Influence of Incomplete Soil Plugs on Bearing Capacities of Bucket Foundations in Clay

Due to the uneven seabed and heaving of soil during pumping,incomplete soil plugs may occur during the installation of bucket foundations,and the impacts on the bearing capacities of bucket foundations need to be evaluated.In this paper,the contact ratio(the ratio of the top diameter of the soil plug to the diameter of the bucket)and the soil plug ratio(the ratio of the soil heave height to the skirt height)are defined to describe the shape and size of the incomplete soil plug.Then,finite element models are established to investigate the bearing capacities of bucket foundations with incomplete soil plugs and the influences of the contact ratios,and the soil plug ratios on the bearing capacities are analyzed.The results show that the vertical bearing capacity of bucket foundations in homogeneous soil continuously improves with the increase of the contact ratio.However,in normally consolidated soil,the vertical bearing capacity barely changes when the contact ratio is smaller than 0.75,while the bearing capacity suddenly increases when the contact ratio increases to 1 due to the change of failure mode.The contact ratio hardly affects the horizontal bearing capacity of bucket foundations.Moreover,the moment bearing capacity improves with the increase of the contact ratio for small aspect ratios,but hardly varies with increasing contact ratio for aspect ratios larger than 0.5.Consequently,the reduction coefficient method is proposed based on this analysis to calculate the bearing capacities of bucket foundations considering the influence of incomplete soil plugs.The comparison results show that the proposed reduction coefficient method can be used to evaluate the influences of incomplete soil plug on the bearing capacities of bucket foundations.

Characteristic Test Study on Bearing Capacity of Suction Caisson Foundation Under Vertical Load

Suction caisson foundations are often subjected to vertical uplift loads,but there are still no wide and spread engineering specifications on design and calculation method for uplift bearing capacity of suction caisson foundation.So it is important to establish an uplift failure criterion.In order to study the uplift bearing mechanism and failure mode of suction caisson foundation,a series of model tests were carried out considering the effects of aspect ratio,soil permeability and loading mode.Test results indicate that the residual negative pressure at the top of caisson is beneficial to enhance uplift bearing capacity.The smaller the permeability coefficient is,the higher the residual negative pressure will be.And the residual negative pressure is approximately equal to the water head that causes seepage in the caisson.When the load reaches the ultimate bearing capacity,both the top and bottom negative pressures are smaller than Su and both the top and bottom reverse bearing capacity factors are smaller than 1.0 in soft clay.Combined the uplift bearing characteristics of caisson in sandy soil and soft clay,the bearing capacity composition and the calculation method are proposed.It can provide a reference for the engineering design of suction caisson foundation under vertical load.

Estimation of Undrained Bearing Capacity for Offshore Soft Foundations with Cyclic Load

The degradation strength of soils under cyclic loading is studied and a method for determining the cyclic degradation strength with cyclic triaxial tests is given in the paper. Furthermore, a dum my static method for estimating the undrained bearing capacity for offshore soft foundation under wave loads is developed. It can consider the effect of the difference of cyclic stress for different parts of the foundation on both the degradation strength of the foundation soil and the bearing capacity so that the estimated result can better reflect the real condition of foundation under cyclic loading. The method can be applied to plane and space problem.

Effect of Bearing Capacity on Designing Foundations in Iraq Using STAAD Pro-v8i

Most of Iraqi soil is classified as Quaternary deposits, especially in the Mesopotamian plain and tributaries of the River Tigris. Soil varies from north to south of Iraq. These differences in soil affected the process to select the suitable type of foundation. This research is to study the effect of bearing capacity on shallow foundations in different regions of Iraq. Seventy nine samples were collected from 23 boreholes at three different locations (Mosul at the North, Baghdad at the middle and Basrah at the south of Iraq). The samples were collected at varying depth between 1 to 24 m. They were subjected to the following testes: Atterberg limits, sieve and hydrometers, consolidation, direct shear, unconfined compression and the filed (SPT test). The values of the bearing capacity parameters ( and c) were obtained from the above tests. The results obtained were used in the application of the general equation of the bearing capacity. Then, the model of a building was designed (two floors, with mat foundation type) using STAAD Pro software. The average values of bearing capacity in each region were applied in the program (Mosul = 177 KPa, Baghdad = 125 KPa and Basrah = 84 KPa). In addition, the worst bearing capacity values were also used for the three regions (Mosul = 77 KPa, Baghdad = 68 KPa and Basrah = 24 KPa). The results obtained from the average and worst bearing capacity indicated that for Mosul, we could use shallow foundation (spread and mat used if there was basement) for different areas and for buildings with many stories. For Baghdad region, shallow foundation was more suitable for building not higher than five stories. Finally, for Basrah region, shallow foundations were an appropriate selection, but for most areas deep foundation was the right choice.

Upper Bound Solution of the Resisting Moment Bearing Capacity of A Composite Bucket Shallow Foundation of An Offshore Wind Turbine in Sand

Bearing the large moment that is generated by the wind load that acts on the upper structure of offshore wind turbines is an important feature of their foundations that is different from other offshore structures.A composite bucket shallow foundation(CBSF)has been proposed by Tianjin University to address the soft geological conditions in the offshore regions of China for wind turbines.The CBSF is a new type of foundation and is effective against large moments.The soil deformation test of a CBSF and the numerical simulation study under the same working conditions are carried out to determine the failure mechanism of a CBSF under moment loading.The resisting soil compression rateηm is defined as a new empirical parameter that indicates the ability of the soil inside the bucket to resist moment loading.The upper limit of the resisting moment bearing capacity of the bucket foundation is derived through the upper bound theorem of classical plasticity theory based on the failure mechanism.The calculation method is validated by tests of bucket models with different height-diameter ratios in sand under moment loading.

Bearing capacity and mechanical behavior of CFG pile composite foundation

CFG pile (i.e., pile constructed by granular materials of cement, fly-ash and gravel) composite foundation is applied in subsoil treatment widely and successfully. In order to have a further study of this kind of subsoil treatment technology, the influencing factors and calculation methods of the vertical bearing capacity of single CFG pile and the CFG pile composite foundation were discussed respectively. And based on the obtained solutions, effects by the cushion and measurements to reduce negative friction area were analyzed. Moreover, the developing law of settlement and bearing capacity eigenvalue controlled by the material strength with the increase of load were given for the CFG composite foundation. The in-situ static load test was tested for CFG pile. The results of test show that the maximum test load or half of the ultimate load is used from all the points of test, the average bearing capacity eigenvalue of single pile is 390 kN, and slightly greater than the design value of bearing capacity. The bearing capacity eigenvalues of composite foundation for 3 piles are greater than 300 kPa, and the mechanical properties of CFG pile composite foundation are almost identical in the case of the same load and cushion thickness. The pile-soil stress ratio and the load-sharing ratio can be adjusted through setting up cushion thickness.

Optimal placement of two soil soundings for rectangular footings

This study uses a recently proposed algorithm for consideration of soil sounding locations in the bearing capacity estimations of spatially variable soil for rectangular footings.The objective of the study is to assess the possibility of indicating general guidelines for optimal soil sounding locations in the case of two soundings and rectangular footings.The possibility of proposing such general guidelines would be extremely valuable from the engineering practice point of view.Moreover,it would be promising for future studies concerning more complex foundation arrangements.For this reason,numerous scenarios are analyzed for a variety of vertical and horizontal fluctuation scales and a variety of rectangular foundation lengths.For generality of the results,two correlation structures are considered,i.e.the Gaussian and the Markovian ones.The optimal sounding location results are discussed.The observations indicate that,for a specified vertical fluctuation scale,all optimal borehole locations in dimensionless coordinates form a curve.This phenomenon can be utilized in practical applications.The potential applications of the obtained results and the directions for future studies in this area are also discussed.

Foundation Assessment in Different Parts of Iraq Using STAAD Pro V8i

Foundation is considered as one of the main parts of any structure. The type of foundation used is highly dependent on the type and properties of soil. The design of foundations requires many factors that should be defined. There are number of differences in the geological and soil conditions in Iraq. As a consequence, these differences are reflected on the type of foundation to be used. Despite these differences, same materials and style of buildings are used all over Iraq. The main problems of Iraqi soil are high gypsum content, salinity and shallow water table depth. These factors that influence the foundations are the soil properties and the amount of loads that transmitted by the superstructure. The situation has been analysed through a case study which illustrated the link between soil and foundation types in three different parts of Iraq （Mosul, Baghdad and Basra）. One building was analysed using ＂STAAD （structural analysis and design）. Pro＂ software in these regions. It is evident that Iraqi designers and engineers require local code to define all the loads, materials and design of the foundation to be used. The use of local materials might be very effective from both engineering and economic perspectives.

Performance assessment of borehole arrangements for the design of rectangular shallow foundation systems

This study proposes a framework to evaluate the performance of borehole arrangements for the design of rectangular shallow foundation systems under spatially variable soil conditions. Performance measures are introduced to quantify, for a fixed foundation layout and given soil sounding locations, the variability level of the foundation system bearing capacities in terms of their mean values and standard deviations. To estimate these measures, the recently proposed random failure mechanism method (RFMM) has been adopted and extended to consider any arrangement of rectangular foundations and boreholes. Hence, three-dimensional bearing capacity estimation under spatially variable soil can be efficiently performed. Several numerical examples are presented to illustrate the applicability of the proposed framework, including diverse foundation arrangements and different soil correlation structures. Overall, the proposed framework represents a potentially useful tool to support the design of geotechnical site investigation programs, especially in situations where very limited prior knowledge about the soil properties is available.

Failure envelope of a caisson foundation under combined vertical,horizontal and moment loadings

To investigate the bearing capacity of a caisson foundation under combined vertical,horizontal and moment loadings,the three-dimensional finite element analyses of a circular caisson foundation in homogenous sandy soil subjected to combined loadings are conducted.The caisson model has a depth to breadth ratio equaling one,and a soil-caisson interface friction coefficientμ=0.3.First,the responses of caisson foundations under uniaxial vertical loading V,horizontal loading H and moment loading M are examined.Moreover,the responses of caisson foundations under combined vertical-horizontal V-H,vertical-moment V-M and horizontal-moment H-M load space are studied and presented using normalized failure envelopes generated by the load-controlled method.Subsequently,the bearing behavior of caisson foundations under combined vertical-horizontal-moment V-H-M load space,as well as the kinematic mechanisms accompanying the failure under uniaxial and combined loading,are addressed and presented for different vertical load ratios V/Vu.Finally,three equations that approximate the three-dimensional shape of the failure locus are proposed,which provides a convenient means of calculating the bearing capacity of a caisson foundation subjected to uniaxial and combined vertical,horizontal and moment loadings.

Spatially variable soils affecting geotechnical strip foundation design

Natural soil variability is a well-known issue in geotechnical design,although not frequently managed in practice.When subsoil must be characterized in terms of mechanical properties for infrastructure design,random finite element method(RFEM)can be effectively adopted for shallow foundation design to gain a twofold purpose:(1)understanding how much the bearing capacity is affected by the spatial variability structure of soils,and(2)optimisation of the foundation dimension(i.e.width B).The present study focuses on calculating the bearing capacity of shallow foundations by RFEM in terms of undrained and drained conditions.The spatial variability structure of soil is characterized by the autocorrelation function and the scale of fluctuation(δ).The latter has been derived by geostatistical tools such as the ordinary Kriging(OK)approach based on 182 cone penetration tests(CPTs)performed in the alluvial plain in Bologna Province,Italy.Results show that the increase of the B/δratio not only reduces the bearing capacity uncertainty but also increases its mean value under drained conditions.Conversely,under the undrained condition,the autocorrelation function strongly affects the mean values of bearing capacity.Therefore,the authors advise caution when selecting the autocorrelation function model for describing the soil spatial variability structure and point out that undrained conditions are more affected by soil variability compared to the drained ones.

基坑开挖对管桩竖向承载性状影响研究

针对基坑开挖引起管桩挤土效应的弱化,以及挤土效应弱化对管桩承载性质影响问题,开展了室内模型试验,并通过对模型试验进行数值建模,验证了数值模型的可靠性。在此基础上,从桩长、桩间距、桩侧摩阻力系数对开挖卸荷影响下管桩基础承载性状的影响展开研究。结果表明:开挖卸荷对管桩承载特性造成较大影响,极限承载力对应桩顶沉降量提高54.5%;数值计算发现,卸载前后极限荷载所对应最大沉降差率为9.52%,满足工程精度要求,验证了所提数值模型的可靠性;数值计算结果表明,随桩长提高,最大桩身轴力位置不断上升,而中性点位置却不断下降;桩间距越小,开挖卸荷对桩身轴力影响越大,而对负摩阻力影响越小;摩阻力系数为0.3时,摩阻力系数对桩身轴力及桩侧摩阻力发挥敏感度最高。

Experimental study of the bearing capacity of a drainage pipe pile under vacuum consolidation

In this study,we propose a drainage pipe pile under vacuum consolidation to integrate foundation treatment and pile foundation engineering in soft soil areas.To study its bearing capacity characteristics and foundation treatment performance,single pile static load tests,vane shear tests,and water content tests were carried out for ordinary piles,perforated piles,and drainage pipe piles under conditions of static and vacuum consolidation.Based on the results,the concept of strong and weak reinforcement areas was proposed and used for bearing capacity prediction.The results showed that the drainage pipe pile did not become silted under vacuum consolidation.The single pile bearing capacity was much higher than that of an ordinary pile,and the pile side friction was exerted mainly in the middle and lower parts.Good results were achieved using the shear strength at the junction of the strong and weak reinforcement areas to estimate the ultimate bearing capacity of a single pile.This study provided important insights into the design and construction of drainage pipe piles in a soft soil foundation.

地基承载力特征值确定土变形模量的探讨

目前我国地基沉降计算主要采用土压缩模量来计算,再用经验系数对计算结果进行修正。这种方法对于一些结构性较强的硬土地基误差较大,主要原因是取样扰动影响。为此,探讨了变形模量与地基承载力特征值的理论联系,在笔者提出的确定变形模量经验方法基础上,总结出依据地基承载力特征值确定变形模量的方法,该方法具有理论依据,可便捷地通过岩土工程勘察报告中常提供的地基承载力特征值确定土的变形模量,能够更为准确计算地基沉降值。采用不同方法(压板试验法、压缩模量推求法、标贯击数法、承载力经验法、依据地基承载力特征值确定变形模量法)计算了若干试验案例,通过对不同方法结果的对比,初步验证了依据地基承载力特征值确定变形模量法是可行的。

上砂下黏地层中桩-筒复合基础V-H承载特性

海上风机基础不仅受自重等竖向力V作用,也因水流、波浪和风等影响而承受水平荷载H。为探讨上砂下黏地层中一种由单桩和吸力筒组成的新型海上风机桩-筒复合基础受V-H组合作用时的承载特性,自主设计完成了一系列室内桩-筒复合基础V-H组合加载模型试验,获得不同组合参数下桩-筒复合基础的荷载-位移曲线和桩身弯矩分布曲线,并绘制出V-H承载力包络线。在此基础上,采用ABAQUS建立了上砂下黏地层中桩-筒复合基础三维数值分析模型,经模型验证与参数分析,进一步讨论了砂土厚度、筒径、筒高以及加载高度等参数对桩-筒复合基础承载特性的影响曲线,并拟合出桩-筒复合基础承载力简化计算公式,分析结果表明:桩-筒复合基础能显著提高桩身水平承载力,增幅达30%~90%,且增加筒径比增加筒高更有利于提高基础水平承载力;上部砂土层较厚时,桩-筒复合基础存在一个使复合基础水平承载力达到最大的预加竖向荷载最佳值,其值随不同载荷工况在(0.4~0.7)Vult范围内变化。

基于滑移线法的黏土海床中浅基础固结承载力分析

为评估海底浅基础服役过程的承载力时变规律,推导了预载作用下黏土海床完全固结后的不排水抗剪强度分布,利用滑移线法给出了应力特征线方程并求解出浅基础固结承载力,研究了预载比、土体不均匀性、有效内摩擦角和基础尺寸对浅基础固结承载力的影响.结果表明:浅基础固结承载力的相对增长幅度和预载比近似呈线性关系,由土体不均匀因子和有效内摩擦角共同决定,不受基础尺寸的影响.通过与水土耦合有限元分析结果进行比较,对所提方法的准确性进行了严格的验证,表明了该方法的有效性.最后,根据有限元结果分析了滑移线解的误差来源,发现孔压计算差异是导致固结承载力预测结果产生误差的主要原因.该滑移线解可快速准确地预估浅基础固结承载力的增长规律,为海底浅基础的优化设计提供重要参考.

上软下硬黏土中四筒基础抗倾覆承载特性研究

随着海上风电向深远海发展,四筒基础发展潜力巨大。中国大多数海域存在较厚的上覆软土层,对基础抗倾覆承载能力有着重大影响。采用有限元软件ABAQUS建立上软下硬分层黏土模型,对四筒基础在单向水平荷载和弯矩荷载作用下的承载力特性进行研究。研究结果表明:四筒基础在水平、弯矩荷载作用下主要运动模式为转动,对边加载时,转动轴靠近受压筒且随着软土层厚度增加不断靠近四筒基础平面中心,但变化幅度较小;水平和弯矩极限承载力对于不同的筒间距和长径比具有相同的变化趋势,当软土层厚度h/筒高L≤3/4时,水平和弯矩承载力随着软土层厚度的增加近似线性降低,当h/L>3/4后,承载力降低速率明显减小。

粘土中吸力锚基础的抗扭承载特性研究

文章对粘土中的吸力锚基础承受水平与扭矩组合荷载、垂直与扭矩组合荷载的性能展开了研究。首先通过数值模拟试验,验证了有限元模型的合理性。基于有限元建立了长径比为1的吸力锚基础模型,研究了水平荷载、竖直荷载和扭矩荷载组合作用下的吸力锚基础承载特性。结果表明:在扭矩荷载的作用下,吸力锚基础的水平和竖直承载性能均显著降低,随着水平荷载作用点的下降,吸力锚抵抗扭矩荷载的能力呈现出先增大后减小的趋势;在水平-竖直-扭矩荷载三者组合作用的情况下,随着扭矩荷载的增大,吸力锚极限承载力的下降趋势显著增大,随着荷载方向与水平面夹角增大,吸力锚抵抗扭矩荷载的能力呈现增大趋势。

弱胶结砂岩地基承载力深度修正系数k2试验研究

为探究弱胶结砂岩深度修正合理性及修正系数取值,依托南京龙潭长江大桥北锚碇大型块体基础,对25 m埋深的弱胶结砂岩持力层分别开展基岩深层和浅层平板载荷试验,得到持力层深度修正前后的地基承载力特征值,研究深度修正规律,研究结论:修正浅层载荷试验地基承载力的修正系数k2t取3.3、修正规范法地基承载力的修正系数k2c取8.0,保守考虑时可不区分未修正的承载力特征值获得途径,k2统一取3.3;深度修正后地基承载力有较大提升,说明本工程中对弱胶结砂岩承载力进行深度修正是很有必要的;对比现有规范中土质地基k2的取值规律,弱胶结砂岩的k_(2t)和k_(2c)取值较为保守,该值可为类似地质条件下的工程提供参考。