A new look at the phenomenon of offshore pile plugging

Abstract

Open‐pipe piles are widely used for offshore structures. During the initial stage of installation, soil enters the pile at a rate equal to the pile penetration. As penetration continues, the inner soil cylinder may develop sufficient frictional resistance to prevent further soil intrusion, causing the pile to become plugged. The open‐ended pile then assumes the penetration characteristics of a closed‐ended pile. The mode of pile penetration significantly alters the soil‐pile interaction during and after installation. This affects the ultimate static bearing capacity (mainly in granular materials), the time‐dependent pile capacity (in clays), and the dynamic behavior and analysis of the piles.

Following a summary demonstrating the effects of pile plugging, a review of the common view of offshore pile plugging is undertaken. The interpretation of plugging by referring to the average plug length has led to the erroneous conclusion that in most piles significant plugging action does not occur.

Establishment of an analogy between soil samplers and open‐ended piles enabled correct identification of plugging by referring to the incremental changes in plug length. Examination of case histories of plugging of offshore piles revealed that beyond a certain penetration depth‐to‐diameter ratio, most piles are plugged.     

Shaft capacity of pre-bored grouted planted nodular pile under various overburden pressures in dense sand

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a series of model tests performed to study the shaft capacity of pre-bored grouted planted nodular (PGPN) pile in dense sand. The influence of the vertical overburden pressure on the shaft capacity of the PGPN pile is also investigated based on the test results. The test piles were equipped with strain gauges to measure the axial loads during the loading process, moreover, a foam plate was buried beneath pile tip to eliminate the influence of tip resistance on the shaft capacity. Some conclusions can be drawn based on the test results: the peak skin friction of PGPN pile increases with the increase of vertical overburden pressure applied on the foundation soil, while the rate of increase decreases with the increasing overburden pressure; the surface of the pile–soil interface of PGPN pile is relatively rough, and significant dilatant increase in lateral stress occurs during the loading process.     

桩基尺寸对砂土中水平受荷桩-土作用力的影响

p-y 曲线法在水平受荷桩的设计中得到了广泛应用,然而近年来在海上风机超大直径单桩基础设计中受到了学术界和工程界的质疑,当前研究表明,桩基尺寸是产生这一问题的主要原因。本文通过三维数值仿真技术,研究了砂土地基中水平受荷桩-土作用特征的演变规律,探讨了当前超大直径单桩设计方法存在的主要问题及产生的原因。计算结果显示：超大直径单桩基础因其桩径大、长径比（入土长度与直径的比） 小的尺寸特征,在水平荷载作用下桩土作用具有明显的三维空间效应,即除受水平向土反力外,还受到桩端水平向的摩擦力、沿桩身不均匀摩阻力产生的抵抗力矩及桩底不均匀土反力提供的抵抗力矩;进一步研究表明,后三类抗力对桩基水平承载力的贡献占比与桩基尺寸有关,即桩基直径越大、长径比越小,这些抗力的贡献越大。因此,在水平受荷超大直径单桩承载特性计算与分析的过程中,除当前水平向p-y 弹簧提供的抗力外,还应考虑桩底的水平剪力、桩身摩擦力和桩底反力不平衡产生的抵抗力矩。     

Model tests on open-ended concrete pipe piles jacked in sand

Abstract

An experimental study of the performance of concrete pipe piles during installation under different penetration speeds and static load tests on the piles in sand is presented. The applied jacking force, the amount of pile penetration, length of soil plug formed and ultimate bearing capacity were measured during the model tests. The results showed that the concrete pipe piles were partially plugged and the behavior of the soil plug was significantly affected by the penetration speed. The lower the penetration speed, the larger the soil plug formed which in turn leads to a greater ultimate bearing capacity. The size of soil plug can be evaluated by the m value defined as the ratio of the volume of the soil plug to that of the penetrated pile wall. The relationship between the m value and the penetration speeds can be used to estimate the amount of soil plug and the depth of penetration for an open-ended concrete pipe pile jacked into sand.     

Calculation and analysis of negative skin of monopile applied for offshore wind turbine

Monopiles are considered to be as a kind of viable foundation types for offshore wind turbines. The effect of negative skin friction on pile foundation is always an important problem. There are very important theoretical and practical significance to study the distribution law of negative skin friction and the calculation method. Based on the special stratum, the stress and strain of the monopile and soil are simplified, and the improved Kezdi’s double-broken-line model is adopted. The analytical solution of negative skin friction of monopile is deduced according to the degree of skin friction. An engineering case was analyzed by the method, and the calculated results agree well with the measured data. The calculation method proposed can accurately describe the range of the monopile skin frictional distribution and the position of the neutral point, and it is simple and convenient to calculate, that is also a feasible method for calculating the negative skin friction of monopile of offshore wind turbines in practical engineering.     

海上风电楔形单桩基础竖向承载力特性分析

为提高基础利用率增加海上风电设施的可行性，对楔形单桩基础竖向承载力特性进行研究分析。采用PLAXIS 3D 有限元软件建立楔形单桩基础模型，从桩侧摩阻力、桩侧法应力及土体位移对比分析楔形单桩基础与等截面单桩竖向承载特性差异，并探讨内摩擦角、楔角及楔高对承载力的影响。研究表明：楔形单桩基础竖向承载力高于等截面单桩基础，且承载力随着楔角、楔高的增大而增大，提高率最大达24.786%。倾斜侧壁的引入改变了桩侧摩阻力的传递规律；倾斜侧壁挤密桩周土体，桩侧摩阻力与法向应力增大，从而有效提高单桩基础的竖向承载力。研究成果可为今后海上风电单桩基础截面型式的设计提供参考。     

Behavior of soil plugs in open‐ended model piles driven into sands

Calibration chamber tests were conducted on open‐ended model piles driven into dried siliceous sands with different soil conditions in order to clarify the effect of soil conditions on load transfer mechanism in the soil plug. The model pile used in the test series was devised so that the bearing capacity of an open‐ended pile could be measured as three components: outside shaft resistance, plug resistance, and tip resistance. Under the assumption that the unit shaft resistance due to pile‐soil plug interaction varies linearly near the pile tip, the plug resistance was estimated. The plug capacity, which was defined as the plug resistance at ultimate condition, is mainly dependent on the ambient lateral pressure and relative density. The length of wedged plug that transfers the load decreases with the decrease of relative density, but it is independent of the ambient pressure and penetration depth. Under several assumptions, the value of earth pressure coefficient in the soil plug can be calculated. It gradually reduces with increase in the longitudinal distance from the pile tip. At the bottom of the soil plug, it tends to decrease with increase in the penetration depth and relative density, and to increase with the increase of ambient pressure. This may be attributed to (1) the decrease of friction angle as a result of increase in the effective vertical stress, (2) the difference in the dilation degree of the soil plug during driving with ambient pressures, and (3) the difference in compaction degree of soil plug during driving with relative densities. Based on the test results, an empirical equation was suggested to compute the earth pressure coefficient to be used in the calculation of plug capacity using one‐dimensional analysis, and it produces proper plug capacities for all soil conditions.     

Drainage conditions around monopiles in sand

Large diameter monopiles are typical foundation solutions for offshore wind turbines. In design of the monopile foundations in sand, it is necessary to understand the drainage conditions of the foundation soil under the design loading conditions as the soil performance (strength and stiffness) is highly dependent on the drainage conditions. This paper presents a numerical investigation into this issue, with a purpose to develop a simple design criterion for assessing the soil drainage conditions around a monopile in sand. It is found that for typical monopile foundations in sand, the drainage condition during a single load cycle is generally expected to be undrained. However, the current state-of-practice uses p-y springs derived for drained soil responses for monopile design. The impact of this discrepancy on monopile foundation design was evaluated and found to be insignificant due to the relatively low level of loading as compared to the capacity of the soil.     

Model tests on performance of offshore wind turbine with suction caisson foundation in sand

Abstract

The performance of steel caisson during and after installation with different penetration velocities in medium dense sand is presented. The applied jacking forces, the amount of formed soil heave and bearing capacity were measured in the model tests. The influence of penetration velocities on jacking forces, soil heave and bearing capacity were also discussed in detail. The results indicated that the jacking forces for caisson in medium dense sands were significantly affected by the penetration velocity. The larger the penetration velocity, the more soil flowed into the caisson cavity during installation. This will lead to larger inner shaft resistance and in turn more jacking forces required for the same penetration depth. The height of soil heave during installation increases with penetration velocity. The m value calculated by the ratio of the volumes of the soil heave to that of the penetrated caisson wall can be used to evaluate the soil heave. The larger the applied velocity, the larger the m value and larger bearing capacity of caisson after installation. The relationship between the m value and penetration velocity can be used to control the soil heave for a steel caisson with a wall thickness to external diameter ratio of 4.2% in medium dense sand by jacking method.     

Dynamic response of a large-diameter pile with variable section in layered saturated soil considering construction disturbance effect

ABSTRACT

An analytical solution is developed in this paper to investigate the vertical time-harmonic response of a large-diameter variable-section pile, and it considers the radial inhomogeneity of the surrounding soil caused by construction disturbance. First, the saturated soil surrounding the pile is described by Biot’s poroelastic theory and a series of infinitesimally thin independent layers along the shaft of the pile, and the pile is represented by a variable-section Rayleigh–Love rod. Then, the dynamic equilibrium equations of the soil and pile are solved to obtain an analytical solution for the impedance function at the pile top using the complex stiffness transfer method and impedance function transfer method. Finally, the proposed solution is compared with previous solutions to verify its reliability, and a parameter study is conducted to provide insights into the sensitivity of the vertical dynamic impedance of the pile and velocity response in low-strain integrity testing on defective piles.     

A Model Test on the Behavior of a Static Drill Rooted Nodular Pile Under Compression

A static drill rooted nodular pile is a new type of composite pile foundation with high bearing capacity, and mud emissions can be largely reduced using the static drill rooted method. This report presents a model test on the behavior of this composite pile in a test box. The load-displacement response, axial force, skin friction, and mobilized base load are discussed in the report; in particular, the force in the cemented soil was investigated based on the measured data. Moreover, the finite element software ABAQUS was used to help investigate this behavior more thoroughly. It was determined that the function of the cemented soil around the pile shaft was different from that at the enlarged pile base; the stress in the cemented soil around the shaft increased suddenly when nearing the pile base; the ultimate skin friction obtained in the model test was larger than that estimated in the field test; and the relative displacement between the precast nodular pile and the cemented soil could be ignored during the loading process, which corresponded to the result of the field test and demonstrated that the nodular pile and cemented soil act as one entity during the loading process.     

Driving energy losses for constant diameter and tapered submerged monopiles

Large monopiles are used as foundations for offshore wind turbines and are generally designed with a tapered section or conical shape. Some loss of driving energy is expected to occur during installation of these structures due to the submerged section of the tapered monopile. The current literature on this subject is limited and indicates rather large losses compared to field observations.A numerical model of the monopile–water–soil system was set up in the general-purpose finite element package Abaqus. By simulating the hammer impact and the resulting stress wave propagation through the monopile and water, the energy losses to be expected can be calculated accurately. The model was verified against independent finite element analyses and experimental data.A parametric study was performed and the effect of hammer characteristics, submerged monopile length and monopile geometry on the driving energy losses were quantified. The results enable a simple relationship between the energy losses and the monopile geometry to be proposed which increases linearly with pile diameter, taper angle, and submerged length. The losses are typically on the order of 0.15–0.3% per metre submerged length for large tapered monopiles.     

Field study of set-up effect in open-ended PHC pipe piles

Large-scale field tests were conducted to study set-up effect in open-ended prestressed high-strength concrete pipe piles jacked into stratified soil. Four open-ended prestressed high-strength concrete pipe piles with 13 and 18 m in embedment depth were fully instrumented with fiber Bragg grating sensors and installed. Several restrike dynamic tests were performed on each test pile, with the time interval from 21.5 to 284 hours after installation. Static loading tests (SLTs) were later performed on each test pile at 408 hours after installation to substantiate the dynamic tests. Changes with time in pile bearing capacity and in the shaft and toe resistances were studied based on the results of the pile tests. The development of shaft resistance set-up in different layers was studied in particular. It was found that set-up effect in the shaft resistance is significant and the toe resistance increment was minor. The overall set-up factor of total bearing capacity was found to range from 0.09 to 0.53, and the set-up effect of friction pile is much larger than the end bearing pile. More significant set-up in shaft resistance was observed in fill and alluvium layer. The dimensionless set-up factor A for shaft resistance in marine deposits ranges from 0.5 to 1.43, and it contributes the most to the shaft resistance as the shaft resistance in marine deposits is higher.     

Bearing capacity and critical punch-through depth of spudcan on sand overlying clay

Spudcan may experience punch-through failure on strong over weak layered soils, such as sand overlying clay. A large deformation finite element method （LDFE） is used to simulate the penetration process of spudcan into sand overlying clay. The sand is simulated by smoothed hyperbolic Mohr-Coulomb model, and the clay is simulated by a simple elasto-plastic model which obeys Tresca yield criterion. According to the LDFE results of a large amount of cases, the effects of the strength, unit weight and thickness of the top sand layer, as well as the effect of the strength of the underlying clay on the spudcan punch-through behavior, are investigated. The critical depth occurring punch-through and the critical bearing capacity are presented in charts. Fitting equations to calculate the critical punch-through depth and the critical bearing capacity are proposed for the convenience of engineering practice.     

Longitudinal dynamic impedance of a static drill rooted nodular pile embedded in layered soil

The static drill rooted nodular (SDRN) pile is a new type of precast pipe pile with equally spaced nodes distributed along the shaft and wrapped by the surrounding cemented soil. In this paper, the longitudinal dynamic response of the SDRN pile embedded in layered soil is investigated with respect to the complexity of the pile body structure and the pile–soil contact condition. First, the shear complex stiffness transfer model is used to simulate the radial inhomogeneity of the surrounding soil. Then, the governing Equations of the pile–soil system subjected to longitudinal dynamic loading are established. The analytical solution for the dynamic response at the pile head is obtained by the shear complex stiffness transfer method and the impedance function transfer method. The degenerate case of the present solution is compared with the published solution to verify its reliability, and the complex impedance of the SDRN pile is compared with that of the precast pipe pile and the bored pile. Finally, a parametric study is conducted to investigate the influence of pile–soil parameters on the complex impedance at the pile head within the low frequency range concerned in the design of the dynamic foundation.     

Response of Single Piles in Marine Deposits to Negative Skin Friction from Long-term Field Monitoring

The behavior of single piles subjected to negative skin friction in soft soil was conducted by analyzing the results from full-scale long-term field measurements and three-dimensional (3D) numerical analyses. A skin friction coefficient (α and β coefficients) of the instrumented piles is back-calculated at different degrees of consolidation (U) of soft marine clay. Back-calculated β-values ranged from 0.15 to 0.35 for clay, and from 0.30 to 0.55 for sand, respectively. In addition, back-calculated α-values ranged from 0.1 to 0.3 for coated pile, and from 0.2 to 0.8 for uncoated pile when undrained shear strength of the soft clay was about 30–60 kPa, respectively. Moreover, this study describes behavior of a pile based on full-coupled 3D finite element (FE) analysis. The appropriate parametric studies needed for verifying the pile-soil interaction with consolidation are presented in this paper. Compared to the results from the measurements, it is shown that the computed results are capable of predicting the pile-soil behavior under consolidation. The major parameters that influence the pile behavior are discussed for different soil-pile conditions.     

Numerical analysis of bearing capacity of drilled displacement piles with a screw-shaped shaft in sand

Drilled displacement (DD) piles with a screw-shaped shaft (referred to as DD piles) are installed using a continuous full thread hollow rod (without a displacement body) inserted and advanced in the soil by both a vertical force and a torque. As a type of newly developed pile, current understanding of the bearing mechanism of DD piles is unsatisfactory, which restricts their further applications in engineering. The primary aim of this paper is to study the bearing mechanism of this type of pile using a numerical method. First, a numerical model for calculating the bearing capacity of the DD piles was created and validated by a laboratory test. Then, the effects of the parameters of pile–soil interface, soil strength, and pile geometrical parameters on the bearing mechanism of the DD piles were investigated in parametric studies. The results of parametric studies show that the limit shear stress on the pile–soil interface, the friction angle of surrounding sand, screw pitch, and thread width significantly influence the bearing capacity of the DD piles, whereas the friction coefficient at the pile–soil interface and the thread thickness have little effect. Based on the results of the parametric studies, the failure mechanism of the DD piles under vertical load is analyzed. Finally, an equation for predicting the ultimate bearing capacities of helical piles based on cylindrical shear failure was used for estimating the bearing capacity of the DD piles, and the calculated results were verified with the numerical results.     

海上风电大直径加翼桩水平承载性能研究

为改善海上风电大直径钢管桩的水平承载性能,基于ABAQUS有限元软件对单桩改进形式的加翼桩结构进行了系统研究,计算分析了软黏土地基中加翼桩在水平荷载作用下桩身弯矩、应力、位移、桩身泥面处倾斜率和极限承载力,研究了加翼桩面积、形状、埋深和刚度等翼板参数对加翼桩水平承载性能的影响规律,根据加翼桩的桩-土作用机理,参考现行规范模式提出适用于软黏土地基大直径钢管桩的P-Y曲线。研究结果表明,加翼桩通过在泥面处设置翼板可降低桩基泥面处倾斜率50%、提高桩基极限承载力60%以上,加翼桩水平承载性能明显优于单桩。     

海上风电单桩基础土相互作用特性影响因素分析

采用有限元软件ABAQUS建立了海上风电单桩基础与土相互作用数值计算模型,将波浪、洋流及风荷载等效成双向对称循环荷载,研究了水平循环荷载作用下不同因素对桩身水平位移、剪力和弯矩的影响规律。研究表明,随着循环荷载比的增加,桩身位移零点和桩身剪力反弯点沿埋深逐渐下移,桩身弯矩最大值点位于浅层土体;不同荷载频率时桩身位移在零点以上变化较大,桩身弯矩随着频率的增加逐渐增大;单向循环荷载作用下桩身位移最大,双向对称循环荷载作用下桩身位移最小;壁厚较小时对桩身水平位移影响较大;在位移零点之上范围内可以考虑设计"上厚下薄"的钢管桩,以减小桩身水平位移;不同桩壁厚时桩身剪力曲线在埋深约6D处出现交点,且泥面处桩身弯矩变化不明显。     

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.