Study of the Bearing Capacity at the Variable Cross-Section of A Riser- Surface Casing Composite Pile

Reducing the cost of offshore platform construction is an urgent issue for marginal oilfield development.The offshore oil well structure includes a riser and a surface casing.The riser,surface casing and oil well cement can be considered special variable cross-section piles.Replacing or partially replacing the steel pipe pile foundation with a variable cross-section pile to provide the required bearing capacity for an offshore oil platform can reduce the cost of foundation construction and improve the economic efficiency of production.In this paper,the finite element analysis method is used to investigate the variable cross-section bearing mode of composite piles composed of a riser and a surface casing in saturated clay under a vertical load.The calculation formula of the bearing capacity at the variable section is derived based on the theory of spherical cavity expansion,the influencing factors of the bearing capacity coefficient N_(c) are revealed,and the calculation method of N_(c) is proposed.By comparing the calculation results with the results of the centrifuge test,the accuracy and applicability of the calculation method are verified.The results show that the riser composite pile has a rigid core in the soil under the variable cross-section,which increases the bearing capacity at the variable cross-section.

Discussion on pile axial load test methods and their applicability in cold regions

The measurement of pile axial load is of great significance to determining pile foundation design parameters such as skin friction and end bearing capacity and analyzing load transfer mechanisms.Affected by the temperature and ice content of frozen ground,the interface contact relationship between pile foundation and frozen soil is complicated,making pile axial load measurements more uncertain than that in non-frozen ground.Therefore,it is necessary to gain an in-depth understanding of the current pile axial load test methods.Four methods are systematically reviewed:vibrating wire sensors,strain gauges,sliding micrometers,and optical fiber strain sensors.At the same time,the applicability of the four test methods in frozen soil regions is discussed in detail.The first two methods are mature and commonly used.The sliding micrometer is only suitable for short-term measurement.While the Fiber Bragg grating(FBG)strain gauge meets the monitoring requirements,the Brillouin optical time-domain reflectometer(BOTDR)needs further verification.This paper aims to provide a technical reference for selecting and applying different methods in the pile axial load test for the stability study and bearing capacity assessment of pile foundations in cold regions.

Determination of large diameter bored pile's effective length based on Mindlin's solution

The calculation equation of large diameter bored pile＇s effective length is connected with its distribution of pile shaft resistance. Thus, there is a great difference between the calculation results under the different distributions of pile shaft resistance. Primarily, this paper summarizes the conceptualized mode of pile shaft resistance under the circum- stance that the soil surrounding the piles presents different layer distributions. Secondly, based on Mindlin＇s displacement solution and in consideration of the effect of pile diam- eter, the calculation equation is optimized with the assumption that the pile shaft resis- tance has a parabolic distribution. The influencing factors are analyzed according to the calculation result of effective pile length. Finally, combined with an engineering example, the calculation equation deduced in this paper is analyzed and verified. The result shows that both the Poisson ratio of soil and pile diameter have impacted the effective pile length. Compared with the Poisson ratio of soil, the effect of pile diameter is more significant. If the pile diameter remains the same, the effect of the Poisson ratio of soil to the effective pile length decreases as the ratio of pile elastic modulus and soil share modulus increases. If the Poisson ratio of soil remains the same, the effect of the pile diameter to the effective pile length increases as the ratio of pile elastic modulus and soil share modulus increases. Thus the optimized calculation result of pile effective length under the consideration of pile diameter effect is more close to the actual situation of engineering and reasonably practicable.