Laboratory and field test study on the improvement of marine clay slurry by in-situ solidification

Abstract

Soil solidification technology can create an artificial hard shell on a soft soil surface but the type and proportion of the curing agent, the construction technology, and the strengthening depth have large influences on the strengthening effect and engineering cost. This study introduces a new technology of soil solidification whereby an artificial hard shell layer is used as a new method to improve the soft ground. For the in-situ solidification technology, the soil and curing agent are mixed well by using a strong stirring machine so that the soil is strengthened rapidly and forms a hard crust. We introduce the key technology of the in-situ soil solidification method and determine the in-situ crust carrying capacity. The indoor experiment on the curing agent proportions is validated with field tests and a vane shear test, static penetration test, and plate loading test are used to evaluate the reinforcement effect. The experimental results show that the in-situ curing technology of dredged fill processing markedly reduced the reinforcement depth range of the soil water content, improved the physical and mechanical indices, and increased the bearing capacity and strength of the artificial hard shell layer, thereby fully meeting the requirements for the bearing capacity of construction machinery.     

Effect of embedment on the vertical capacity of bucket foundation in loose saturated sand: Physical modeling

ABSTRACT

Bucket foundations have been widely used for a variety of offshore applications. The effects of skirt length on ultimate bearing capacity of bucket foundation have been studied and reported in published scientific papers. However, few studies have addressed the behavior of bucket foundations in loose saturated sand. In this paper, a series of experimental investigations were performed to determine the bearing capacity of bucket foundation under uniaxial loading. The experiments were conducted on small-scale foundations under vertical loading in loose saturated sand. It was found that increasing the skirt length would enhance the bearing capacity of bucket foundation. As reflected in the present study, bearing strength might be enhanced more than 5 times in loose saturated sand in comparison to surface footing with equivalent diameter. Based on the experimental investigation, a depth factor was proposed to approximate bearing capacity of bucket foundations in terms of those for surface footing and embedment ratio. Moreover, the corresponding settlement of foundation at the failure load was found to increase with skirt length.     

自升式平台桩脚在含硬壳层地基中的插深分析

存在硬壳层的层状地基承载能力分析是自升式钻井平台桩脚插深分析的关键,但是目前对硬壳层承载能力的确定还没有成熟可行的理论计算方法。一般的针对非均质层状地基的承载力计算方法,因参数较多,计算步骤繁琐,很难广泛应用于实际的平台桩脚入泥深度分析中。文中主要介绍了存在硬壳层的层状地基承载力的分析方法与过程,根据应力扩散原理推导并做适当的简化得到硬壳层承载力修正方法。简化后的修正方法能满足一般硬壳层承载力分析的需要,并使平台插桩深度分析计算过程变得简便。通过在实际工程的应用,得到的实测结果与理论计算值也较为一致,说明了用此方法分析硬壳层地基的平台插桩是合理、实用的。     

Degradation of lateral bearing capacity of piles in soft clay subjected to cyclic lateral loading

Abstract

In this article, the degradation of the lateral bearing capacity of piles in soft clay subjected to cyclic lateral loading is studied numerically. A modified kinematic hardening constitutive model is employed to simulate the degradation of soft clay after cyclic loading. The modified model is verified by comparing the numerical simulation results with the results of centrifuge model tests. Furthermore, the modified model is applied to numerical simulations for evaluating the lateral bearing capacity of piles in soft clay subjected to cyclic lateral loading. The degradation of the lateral bearing capacity of piles in soft clay after different cyclic displacement levels and different numbers of cycles is investigated. The study reveals that the modified kinematic hardening constitutive model can effectively estimate the cyclic degradation behavior of piles in soft clay subjected to cyclic lateral loading. The degradation of the ultimate lateral bearing capacity progresses slowly with increasing cyclic displacement level for fewer cycles, and the degradation develops significantly at higher levels of cyclic displacement after applying a larger number of cycles.     

Study on Failure Mechanism and Bearing Capacity of Three-Dimensional Rectangular Footing Subjected to Combined Loading

This paper presents two kinematic failure mechanisms of threc-dimensional rectangular footing resting on homogeneous undrained clay foundation under uniaxial vertical loading and uniaxial moment loading. The failure mechanism under vertical loading comprises a plane strain Prandti-type mechanism over the central part of the longer side, and the size of the mechanism gradually reduces at the ends of the longer side and over the shorter side as the corner of rectangular footing is being approached where the direction of soil motion remains normal to each corresponding side respectively. The failure mechanism under moment loading comprises a plane strain scoop sliding mechanism over the central part of the longer side, and the radius of scoop sliding mechanism increases linearly at the ends of the longer side. On the basis of the kinematic failure mechanisms mentioned above, the vertical ultimate bearing capacity and the ultimate bearing capacity against moment or moment ultimate bearing capacity are obtained by use of upper bound limit analysis theory. At the same time, numerical analysis results, Skempton＇ s results and Salgado et al. ＇s results are compared with this upper bound solution. It shows that the presented failure mechanisms and plastic limit analysis predictions are validated. In order to investigate the behaviors of undrained clay foundation beneath the rectangular footing subjected to the combined loadings, numerical analysis is adopted by virtue of the general-purpose FEM software ABAQUS, where the clay is assumed to obey the Mohr-Coulomb yielding criterion. The failure envelope and the ultimate bearing capacity are achieved by the numerical analysis results with the varying aspect ratios from length L to breadth B of the rectangular footing. The failure mechanisms of rectangular footing which are subjected to the combined vertical loading V and horizontal loading H （Vertical loading V and moment loading M, and horizontal loading H and moment loading M respectively are observed in the finite e     

Physical Modeling of a Footing on Soft Soil Ground with Deep Cement Mixed Soil Columns under Vertical Loading

Deep cement mixing (DCM) technique is a deep in-situ stabilization technique by mixing cement powder or slurry with soft soils below the ground surface to improve their properties and behavior. Some of DCM treated soft soil grounds are approximately in a plane-strain condition; for example, a fill embankment on DCM improved ground. In this study, a plane-strain physical model was created with instrumentation and used to investigate the bearing capacity and failure mode of a soft soil improved by an end-bearing DCM column group. This study focuses on the observed wedge-shaped shear failure of the model ground and attempts to give an account of the failure. Two different methods are used to calculate the bearing capacity of the model ground, and the computed values are compared with the measured ones. It is found that the simple Brom's method gives a better estimate of the bearing capacity of the present model ground. It is also found that measured data of pore water pressures at different locations in the soft soil indicate coupling between failure of columns and consolidation of the soft soil. This study has presented the first time that a wedge-shaped block failure was observed for pattern of DCM treated soil ground.     

Unified numerical study of shallow foundation on structured soft clay under unconsolidated and consolidated-undrained loadings

Abstract

Based on a new elasto-plastic constitutive model, this paper presents a soil–water coupled numerical prediction of the bearing capacity for shallow foundation constructed on Ballina soft clay for unconsolidated undrained (UU) and consolidated undrained (CU) conditions. This elasto-plastic constitutive Shanghai model has an advantage of describing the mechanical behaviour of over-consolidated and structured soil under different loading and drainage conditions, by using one set of material parameter. In this paper, the Shanghai model used for both UU and CU conditions has the same initial parameters obtained from laboratory test results. The loading conditions and consolidation stages vary based on construction details. The predicted bearing pressure-settlement responses for UU and CU, approves the field observation. The phenomenon of gaining the bearing capacity due to consolidation is captured and explained by the use of soil–water coupled numerical analysis with a new elasto-plastic model. The stress strain behaviour, stress paths and the decay of the structure of elements at different depths presented in this study, reveal the mechanism for the difference between UU and CU conditions to understand the foundation behaviour. Effect of the initial degree of soil structure on the bearing capacity is also addressed. Overall, this approach provides the integrated solution for the shallow foundation design problems under short and long-term loadings.     

Behavior of Weak Soils Reinforced with End-Bearing Soil-Cement Columns Formed by the Deep Mixing Method

This article reports on a series of small-scale, plane strain, 1 g physical model tests designed to investigate the bearing capacity and failure mechanics of end-bearing soil-cement columns formed via Deep Mixing (DM). Pre-formed soil-cement columns, 24 mm in diameter and 200 mm in length, were installed in a soft clay bed using a replacement method; the columns represented improvement area ratios, a_p, of 17%, 26%, and 35% beneath a rigid foundation of width 100 mm. Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) was implemented in conjunction with close-range photogrammetry in order to track soil displacement during loading, from which the failure mechanisms were derived. Bearing capacity performance was verified using Ultimate Limit State numerical analysis, with the results comparing favorably to the analytical static and kinematic solutions proposed by previous researchers. A new equation for bearing capacity was derived from this numerical analysis based on the improvement area ratio and cohesion ratio of the soil column and ground model.     

Application of High Energy Dynamic Compaction in Coastal Reclamation Areas

High energy dynamic compaction (HEDC) is adopted in a coastal reclamation area because the grain size of backfilled soil mostly ranges between 20 cm and 100 cm. The in situ tests for evaluating the effectiveness of HEDC were performed on the backfilled soil ground. The crater depth per drop and the whole test zone elevations before and after HEDC were measured and analyzed. Dynamic penetration tests and spectral analysis of surface wave (SASW) tests were used for investigating the improvement depth. Furthermore, the allowable bearing capacity of HEDC treated ground was determined based on the results of plate-load tests. It was found that HEDC did not cause the ground surface heave during construction, and was more effective than low energy dynamic compaction (LEDC) in terms of applied energy utilization. Based on the test results, the improvement depth of HEDC at this site was not less than 14 m, and there was no obvious weak layer within the range of improvement depth. The allowable bearing capacities were larger than 160 kPa. The investigation results indicate that the HEDC technique is an effective way for improving backfilled coarse-grained soil in coastal reclamation areas. This technique helps to achieve both greater improvement depths and higher ground bearing capacities as compared with LEDC.     

Centrifuge modelling of lateral loading behaviour of a “semi-rigid” Mono-pile in soft clay

Abstract

Mono-pile foundations have been widely used for offshore wind turbines principally due to their convenient construction and cost-effective nature. So far, little attention has been paid to large diameter “semi-rigid” piles that have distinct behaviours from flexible or ideally rigid piles. This paper presents a series of centrifuge model tests to study the deforming and bearing characteristics of a 5.9 dia. semi-rigid pile under lateral loadings in kaolin clay. For monotonic loading, a modified p–y curve analysis model considering rotational soil flow near the rotation centre of pile was proposed, highlighting the limitation of classic plane-strain based plasticity models to evaluate the ultimate lateral pile-soil resistance. For cyclic loading, a strong correlation between the degree of soil degradation and cyclic load amplitude was identified. Besides, a degradation factor model, accounting for various cyclic stress levels and soil depths, was proposed, which can be used to assess the accumulative displacement of semi-rigid piles under cyclic loadings in soft clay.     

Cover Placement on Dredged Marine Clay Reclaimed Deposit

This paper presents a case history of geotextile-reinforced dry cover placement on a reclaimed clay deposit treated by progressive trenching method. In order to investigate the effects of the cover material's characteristic of ensuring trafficability with respect to bearing failure and ground deformation, two types of covers were considered in pilot tests: a layer of weathered granite soil cover and a layer of weathered granite soil over stiff crushed stone. A number of in-situ plate load tests were conducted for various cover conditions to assess the bearing capacity of the reclaimed deposit and to determine the thickness and material compositions that satisfy the bearing capacity requirement. In full-scale pilot tests for cover placement, field monitoring was carried out for the surface settlement and pore pressure that developed in the reclaimed clay layer. The results of plate-loading tests and monitoring during staged cover placements are discussed and compared using numerical predictions obtained from both finite element analyses and undrained stability analyses. The comparison results showed that the drainage condition of the ground surface facing the dry cover is strongly related to the ground response and stability.     

Bearing capacity of shallow foundations in clay with linear increase in strength and adhesion factor

In this paper, the computational lower bound (LB) limit analysis using finite element with second-order cone programming was used to investigate the LB solutions of the undrained bearing capacity of continuous footing with a linear increase in the strength profile and an adhesion factor at the soil–footing interface. A full range of parametric studies of the dimensionless strength gradients and adhesion factors at the soil–footing interface were performed in the LB calculations. The results were verified by comparison with the available solution from the method of characteristics (slip-line analysis) for perfectly smooth and rough footings. The LB analyses were able to complete a prior solution of undrained bearing capacity with a linear increase in the strength profile by incorporating the influence of adhesion factor at the soil–footing interface. Based on the nonlinear regression to the computed LB solutions, an approximate expression of the LB solution regression was proposed, which is applicable to an accurate prediction of a safe load for offshore shallow foundations in clay with an arbitrary linear increase in strength and adhesion factor at soil–foundation interface in practice.     

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。     

Centrifugal Modeling of an Embankment Backfilled with Lime-Stabilized Soil on Marine Clay

A centrifugal model test was performed for an embankment backfilled with lime-stabilized soil on an undisturbed marine clay foundation. During the test, in-flight photographs were captured, settlements were measured by displacement sensors, and displacement contours were obtained from the markers installed on the front face of the model foundation. These test data were analyzed and discussed in this paper. The test results show that the embankment was stable at 2 m height but ruptured during the loading from 2 to 4 m height. The ratio of the maximum horizontal displacement increment to the ground settlement increment at the embankment centerline suddenly increased during the loading from 4 to 6 m height, indicating the failure of the foundation. This result is in agreement with the observation of the centrifugal test and the calculated Terzaghi ultimate bearing capacity under an undrained condition. Considering the brittle behavior and low tensile strength of the lime-stabilized soil, it is recommended that the lime-stabilized soil should only be used for a low embankment with a height less than 2 meters.     

Experimental investigation of the system behaviour of a model three-legged jack-up on clay

Results from combined loading experiments dedicated to evaluating the capacity and stiffness of a single footing have significantly improved the understanding of the response of circular shallow foundations. However, due to experimental practicalities, little corroborative evidence is available to confirm predicted behaviour when multiple footings act within a structural system. This paper addresses this concern by presenting the results of a series of experimental tests on a three-legged model jack-up unit founded on soft, heavily overconsolidated clay. The model adopted geometric features representative of a large prototype rig by appropriately scaling leg height, leg separation and flexural stiffness, as well as the ‘spudcan’ footing diameter and profile. Pushover events were considered by subjecting the model jack-up to monotonic horizontal loading at hull level. By measuring loads and displacements at the hull and at each spudcan, the system behaviour of the jack-up could be analysed. Nine separate tests were performed, revealing how load orientation, leg length and preload ratio changed the system capacity and affected the load–displacement paths of the jack-up and spudcan system. The test results are compared with those derived from single spudcan experiments, and are interpreted within the combined load yield surface approach gaining acceptance within the offshore industry.     

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.     

Improvement of very soft ground by a high-efficiency vacuum preloading method: A case study

This paper describes a full-scale test on a very soft clay ground around 70,000?m², which is conducted in Huizhou of Guangdong Province, China, to present a new method of vacuum preloading method. A novel moisture separator was developed, which can automatically regulate the vacuum pressure variation by changing the volume of the gas inside it. A large quantity of water drained by the proposed moisture separators can be directly used as a surcharge loading, which would shorten the ground improvement time and save costs as well. Three levels of silt-prevention prefabricated vertical drains were used in the treating process to accelerate the consolidation. In addition, the vacuum preloading method also included an effective radial drainage device which would strengthen the dredged soft clay fill in a deep layer. In the in situ test, tens of piezometers and settlement plates were installed to measure the variations of excess pore water pressures and settlement of two stages of observation points at different positions in the ground. The results show that the largest average consolidation settlement was 314.1?cm and made a saving of more than 66% in power consumption compared with traditional method. It demonstrates that this adopted method is an efficient, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly method for improving sites with low bearing capacity and high compressibility soils.     

Behavior of a helical anchor under vertical repetitive loading

Abstract

In the field of ocean engineering, anchors are used for several purposes. This article studies the behavior of a helical anchor embedded in soft marine clay under vertical repetitive loading. Helical anchors are simple steel shafts to which one or more helical plates are attached at regular intervals. The tests are conducted on a model helical anchor installed in a soft marine clay bed prepared in a test tank. Repetitive loading is applied using a pneumatic loading arrangement. Different cyclic load ratios and time periods are adopted. In each test, after the application of repetitive loading, poststatic‐pullout tests are conducted to observe the effect of repetitive loading on anchor behavior. From the test results, it is found that, up to a cyclic load ratio of 55%, there is no reduction in capacity. Instead, there seems to be a marginal increase in capacity and reduction in displacement. The reasons for this behavior are explained in terms of induced changes in strength and deformation behavior of marine clay under repetitive load. However, at higher cyclic load ratios, there seems to be reduction in pullout capacity of the anchor, and the reason for this is explained in terms of strain criteria. From this investigation, it can be concluded that the deep anchor is more suitable to a marine environment than a shallow anchor.     

Earth Pressure on Caissons in Marine Clay Under Cyclic Loading

Coastal protection is proposed to be made out of a contiguous caisson type of wall. These caissons can be designed to resist both lateral static and cyclic loading. With adequate depth of embedment, the walls can be designed to offer significant lateral passive resistance to counteract the lateral static and cyclic loading arising out of wave action. This article describes a set of laboratory tests on model caissons embedded into soft marine clay with different embedment depths. Specially designed earth pressure cells are embedded into the caisson at different depths. A pneumatic system was used to apply lateral static and cyclic loading. Test beds were prepared conforming to soft clay conditions in a test tank of appropriate size. The test results reveal that with this type of arrangement the variation in earth pressure with depth can be conveniently established. The earth pressure developed is related to the lateral load applied. The depth at which the maximum earth pressure occurs is same for both static and cyclic loading. Further, under cyclic loading there is no failure encountered even under cyclic loading level corresponding to 0.9 times the ultimate static lateral capacity.     

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.