Reliability analysis of submarine slope considering the spatial variability of the sediment strength using random fields

The properties of marine sediments vary spatially, and the undrained shear strength of marine clay increases linearly with depth because of depositional processes and the effective overburden pressure. To evaluate the stability of submarine slope considering the spatial variability of soil strength, the random field discretized by the Karhunen-Loève expansion is combined with the limit equilibrium method to conduct reliability analysis. For simplicity, our physical model does not include many complexities such as the effects of excess pore water pressure on the stability of submarine slopes. Stability estimates of the infinite slope model, under both static and seismic loading, are made with three types of one-dimensional stationary or non-stationary random fields. The two-dimensional slope model is also analyzed, where the shear strength varies with the positions of the strips because of the discrete random-field function for the soil material. In submarine slope reliability analysis, the non-stationary random field of the linearly increasing soil strength is used, instead of the commonly used stationary one. To obtain the failure probability through Monte Carlo simulations, a novel response surface method based on Gaussian process regression is introduced to build the surrogate model. The computational efficiency is significantly increased, because there is a considerable reduction of calls of the deterministic analysis. Therefore, the proposed method makes the prediction of submarine landslides which are usually rare events with very small probabilities more efficient.     

极端波浪条件下黏土质斜坡海床稳定性解析

海洋资源开发引起海底软黏土的结构性破坏,导致土体强度弱化,在百年一遇的极端波浪作用时极易发生斜坡海床的局部失稳甚至大范围海底滑坡,给海洋工程建设和正常运营带来严重影响。目前,主要采用极限平衡法评价这类海底斜坡,但该法只能给出近似解。基于极限分析上限方法,推导了极端波浪诱发的波压力对斜坡海床的做功功率,建立了外力功与内能耗散率平衡方程;利用最优化方法,结合数值积分和强度折减技术,求解了不同时刻的斜坡海床稳定性系数,并针对扰动后的斜坡海床开展了有限元解的对比验证。在此基础上,深入探讨了不同波浪参数(波长、波高和水深)和坡长小于一个波长等极端条件下的海底斜坡稳定性。     

基于极限分析上限方法的海底斜坡稳定性评价

极限平衡法仍是当前海底斜坡稳定性的主要工程评价方法,但该法只能给出稳定性分析的近似解答。基于极限分析运动学定理,假定海底斜坡发生对数螺线型滑移破坏模式,将滑体有效自重和简化波浪力等以外荷载形式叠加引入到虚功率方程中,与潜在滑动面上由黏聚力产生的内能耗散率相平衡,建立考虑一阶简化波浪效应的海底斜坡上限解法;利用多变量无导数求极值的逐级迭代方法与最优化技术,结合抗剪强度折减思想,求解波浪加载下不同时刻的海底斜坡稳定性与相应的临界破坏机构,并针对典型算例开展有限元数值解的验证。进而联合采用数值法与上限解,探讨波高、波长、水深等波浪参数对海底斜坡稳定性与滑动机制的影响。结果表明,本文提出的上限解与数值解吻合较好,获得的安全系数与破坏模式等符合一般规律,为波浪作用下海底斜坡的稳定性评价提供了新的途径。     

Probabilistic analysis for wave‐induced submarine landslides

Abstract

When waves propagate over the ocean floor, they induce a change of hydrodynamic pressure, positive under the crest and negative under the trough. These pressure changes may cause shear failure in soft sediments and lead to submarine landslides. This paper presents a general analytical procedure for evaluating the probability of wave‐induced failure in offshore clay sediments. Both the wave and the un‐drained shear strength of clay sediments are considered random. Numerical results of some analyses are also presented.     

曹妃甸深槽斜坡稳定性影响因素敏感性分析

海洋灾害地质因素中,虽然海底滑坡发生频率不高、但造成的灾害损失往往会较严重,斜坡的稳定性受众多因素综合影响,且各因素对斜坡稳定性的影响程度存在差异,其敏感性分析一直是国内外研究的重要内容。本文以曹妃甸深槽海底斜坡为研究对象,分析了水下斜坡稳定性的影响因素。应用滑坡稳定性分析软件Geo-Slope对黏聚力、内摩擦角、重度、坡度等内在敏感因素以及地震动参数、附加荷载和波高这3个外在敏感因素进行了单因素敏感性分析,认为内在因素中内摩擦角最为敏感,外在因素中地震动参数的敏感度最高。通过对水下斜坡稳定性影响因素及其敏感性分析,可为海底滑坡的防治规划提供依据。     

Susceptibility assessment of regional submarine landslides triggered by seismic actions

Submarine landslide and even its evolution to high-speed sliding masses can seriously threaten the safety of ocean engineering. Earthquakes are the most frequent trigger factors for landslides, and thus, seismic instability evaluation of submarine slopes has become a hot topic. However, the mechanism of submarine slope failures triggered by earthquakes is enormously complex. Although certain satisfactory results have been achieved in specific slopes, submarine landslides are still difficult to monitor and control, meaning that prevention-oriented research remains the mainstream. Regional slide predictive analyses of vast submarine slopes should be emphasized, but relevant research is notably rare. In this paper, a regional assessment methodology for submarine slope instabilities under seismic loads is proposed, and susceptibility mapping of landslides is established. First, considering the quasi-static bidirectional seismic action and the marine soil strength-weakening effect, an infinite slope sliding mode is used to establish the stability evaluation formula for a multiple soil-layer slope. Second, according to water depth data and GIS techniques, slope gradients are investigated, and the safety factors of submarine slopes located at specific stations are acquired. Furthermore, discrete stations are taken as sample points, and susceptibility mapping of submarine landslides is achieved using the inverse distance weighted and GIS techniques. Finally, regional seismic instability assessments of submarine slopes are conducted in the northeastern South China Sea, and various factors that influence submarine landslides are briefly discussed. This study offers an important basis for the development of marine resources and the risk assessments in ocean engineering.     

Hydrodynamic Forces and Instability of Submarine Pipelines Under Waves and Currents： A Review

Stability design of submarine pipelines is a very important procedure in submarine pipeline engineering design. The calculation of hydrodynamic forces caused by waves and currents acting on marine pipelines is an essential step in pipeline design for stability. The hydrodynamic forces-induced instabilities of submarine pipelines should be regarded as a wave/ current-pipeline-seabed interaction problem. This paper presents a review on hydrodynamic forces and stability research of submarine pipelines under waves and currents. The representative progress including the improved design method and guideline has been made for the marine pipelines engineering design through experimental investigations, numerical simulations and analytical models. Finally, further studies on this issue are suggested.     

波浪作用下粉土海床中的孔压响应试验研究

海床在波浪作用下是否稳定对海底工程的安全至关重要,海床的稳定性与土体中的孔压响应密切相关。水槽模拟试验表明:在波浪的作用下,黄河三角洲粉土海床中将产生振荡孔隙水压力和累积孔隙水压力。振荡孔隙水压力大小与土层深度、波高和粘粒含量有关,其振幅(能量)在土层中随深度的增加呈指数衰减,且粘粒含量越高衰减越快;加载波高越大,能量衰减越快。而累积孔压响应模式表现为在波浪作用最初的一段时间内,孔隙水压力快速上升,然后逐渐减小而趋于稳定,其大小和速率也与波高、粘粒含量、土层埋深有关,粘粒含量越高,孔压累积速度越低。     

Field Evaluation of Undrained Shear Strength from Piezocone Penetration Tests in Soft Marine Clay

The use of the piezocone penetration test (CPTU) in a geotechnical site investigation offers direct field measurement on stratigraphy and soil behavior. Compared with some traditional investigation methods, such as drilling, sampling and field inspecting method or laboratory test procedures, CPTU can greatly accelerate the field work and hereby reduce corresponding operation cost. The undrained shear strength is a key parameter in estimation of the stability of natural slopes and deformation of embankments in soft clays. This paper provides the measurements of in situ CPTU, field vane testing and laboratory undrained triaxial testing of Lianyungang marine clay in Jiangsu province of China. Based on the literature review of previous interpretation methods, this paper presents a comparison of field vane testing measurements to CPTU interpretation results. The undrained shear strength values from both the field vane tests and cone penetration resistances are lowest at the mid-depths of the marine clay layers, and the excess pore water pressures are highest at the mid-depths of the marine clay layers, indicating that the marine clay layer is underconsolidated.     

Large-scale seafloor stability evaluation of the northern continental slope of South China Sea

Abstract

With the continuous expansion of energy demand, the deep-water continental slope in the northern South China Sea has become one of the significant offshore oil and gas exploration regions. The frequent occurrence of marine geological hazards in this region, especially submarine landslides, can cause serious damage to engineering facilities. However, there have been few studies on the stability of the northern continental slope of the South China Sea; these studies mainly focused on a specific submarine slope or small-range evaluation, resulting in a lack of large-scale and quantitative understanding. Hence, considering the variation in the physical and mechanical properties of marine soils with depth, formulas for calculating the safety factor of submarine slopes by an infinite sliding model are established, and the factors affecting slope stability such as soil properties, slope gradient and horizontal seismic action are systematically investigated. Using GIS techniques, the terrain slope gradients and a historical seismic database of the northern South China Sea are obtained. Combined with soil mechanical parameters, a regional stability evaluation of the northern continental slope is carried out. Furthermore, the distribution of risk zones is given. On the whole, under strong seismic action, large-scale submarine slope instability occurs and must be highly considered when assessing risk. This achievement is of great significance to engineering sites, route selection and engineering risk assessment.     

曹妃甸海底深槽斜坡稳定性分析与评价

海底斜坡稳定性受风暴潮、海底地震等诸多不确定因素影响,易发生失稳破坏,产生较大的海洋地质灾害。简要介绍海底斜坡稳定性分析方法,建立曹妃甸深槽典型斜坡计算模型,确定了模型计算的海底地形参数、地层结构参数、土体物理力学参数等指标,利用GEO-SLOPE斜坡分析软件进行海底斜坡稳定性定量计算,分析了工程建设前自然状态下以及在大规模工程建设后海底斜坡稳定性,并模拟分析了在大风浪和地震等极端条件下斜坡的稳定性,确定了海底斜坡失稳空间特征。首次采用数值计算对曹妃甸海底斜坡稳定性进行定量分析评价,可以为类似近海建设工程提供重要的参考作用。     

海底滑坡作用下滩海管道结构安全分析

海底滑坡作为常见的海洋地质灾害,对海洋油气工程安全产生巨大威胁。海床土体失稳引起滑坡体滑动,会对海底管道产生拖曳作用。基于计算流体动力学方法(CFD)建立海底滑坡体对管道作用的评估模型,采用H-B模型描述块状滑坡体并与试验比较验证,分析不同海床倾斜度滑坡对管道的作用并拟合表达式;研究了海底管道在滑坡作用下的力学响应,并采用极限状态方法开展海底滑坡作用下管道结构极限安全分析,探讨了管道埋地状态时的极限安全界限,建立滑坡作用下管道结构安全分析方法。研究表明:滑坡对管道作用力与海床倾角呈现正相关,而覆土层厚度对作用力影响较小;随着不排水抗剪强度的减小,允许的滑坡宽度和速度均增加,表明土体不排水抗剪强度与引起的拖曳力呈正相关;滑坡土体宽度对极限安全速度影响较大。     

波致海底缓倾角无限坡滑动稳定性计算分析探讨

波浪作用下海底无限坡滑动稳定性计算的极限平衡法中,忽略了坡体水平向应力状态的影响,为此,针对波浪作用下海底缓倾角无限边坡的特点,提出直接基于滑动面处土体应力状态的滑动稳定性计算方法(简称应力状态法),并分析了其适用范围。对具体算例的分析表明,应力状态法计算得出的安全系数大于极限平衡法的安全系数,且随着滑动面深度的增加、土体泊松比以及边坡坡角的增大,两种计算方法得出的安全系数的差异会逐渐增大;对于波浪作用下的海底缓倾角无限边坡,在失稳时极可能沿具有一定厚度的滑动带而不是单一的滑动面而滑动,且波致最大剪应力所在的深度,常常不是斜坡体最易失稳滑移的深度。     

海洋粉质粘土在波浪荷载作用后的不排水抗剪强度衰化特性

通过对南海重塑粉质粘土土样的大量动三轴试验结果分析,得到此种土在波浪荷载作用后不捧水抗剪强度衰化同动载作用引起的动应变幅及平均累积孔压之间的相互关系和预估公式;并通过与超固结土样的静三轴剪切试验结果的比较,发现动、静三轴两种试验结果具有很好的吻合关系。建议可用超固结土样的静三轴剪切试验同时结合部分动三轴试验来预估土样在波浪荷载作用后不排水抗剪强度衰化与平均累积孔压之间的关系。     

Stability analysis on a porous seabed under wave and current loadings

The stability of a porous seabed under wave and current loadings is particularly important for engineers to design marine structures such as submarine pipelines, breakwaters, and offshore platform foundations. Most previous investigations of dynamic response of marine structures and seabed have only considered the influence of wave loading, but the important influence of current is ignored. Even if the influence of current is considered, the interaction mechanism of both loadings has not been clearly elaborated. Based on the Biot’s dynamic theory and combined two-dimensional nonlinear progressive wave and uniform current theory, the interaction mechanism of wave and current loadings and the influence of current on wave characteristic are analyzed by numerical computations. The influence of current velocity, different permeability, and stratification in seabed on the effective stresses and pore pressures of seabed is discussed in detail. Further, the stability of seabed is evaluated through the liquefaction analysis of seabed, which will provide important reference frames to improve the design and construction of marine structures.     

Estimation of undrained shear strength for saturated clay using shear wave velocity

Undrained shear strength is a fundamental parameter for estimating the stability of soft soils. This study explores the relationship between undrained shear strength, void ratio, and shear wave velocity for saturated and normally consolidated clay specimens. The undrained shear strength void ratio-shear wave velocity relationship was correlated to empirically determined parameters of selected marine clay specimens. To verify the proposed relationship between undrained shear strength and shear wave velocity, in situ flat dilatometer tests were used for determining the undrained shear strength, and downhole tests were used to assess the shear wave velocity on a natural soil deposit at various depths. The undrained shear strength estimated from the in situ shear wave velocities was compared to the undrained shear strength obtained in the field. The results show that the inferred undrained shear strength yield similar values and follow the same trends as the in situ undrained shear strength data. This method using shear wave velocity can help to nondestructively estimate the undrained shear strength of soft soils in the field and be used in both on-shore and off-shore geotechnical engineering projects.     

往复荷载作用下软粘土中浅埋管道的稳定性的振动台模型试验研究

软粘土在波浪荷载作用下,可能发生强度软化,使埋设在软粘土层中的海底管道的受力状态或支撑条件发生变化,从而出现上浮或下沉的趋势,对管道的稳定性发生影响。本文通过在振动台上进行的模型试验来模拟当土性因动荷作用而发生变化时管道的稳定情况,对这个问题进行了探索,得出了一些规律性的认识,可供海底管道的设计者参考。     

Characteristics of Vibrational Wave Propagation and Attenuation in Submarine Fluid-Filled Pipelines

As an important part of lifeline engineering in the development and utilization of marine resources, the submarine fluid-filled pipeline is a complex coupling system which is subjected to both internal and external flow fields. By utilizing Kennard’s shell equations and combining with Helmholtz equations of flow field, the coupling equations of submarine fluid-filled pipeline for n=0 axisymmetrical wave motion are set up. Analytical expressions of wave speed are obtained for both s=1 and s=2 waves, which correspond to a fluid-dominated wave and an axial shell wave, respectively. The numerical results for wave speed and wave attenuation are obtained and discussed subsequently. It shows that the frequency depends on phase velocity, and the attenuation of this mode depends strongly on material parameters of the pipe and the internal and the external fluid fields. The characteristics of PVC pipe are studied for a comparison. The effects of shell thickness/radius ratio and density of the contained fluid on the model are also discussed. The study provides a theoretical basis and helps to accurately predict the situation of submarine pipelines, which also has practical application prospect in the field of pipeline leakage detection.     

A simple experimental method to regain the mechanical behavior of naturally structured marine clays

Quantitative laboratory studies on the structural behavior of natural intact marine clays require a large number of identical natural samples leading to an expensive and challenging task. This study proposes a simple method to reconstruct an artificial structured marine clay as the state of its natural intact clay at both macro and micro levels. For this purpose, the Shanghai marine clay is selected and mixed with low cement contents (1–6%). The clay-cement slurry is mixed in a container with the ice-covered sides at a low temperature about 0 ± 2 °C to postpone the hydration reactions until consolidation began. The purpose of adding cement is to generate the inter-particle bonding and structure in reconstituted samples. Initially, the reconstituted samples are consolidated under the in situ stress of 98 kPa and then under the pre-consolidation pressure of 50 kPa. Mechanical characteristics such as compression index, yield stress, unconfined compression strength, shear strength ratio, and the stress paths from triaxial tests are compared with natural intact clay accordingly. Scanning electron microscope and mercury intrusion porosimetry analyses are also performed to analyze the microstructure of clays for comparison. Furthermore, the proposed method is also examined by using natural intact marine clays of different locations and characteristics.     

Centrifuge study on the runout distance of submarine debris flows

ABSTRACT

In this paper, a series of mini-drum centrifuge experiments on motion of submarine debris flow, which are able to correctly reproduce the self-weight stresses and gravity-dependent processes, are presented. These tests were performed using artificial submarine clay with high water content, from 93 to 149%. The extremely low shear strength made the debris material behave as idealistic lubricating material when it was deposited, resulting in a linear relationship between water content and runout distance of strongly coherent debris flow. On the other hand, the dilation of the flow body and hydroplaning was observed for weakly coherent debris flow, which further increased the mobility of flow body. A densimetric Froude number Fr_d was used to indicate the threshold of hydroplaning, which occurs if the Fr_d is greater than 0.2. Finally, two simple analytical models based on prototype debris flow under 1?g condition was used to validate the experiment results, which further prove the effects of soft marine clay on the high mobility of submarine debris flow. On the other hand, when the water content exceeded 120%, the experiment results deviated from the analytical solution due to the effects of hydroplaning.