Evalution of Application of p-y Curve Method in Offshore Engineering Foundation

Based on the Mohr-Coulomb failure principle and Rankine's theory, the laterally loaded pile ultimate resistance formulas of sand and soft clay proposed by Reese and Matlock respectively are discussed in this paper. The authors put forward the modified ultimate resistance formulas on the basis of which the ultimate resistance formula is developed for horizontally loaded pile in multi-layer soil in consideration of the effect of the overburden soil pressure on the calculation of soil layer. It is significant to the correct application of the ultimate resistance formulas in API and ZCS Rules into offshore engineering.

Experimental p-y curves for liquefied soils from centrifuge tests

The present study aims to obtain p-y curves(Winkler spring properties for lateral pile-soil interaction)for liquefied soil from 12 comprehensive centrifuge test cases where pile groups were embedded in liquefiable soil.The p-y curve for fully liquefied soil is back-calculated from the dynamic centrifuge test data using a numerical procedure from the recorded soil response and strain records from the instrumented pile.The p-y curves were obtained for two ground conditions:(a)lateral spreading of liquefied soil,and(b)liquefied soil in level ground.These ground conditions are simulated in the model by having collapsing and non-collapsing intermittent boundaries,which are modelled as quay walls.The p-y curves back-calculated from the centrifuge tests are compared with representative reduced API p-y curves for liquefied soils(known as p-multiplier).The response of p-y curves at full liquefaction is presented and critical observations of lateral pile-soil interaction are discussed.Based on the results of these model tests,guidance for the construction of p-y curves for use in engineering practice is also provided.

Dynamic p-y curves for vertical and batter pile groups in liquefied sand

In this study,centrifuge model tests of vertical and batter pile groups in liquefied sand were conducted on a centrifuge shaking table.The dynamic p-y curves for these pile groups before and during sand liquefaction were obtained from calculations based on test data.The results confirm that liquefaction contributes to a reduction in the energy consumption of pile foundations,with the degradation effect being more pronounced for batter pile groups.At shallow depths,the difference in the backbone gradients of the p-y curves after liquefaction for vertical and batter pile groups indicates that the lateral stiffness of a batter pile group is greater than that of a vertical pile group.As shaking intensity increases,the lateral stiffness of a vertical pile group increases with depth during the late stage of sand liquefaction.However,the lateral stiffness of a batter pile group during liquefaction does not vary with depth.The results of this study provide a reference for the seismic design of vertical and batter pile groups in liquefied soil.

An analytical p-y curve method based on compressive soil pressure model in sand soil

With the high-quality development of urban buildings,higher requirements are come up with for lateral bearing capacity of laterally loaded piles.Consequently,a more accurate analysis to predict the lateral response of the pile within an allowable displacement is an important issue.However,the current p-y curve methods cannot fully take into account the pile-soil interaction,which will lead to a large calculation difference.In this paper,a new analytical p-y curve is established and a finite difference method for determining the lateral response of pile is proposed,which can consider the separation effect of pile-soil interface and the coefficient of circumferential friction resistance.In particular,an analytical expression is developed to determine the compressive soil pressure by dividing the compressive soil pressure into two parts:initial compressive soil pressure and increment of compressive soil pressure.In addition,the relationship between compressive soil pressure and horizontal displacement of the pile is established based on the reasonable assumption.The correctness of the proposed method is verified through four examples.Based on the verified method,a parametric analysis is also conducted to investigate the influences of factors on lateral response of the pile,including internal friction angle,pile length and elastic modulus of pile.

Beyond p-y method:A review of artificial intelligence approaches for predicting lateral capacity of drilled shafts in clayey soils

In 2023,pivotal advancements in artificial intelligence(AI)have significantly experienced.With that in mind,traditional methodologies,notably the p-y approach,have struggled to accurately model the complex,nonlinear soil-structure interactions of laterally loaded large-diameter drilled shafts.This study undertakes a rigorous evaluation of machine learning(ML)and deep learning(DL)techniques,offering a comprehensive review of their application in addressing this geotechnical challenge.A thorough review and comparative analysis have been carried out to investigate various AI models such as artificial neural networks(ANNs),relevance vector machines(RVMs),and least squares support vector machines(LSSVMs).It was found that despite ML approaches outperforming classic methods in predicting the lateral behavior of piles,their‘black box'nature and reliance only on a data-driven approach made their results showcase statistical robustness rather than clear geotechnical insights,a fact underscored by the mathematical equations derived from these studies.Furthermore,the research identified a gap in the availability of drilled shaft datasets,limiting the extendibility of current findings to large-diameter piles.An extensive dataset,compiled from a series of lateral loading tests on free-head drilled shaft with varying properties and geometries,was introduced to bridge this gap.The paper concluded with a direction for future research,proposes the integration of physics-informed neural networks(PINNs),combining data-driven models with fundamental geotechnical principles to improve both the interpretability and predictive accuracy of AI applications in geotechnical engineering,marking a novel contribution to the field.

Centrifuge tests for seismic response of single pile foundation supported wind turbines in sand influenced by earthquake history

This paper reports on two sets of centrifuge model tests of wind turbines in dry sand and saturated sand subjected to earthquake sequences.The wind turbine system is composed of a single pile foundation and a wind turbine.All tests were applied with liquefaction experiments and analysis projects(LEAP)waves to simplify the analysis.The objectives of the tests are to investigate:(1)the influence of earthquake history on the seismic response of wind turbines;(2)the influence of earthquake history on the dynamic pile-soil interaction;and(3)the influence of two different foundation types on the seismic response of wind turbines.The tests indicated that earthquake history has a significant influence on the natural frequency of the pile and the soil around the pile in the saturated sand,but has no obvious influence on the dry sand.The shear modulus of the soil and the acceleration amplification factor of the pile top in both tests increased and the maximum bending moment envelope of the single pile foundation shrunk.The stiffness of the p-y curve in saturated sand was increased by the earthquake history,while that in dry sand was not significantly affected.

Interface Mechanical Behavior of Flexible Piles Under Lateral Loads in OWT Systems

This paper investigates the interface mechanical behavior of flexible piles with L_p/D>10 under lateral load and an overturning moment in monotonic loading conditions.To modify the beam-on-Winkler-foundation model of piles in offshore wind farms,the energy-based variational method is used.The soil is treated as a multi-layered elastic continuum with the assumption of three-dimensional displacements,the pile modeled as an Euler-Bernoulli beam.A series of cases using MATLAB programming was conducted to investigate the simplified equations of initial stiffness.The results indicated that the interaction between soil layers and the applied force position should be taken into account in calculating the horizontal soil resistance.Additionally,the distributed moment had a limiting effect on the lateral capacity of a flexible pile.Moreover,to account for the more realistic conditions of OWT systems,field data from the Donghai Bridge offshore wind farm were used.

Numerical modeling of centrifuge cyclic lateral pile load experiments

To gain insight into the inelastic behavior of piles, the response of a vertical pile embedded in dry sand and subjected to cyclic lateral loading was studied experimentally in centrifuge tests conducted in Laboratoire Central des Ponts et Chaussees. Three types of cyclic loading were applied, two asymmetric and one symmetric with respect to the unloaded pile. An approximately square-root variation of soil stiffness with depth was obtained from indirect in-flight density measurements, laboratory tests on reconstituted samples, and well-established empirical correlations. The tests were simulated using a cyclic nonlinear Winkler spring model, which describes the full range of inelastic phenomena, including separation and re-attachment of the pile from and to the soil. The model consists of three mathematical expressions capable of reproducing a wide variety of monotonic and cyclic experimentalp-y curves. The physical meaning of key model parameters is graphically explained and related to soil behavior. Comparisons with the centrifuge test results demonstrate the general validity of the model and its ability to capture several features of pile-soil interaction, including： soil plastification at an early stage of loading, ＂pinching＂ behavior due to the formation of a relaxation zone around the upper part of the pile, and stiffness and strength changes due to cyclic loading. A comparison of the p-y curves derived from the test results and the proposed model, as well as those from the classical curves of Reese et al. （1974） for sand, is also presented.

Design of micropiles to increase earth slopes stability

A methodology was proposed for the design of micropiles to increase earth slopes stability. An analytic model based on bearn-colurnn equation and an existing P-y curve method was set up and used to find the shear capacity of the micropile. Then, a step-by-step design procedure for stabilization of earth slope with rnicropiles was introduced, involving six main steps： 1） Choosing a location for the rnicropiles within the existing slope; 2） Selecting micropile cross section; 3） Estimating length of rnicropile; 4） Evaluating shear capacity of mieropiles; 5） Calculating spacing required to provide force to stabilize the slope; 6） Designing the concrete cap beam. The application of the method to an embankment landslide in Qinghai Province was described in detail. In the final design, three rows of rnicropiles were adopted as a group and a total of 126 rnicropiles with 0.23 m in diameter were used. The micropile length ranged between 15 and 18 m, with the spacing 1.5 m at in-row direction. The monitoring data indicate that slope movement has been effectively controlled as a result of the slope stabilization measure, which verifies the reasonability of the design method.

Scour effect on a sea-crossing bridge under combined action of service and extreme seismic loads

Foundation scour is an important cause for structural failure of sea-crossing bridges. Usually, the sea-crossing bridges operate under the harsh natural environment in which service wind, wave and vehicle loads are stronger and extreme loads such as earthquake, hurricane, and ship collision, are more frequent. As a result of the foundation scour,the dynamic behavior of bridge under different combined action of service and extreme loads may be further escalated.In particular, this work has investigated the scour effect on a sea-crossing bridge under service wind, wave and vehicle loads as well as extreme seismic loads. The dynamic coupled earthquake-wind-wave-vehicle-bridge(EWWVB) system is established by considering the interactions within the system, and the p-y curve method is used to calculate the loaddisplacement relation of the pile and soil under various levels of foundation scour. After that, a case study has been performed on a cable-stayed bridge with foundation scour. The results indicate that the dynamic characteristics of bridge structure will change after considering bridge scour, and the dynamic responses of bridge and vehicle will be affected to different degrees under service and seismic loads considering bridge scour.

Numerical investigation of the ultimate lateral resistance of piles in soft clay

The paper presents a numerical study on the undrained lateral response of a single, free-head, reinforced concrete pile in soft clays. Soil conditions simulating normally consolidated clays are examined undrained shear strength increasing with depth--and the pile-soil interaction under static lateral loading is analyzed. The nonlinear p-y curves proposed in literature for soft clays are imported into a beam-on-nonlinear-Winkler-foundation simulation in order to predict the pile head lateral load--displacement curve and the distribution of the horizontal displacement and bending moment along the pile. The striking differences among these methods require further investigation via 3D finite element analyses. The determination of the ultimate soil resistance Pult from the results of the finite element analyses aims at providing the estimation of a range of values for the ultimate soil resistance coefficient Np with depth and the comparison of the derived values to the corresponding ones proposed by existing methodologies.