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.

Model tests on uplift capacity of double-belled pile influenced by distance between bells

To optimize the distance between the bells in pile design,this paper reports a series of small scale tests on the uplift capacity of double belled piles embedded in dry dense sand considering different bell space ratios.Finite element modelling is also performed to evaluate the range of soil failure around the piles during pile uplift displacement.Test results show that when bell space ratio is 6 or 8,the uplift capacity reaches the peak value.The upper bell bears more load than the lower one for the piles with bell space ratio less than 6,while the lower bell bears more load than the upper one for the piles with bell space ratio larger than 8.

Two-Dimensional Large Deformation Finite Element Analysisfor the Pulling-up of Plate Anchor

Based on mesh regeneration and stress interpolation from an old mesh to a new one, a large deformation finite element model is developed for the study of the behaviour of circular plate anchors subjected to uplift loading. For the deterruination of the distributions of stress components across a clay foundation, the Recovery by Equilibrium in Patches is extended to plastic analyses. ABAQUS, a commercial finite element package, is customized and linked into our program so as to keep automatic and efficient running of large deformation calculation. The quality of stress interpolation is testified by evaluations of Tresca stress and nodal reaction forces. The complete pulling-up processes of plate anchors buried in homogeneous clay arc simulated, and typical pulling force-displacement responses of a deep anchor and a shallow anchor are compared. Different from the results of previous studies, large deformation analysis is of the capability of estimating the breakaway between the anchor bottom and soils. For deep anchors, the variation of mobilized uplift resistance with anchor settlement is composed of three stages, and the initial buried depths of anchors affect the separation embedment slightly. The uplift bearing capacity of deep anchors is usually higher than that of shallow anchors.