two stiffness parameters:springer stiffness(k_(1))and shear stiffness(k_(2)).The derivation of the governing equations is based on Hamilton's principle.The proposed method is validated through numerical examples.A comprehensive analysis of the impact of geometrical parameters,material properties,boundary conditions(BCs),and foundation stiffness on dynamic response of B-i HLC plates is carried out.

Towing characteristics of large-scale composite bucket foundation for offshore wind turbines

In order to study the towing dynamic properties of the large-scale composite bucket foundation the hydrodynamic software MOSES is used to simulate the dynamic motion of the foundation towed to the construction site.The MOSES model with the prototype size is established as the water draft of 5 and 6 m under the environmental conditions on site.The related factors such as towing force displacement towing accelerations in six degrees of freedom of the bucket foundation and air pressures inside the bucket are analyzed in detail.In addition the towing point and wave conditions are set as the critical factors to simulate the limit conditions of the stable dynamic characteristics.The results show that the large-scale composite bucket foundation with reasonable subdivisions inside the bucket has the satisfying floating stability.During the towing process the air pressures inside the bucket obviously change little and it is found that the towing point at the waterline is the most optimal choice.The characteristics of the foundation with the self-floating towing technique are competitive for saving lots of cost with few of the expensive types of equipment required during the towing transportation.

Failure Envelopes of Wide-Shallow Composite Bucket Foundation for Offshore Wind Turbines in Silty Sand

The wide-shallow composite bucket foundation(WSCBF) is a new type of offshore wind power foundation that can be built on land and rapidly installed offshore, there by effectively reducing the construction time and costs of offshore wind power foundation. In this study, the horizontal bearing capacity is calculated by finite element simulation and compared with test results to verify the validity of results. In this process, the vertical load and bending load are respectively calculated by the finite element simulation. Under the vertical load effect, the bucket foundation and the soil inside are regarded as a whole, and the corresponding buckling failure mode is obtained. The ultimate vertical bearing capacity is calculated using empirical and theoretical formulas; the theoretical formula is also revised by finite element results. Under bending load, the rotational center of the composite bucket foundation(in a region close to the bucket bottom) gradually moves from the left of the central axis(reverse to loading direction) to the nearby compartment boards along the loading direction. The H–M envelope line shows a linear relationship, and it is determined that the vertical and bending ultimate bearing capacities can be improved by an appropriate vertical load.

Bearing Capacity and Technical Advantages of Composite Bucket Foundation of Offshore Wind Turbines

Based on mechanical characteristics such as large vertical load, large horizontal load, large bending moment and complex geological conditions, a large scale composite bucket foundation （CBF） is put forward. Both the theoretical analysis and numerical simulation are employed to study the bearing capacity of CBF and the relationship between loads and ground deformation. Furthermore, monopile, high-rise pile cap, tripod and CBF designs are compared to analyze the bearing capacity and ground deformation, with a 3-MW wind generator as an example. The resuits indicate that CBF can effectively bear horizontal load and large bending moment resulting from upper structures and environmental load.

Working mechanism of two-direction reinforced composite foundation

Based on the discussion about working mechanism of horizontal reinforcement and that of vertical reinforcement,respectively,the working mechanism of two-direction reinforced composite foundation was studied.The enhancing effect of horizontal reinforcement on vertical reinforced composite foundation was analyzed.A simplified calculation method for such two-direction reinforced working system was presented.A model experiment was carried out to validate the proposed method.In the experiment,geocell reinforcement worked as the horizontal reinforcement,while gravel pile composite foundation worked as the vertical reinforcement.The results show that the calculated curve is close to the measured one.The installation of geosynthetic reinforcement can increase the bearing capacity of composite foundation by nearly 68% at normal foundation settlement,which suggests that the enhancing effect by geosynthetic reinforcement should be taken into account in current design/analysis methods.

Effect of cantilever soldier pile foundation excavation closing to an existing composite foundation

Adjacent high-rise building with CFG pile composite foundation was studied using model test method to investigate stress and displacement of the foundation pile retaining structure, the subsidence and transmogrification law of the composite foundation. Two different project cases with and without high-rise building adjacent to pile foundation were compared. The relationships of slope pile bending moment, earth pressure, pile top displacement and complex settlement with respect to time were obtained. 1) When there is no adjacent building, the displacement of supporting system caused by excavation is mainly in the horizontal direction; while when the adjacent building exists, the displacement of supporting system will be vertical. 2) When the excavation depth is less than or equal to the adjacent building's composite foundation depth, the force of supporting structure is uniform and has small value, at the same time, the pile strength is in fully use and the foundation is stable; while when the excavation depth is greater than the depth of adjacent building's composite foundation, the results will be opposite. 3) During the excavation process, the adjustment of the composite ground loads on the supporting structure is carried out downward and the force of the supporting structure is reduced through the deformation of the bearing layer.

Study on Seepage Characteristics of Composite Bucket Foundation Under Eccentric Load

Under the effect of eccentric loads,when the suction pressure of the composite bucket foundation is leveled,the seepage failure is very easy to occur.The seepage failure occurrence causes the foundation to settle unevenly and impairs the bearing performance.This study uses ABAQUS finite element software to establish a composite bucket foundation model for finite element analysis.The model simulates the seepage of the foundation penetrating process under eccentric load to reveal the induced seepage characteristics of the bucket foundation.The most vulnerable position of seepage failure under the eccentric loading is elucidated.Critical suction formulas for different offset eccentric moment strategies are derived and compared with existing literature formulas.Then the derived formula is supplemented and corrected according to the pressure difference between adjacent cabins.Conclusions can be drawn:(1)Under eccentric loads,the critical suction decreases about 7%−10%.(2)The pressure difference between adjacent cabins impacts significantly on the seepage field,and the critical suction,at most,can be reduced by 17.56%.(3)the offset strategies have little effect on the seepage field.Efficient and appropriate strategies can be selected to meet the requirement of leveling in engineering project.

Integrated Towing Transportation Technique for Offshore Wind Turbine with Composite Bucket Foundation

Composite bucket foundation and one-step installation technology for offshore wind turbine are the integration of foundation construction,transportation and whole installation at sea.The cost of offshore wind turbine construction and installation has been largely reduced.Foundation stability is the key technology in the process of towing transportation.Field observation data can reflect the real state of the foundation.In this paper,the influence of water depth and towing speed on liquid level,the compartment pressure,and the pitch angles during towing of composite bucket foundation are studied.These data are analyzed based on the field measurements data from a 3.3 MW offshore wind power project in China.The results show that with varied water depths and towing speeds,the compartment pressure changes are small during the bucket foundation towing process.The offshore wind turbine composite bucket foundation is stable while being towed in the ocean.

Consolidation analysis of composite foundation with partially penetrated cement fly-ash gravel(CFG) piles under changing permeable boundary conditions

Based on the double-layered foundation theory, the composite ground with partially penetrated cement fly-ash gravel(CFG) piles was regarded as a double-layered foundation including the surface reinforced area and the underlying untreated stratum. Due to the changing permeability property of CFG piles, the whole consolidation process of the composite ground with CFG piles was divided into two stages, i.e., the early stage(permeable CFG pile bodies) and the later stage(impermeable pile bodies). Then, the consolidation equation of the composite foundation with CFG piles was established by using the Terzaghi one-dimensional consolidation theory. Consequently, the unified formula to calculate the excess pore water pressure was derived with the specific solutions for the consolidation degree of composite ground, reinforced area and underlying stratum under instant load obtained respectively. Finally, combined with a numerical example, influencing rules by main factors(including the replacement rate m, the treatment depth h1, the permeability coefficient Ks1, Kv2 and compression modulus Es1, Es2 of reinforced area and underlying stratum) on the consolidation property of composite ground with CFG piles were discussed in detail. The result shows that the consolidation velocity of underlying stratum is slower than that of the reinforced area. However, the consolidation velocity of underlying stratum is slow at first then fast as a result of the transferring of effective stress to the underlying stratum during the dissipating process of excess pore water pressure.

Experimental Investigation of Wave Load and Run-up on the Composite Bucket Foundation Influenced by Regular Waves

In the design of wind turbine foundations for offshore wind farms, the wave load and run-up slamming on the supporting structure are the quantities that need to be considered. Because of a special arc transition, the interaction between the wave field and the composite bucket foundation(CBF) becomes complicated. In this study, the hydrodynamic characteristics, including wave pressure, load, upwelling, and run-up, around the arc transition of a CBF influenced by regular waves are investigated through physical tests at Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Ocean Engineering, Ocean University of China. The distributions of the wave pressures and upwelling ratios around the CBF are described, and the relationship between the wave load and the wave parameters is discussed. New formulae based on the velocity stagnation head theory with linear wave theory and the second-order Stokes wave theory for wave kinematics are proposed to estimate the wave run-up. Moreover, the multiple regression method with nonlinear technology is employed to deduce an empirical formula for predicting run-up heights. Results show that the non-dimensional wave load increases with the increase in the values of the wave scattering parameter and relative wave height. The wave upwelling height is high in front of the CBF and has the lowest value at an angle of 135? with the incoming wave direction. The performance of the new formulae proposed in this study is compared using statistical indices to demonstrate that a good fit is obtained by the multiple regression method and the analytical model based on the velocity stagnation head theory is underdeveloped.

Deformation and failure modes of composite foundation with sub-embankment plain concrete piles

With the development of high-speed railway in China, composite foundation with rigid piles has become a stamdard solution of meeting the high requirements of stability and post-construction settlement of embankment on soft subgrade. Among several im- provement pattems, plain concrete piles have been extensively used to treat soft ground supported embankment. To investigate the deformation and failure modes of unimproved soft ground and soft ground reinforced by sub-embankment plain concrete piles, and to learn the influences of track and vehicle load, the effect of pile spacing, as well as the compression moduli of soil layers and upper load condition on the failure modes, a series of centrifuge model tests were performed. Test results indicate that the dis- placement of unimproved soft ground under the embankment increases continuously as embankment, track and train loading, and slip circle failure takes place. The deformation law of soft ground reinforced by sub-embankment plain concrete piles depends on pile spacing, compression modulus of the soft ground, and loading conditions. It was also found that plain concrete piles show displacement and failure patterns depending on its location, compression modulus of soft soil around the pile, and loading condi- tions. Furthermore, the evaluation of improved ground stability as well as the model test procedure is also presented.

Settlement calculation for long-short composite piled raft foundation

The mechanism of long-short composite piled raft foundation was discussed. Assuming the relationship between shear stress and shear strain of the surrounding soil was elasto-plastic, shear displacement method was employed to establish the different explicit relational equations between the load and the displacement at the top of pile in either elastic or elasto-plastic period. Then Mylonakis ＆ Gazetas model was introduced to simulate the interaction between two piles or between piles and soil. Considering the effect of cushion, the flexible coefficients of interaction were provided, With the addition of a relevant program, the settlement calculation for long-short composite piled raft foundation was developed which could be used to account for the interaction of piles, soil and cushion. Finally, the calculation method was used to analyze an engineering example. The calculated value of settlement is 10.2 ram, which is close to the observed value 8.8 mm.

Buckling analysis of shear deformable composite conical shells reinforced by CNTs subjected to combined loading on the two-parameter elastic foundation

The main objective of this study is to investigate the buckling analysis of CCSs reinforced by CNTs subjected to combined loading of hydrostatic pressure and axial compression resting on the twoparameter elastic foundation(T-P-EF).It is one of the first attempts to derive the governing equations of the CCSs reinforced with CNTs,based on a generalized first-order shear deformation shell theory(FSDST)which includes shell-foundation interaction.By adopting the extended mixing rule,the effective material properties of CCSs reinforced by CNTs with linear distributions are approximated by introducing some efficiency parameters.Three carbon nanotube distribution in the matrix,i.e.uniform distribution(U)and V and X-types linear distribution are taken into account.The stability equations are solved by using the Galerkin procedure to determine the combined buckling loads(CBLs)of the structure selected here.The numerical illustrations cover CBLs characteristics of CCSs reinforced by CNTs in the presence of the T-P-EF.Finally,a parametric study is carried out to study the influences of the foundation parameters,the volume fraction of carbon nanotubes and the types of reinforcement on the CBLs.

Free Vibration Analysis of Symmetrically Laminated Composite Plates on Elastic Foundation and Coupled with Stationary Fluid

Free vibration analysis of symmetrically laminated composite plates resting on Pasternak elastic support and coupled with an ideal, incompressible and inviscid fluid is the objective of the present work. The fluid domain is considered to be infinite in the length direction but bounded in the depth and width directions. In order to derive the eigenvalue equation, Rayleigh-Ritz method is applied for the fluid-plate-foundation system. The efficiency of the method is proved by comparison studies with those reported in the open literature. At the end, parametric studies are carried out to examine the impact of different parameters on the natural frequencies.

Experimental Study of Dynamic Characteristics on Composite Foundation with CFG Long Pile and Rammed Cement-Soil Short Pile

Based on the idea of optimization design of pile type, the two kinds of the typical pile type are selected, which containing flexibility pile (e.g. rammed cement-soil pile is for short RCSP), and rigid pile (e.g. cement-flyash-gravel pile is for short CFGP). The three kinds of the composite foundation are designed, which are CFGP, CFG long pile and CFG short pile (for short CFGLP-CFGSP), CFG long-short pile and rammed cement-soil short pile (for short CFGLP-RCSSP). Natural earthquake is simulated by using the engineering blasting;the dynamic characteristics and dynamic response of the composite foundation are studied through field test. CFGLP-RCSSP is closed to linear relation. The bearing capacity of the four composite foundation of the CFGP, CFGLP-CFGSP, and CFGLP-RCSSP in the site are 225 kPa, 179 kPa, and 197 kPa, separately increases 150%, 98.8% and 119% compared to the natural foundation. The vibration main frequency is mainly depended on properties of foundation soil and piles between vibration source and measuring point, pilling load value. Horizontal vibration main frequency greater than the vertical vibration main frequency and the vertical vibration main frequency close to the first-order natural frequency of composite foundation. With the pilling load increasing, the CFGLP-RCSSP pile composite foundation combined frequency decreased. Under the same blast energy, the acceleration peak on the CFG pile composite foundation is less than CFGLP-CFGSP the corresponding values, as the load increases, the peak acceleration gently. CFG pile composite foundation is favorable on seismic. The distribution of peak acceleration is consistent within 4 m from pile top in the CFGLP_RCSSP composite foundation. The maximum of the horizontal acceleration peak along the pile body occurs at a distance of pile top 4 m or the pile top, and that of vertical acceleration peak occurred at a pile top.

Spring constitutive model of rigid pile composite foundation and application in design of raft foundation

The simplified analysis method based on the static equilibrium is generally adopted for raft design. The secondary stress of superstructure due to the differential settlement of the foundation is neglected, which leads to larger support moments and longitudinal bending of raft compared with real values. The spring constitutive relation of composite foundation is obtained by the flat plate loading tests in Karst region. The interaction between the spring and the raft is equivalent to the interaction between the composite foundation and the raft. The model for superstructure-raft-composite foundation interaction analysis is thus established and the raft is designed. This method not only considers the nonlinear properties of composite foundation but also analyzes the influence of superstructure on bending moment and deformation of raft. Compared with the inverted floor method, the calculated values of moment become more reasonable and uneven settlements are considered. This can be references to the design of raft foundation in similar regions.