Field Investigations of Two Super-long Steel Pipe Piles in Offshore Areas

A research on super-long piles has been primarily based on cast-in-place bored piles. In this article, field tests associated with selected measuring technologies were conducted on two super-long steel pipe piles in offshore areas to investigate the behaviors and performance of super-long steel pipe piles. The strain along the pile shaft was monitored by adopting the Brillouin optical time domain reflection and fiber Bragg grating techniques. Static load tests were also conducted on two test piles to determine the bearing capacities. In addition, the axial forces, relative displacements between piles and soils and pile shaft resistances were calculated based on the measured strain. According to the results of the static load tests, the ultimate bearing capacities of the two test piles are greater than 15,000 and 15,500 kN. Both of these values meet the design requirements. In addition, the two test piles can be treated as pure friction piles, and the load transfer mechanism and relationships between the pile shafts and relative displacements are also discussed. Finally, recommendations for practical engineering and significant conclusions are presented.     

Axial compressive bearing capacity of piles in ‎oil-contaminated sandy soil using FCV

ABSTRACT

Oil and its derivatives contaminate many soils and not only affect their chemical and biological properties but also their geotechnical properties. As oil contamination may deteriorate the functioning of piles, this paper addresses the effects of oil contamination on soil–pile interactions. Axial compressive bearing capacities of two close-ended, instrumented piles were investigated in different oil-contaminated sand using frustum confining vessel. Three different oils (gasoil, crude oil, and used motor oil) at different contamination levels were considered and using some strain gauges, the toe, shaft, and the net total bearing capacity of piles, as well as load distributions along the pile length, were derived. The results show that the presence of oil between soil particles has considerable adverse effects on bearing capacities of model piles, especially the shaft bearing capacity. The oil viscosity and percentage, as well as the contaminated sand bed thickness around the piles, are the most influential parameters. The higher the oil viscosity and oil content, the lower the values of the piles’ bearing capacities in comparison to the uncontaminated sand. With some modifications on the bearing capacity parameters of CFEM method, a good agreement was observed between measured and calculated bearing capacity values.     

考虑预载固结效应的海底浅基础承载力包络面演化规律研究

由于预载下土体固结,海底浅基础的承载力会随作业时间的增加而改变,其时变效应评估困难。基于修正剑桥模型,采用水土耦合有限元方法研究了预载作用下浅基础在正常固结黏土海床中承载力破坏包络面的时变规律。在验证数值模型准确性后,通过位移探针测试获取复合加载模式下浅基础的破坏包络面,揭示了预载和固结程度对基础承载力和破坏包络面的影响,给出了预载作用下浅基础承载力包络面计算方法。结果表明：随着预载比增加,固结单轴承载力呈现线性增长,固结承载力增幅在水平向最大;部分固结承载力相对增幅与预载比无关,而随固结度变化;破坏包络面形状由预载比控制,而包络面大小由预载比和固结度共同控制。研究结果可为海洋浅基础的时变承载力评估提供参考依据。     

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.     

真空预压联合碎石桩加固港口吹填堆场地基的试验研究

在港口工程建设中,快速加固超软弱的吹填地基,采用真空预压法是一个经济有效的方法,再联合以碎石桩加固则能进一步提高地基的承载力、减少地基工后沉降.通过真空预压联合碎石桩加固地基的现场试验以及观测资料的分析,得出真空预压联合碎石桩加固后地基的承载力特征值由原天然地基的60 kPa左右提高到220 kPa,计算结果表明打碎石桩后的地基变形模量Esp与真空预压后的Ea相比提高了1倍,联合碎石桩加固后的地基沉降量比仅经过真空预压的地基减少1/3.     

A new method of combination of electroosmosis,vacuum and surcharge preloading for soft ground improvement

As a rapid and effective ground improvement method is urgently required for the booming land reclamation in China＇s coastal area, this study proposes a new combined method of electroosmosis, vacuum preloading and surcharge preloading. A new type of electrical prefabricated vertical drain （ePVD） and a new electroosmotic drainage system are suggested to allow the application of the new method. This combined method is then field-tested and compared with the conventional vacuum combined with surcharge preloading method. The monitoring and foundation test results show that the new method induces a settlement 20% larger than that of the conventional vacuum combined with surcharge preloading method in the same treatment period, and saves approximately half of the treatment time compared with the vacuum combined with surcharge preloading method according to the finite element prediction of the settlement. The proposed method also increases the vane shear strength of the soil significantly. The bearing capacity of the ground improved by use of the new proposed method raises 118%. In comparison, there is only a 75% rise when using the vacuum combined with surcharge preloading method during the same reinforcement period. All results indicate that the proposed combined method is effective and suitable for reinforcing the soft clay ground. Besides, the voltage applied between the anode and cathode increases exponentially versus treatment time when the output current of power supplies is kept constant. Most of the voltage potential in electroosmosis is lost at electrodes, leaving smaller than 50% of the voltage to be effectively transmitted into the soil.     

海床表层软土对宽浅式筒型基础承载特性影响研究

近海海床表层多为软黏土或淤泥质土,为探究海床表层软土对海上风电宽浅式筒型基础承载特性的影响,以中国广东某海域风电场为背景,通过有限元分析的方法,研究竖向、水平、弯矩荷载作用下软土层厚度和土体强度对基础极限承载力、破坏模式以及筒基土压力分布的影响。研究结果表明:当软土层厚度小于H/2(H为筒裙高度)时,单向荷载作用下宽浅式筒型基础极限承载力随软土层厚度的增加呈线性减小的趋势;当软土层厚度大于H/2后,承载力降低速率逐渐增大。表层软土的存在,使得塑性区范围缩小,软土层内土体塑性破坏更加明显。竖向荷载作用下,随软土层厚度的增大,筒顶承载先减小后增大,筒内侧摩阻力先增大后减小;水平荷载和弯矩作用下,筒侧被动土压力的降低是引起软土覆盖地基中基础承载能力降低的主要因素。     

青岛港液体化工码头区软基处理方法的对比分析研究

使用层次分析法,对青岛港港池浚深挖泥吹填形成的液体化工码头的软基处理方法进行优选。结合土质特点等因素,分区进行不同工艺的分析,建议真空预压法和强夯法进行地基处理。两种方法的地基处理资料对比表明,真空预压法为首选处理工艺。     

A simplified calculation method for axial cyclic degradation of offshore wind turbine foundations in clay

Abstract

Pile foundation is the most popular option for the foundation of offshore wind turbines. The degradation of stiffness and bearing capacity of pile foundation induced by cyclic loading will be harmful for structure safety. In this article, a modified undrained elastic–plastic model considering the cyclic degradation of clay soil is proposed, and a simplified calculation method (SCM) based on shear displacement method is presented to calculate the axial degradated capacity of a single pile foundation for offshore wind turbines resisting cyclic loadings. The conception of plastic zone thickness R_p is introduced to obtain the function between accumulated plastic strain and displacement of soil around pile side. The axial ultimate capacity of single piles under axial cyclic loading calculated by this simplified analysis have a good consistency with the results from the finite element analysis, which verifies the accuracy and reliability of this method. As an instance, the behavior of pile foundation of an offshore wind farm under cyclic load is studied using the proposed numerical method and SCM. This simplified method may provide valuable reference for engineering design.     

Postgrouted helical piles behavior through physical modeling by FCV

Piling procedure may disturb the surrounding soil, due to the installation particularly for cast-in-place piles. It causes a reduction in the soil strength parameters and, consequently, pile capacity. To overcome shortcomings and also for improving piles’ capacity, postgrouting as a compensation method is recognized and more developed in recent years. Helical piles, those are used widely in marine and land projects, although, are driven by torque implementation, but soil disturbance is noticed, where number of the helices become up to 3 and more. In this paper, an experimental study program is performed by frustum-confined vessel (FCV) to investigate bearing capacity of model helical piles and also postgrouted cases’ performance. FCV has been used because of its linear distribution of vertical and horizontal stresses from zero at top to maximum at bottom which simulates real field stress conditions. Through experimental study, small-scale helical model piles were made of 4-mm-thick steel plate and have been used with a length of 750?mm. The shaft and helix diameters of model piles have been 32 and 89?mm, respectively. So, the helix-to-shaft ratio (wing ratio) was about 2.8. The helical model piles installed in fine-grained sand as a surrounding soil and then axial loading tests before and after grouting were performed to achieve ultimate pile capacity. Results indicated postgrouting can improve both ratios of toe and frictional soil–pile interactions including upgrading β and N_t factors. In addition, the post grouting phenomena can change the pile geometry due to treated soil bond, resulting better functioning. Therefore, it is a proper method to improve helical piles performance and compensate installation effects in capacity mobilization.     

Self-expanded piles: A new approach to unconventional piles development

Abstract

In onshore and offshore fields of ocean engineering, piles are used as foundation systems for various structures. Piles are classified into different types depending on their materials, geometries, and particularly, installation methods, which have advantages or limitations. Companies and engineers have developed a new group of piles, because of necessity to improve their performance in terms of increasing the bearing capacity, reducing impacts of traditional installation procedures, implementing by low- torque power equipment, and utilizing them in widely different ground conditions, including in a marine environment. In the present study, three different models of a new pile with an expander body are introduced to increase the shaft and pile-toe diameters and its self-expansion in the embedment depth under the titles of the Bubble pile (BP), Self-Expanded pile (SEP) and Wing pile (WP). The main subject of this research is to achieve increased bearing capacity, reduced installation effects, and decreased required installation torque. The frustum-confining vessel of Amirkabir University of Technology (FCV-AUT) was employed for this purpose. Up to 14 axial compressive and tensile load tests were carried out on different model piles on sand collected from Anzali shore located on the northern coast of Caspian Sea in Iran, with relative densities of 45% to 50% within FCV-AUT. Comparing the performance of introduced pile with traditional pile corresponding to the same characteristics, the results indicated a significant increase in the axial bearing capacity and reduced disturbance effect of the pile. Also, a lower installation torque of the SE pile was required compared to the helical pile. The test results also demonstrated that the new pile could resist considerable compressive and uplift loads, and could be a possible alternative to traditional piles in the onshore sector.     

Numerical Studies on Piled Gravity Base Foundation for Offshore Wind Turbine

This study aims to investigate a hybrid gravity base foundation to support offshore wind tower. A new hybrid gravity base foundation considered in this study has five component piles, referred to as ‘piled gravity base foundation’. The three-dimensional finite element analyses were carried out for the piled gravity base foundation subjected to a combined load with a lateral load and overturning moment. The parametric analyses were undertaken varying the loading height and direction, the rigidity of the piled gravity base foundation, the field soil layers, and the clay strength. Overall, the response of the piled gravity base foundation was significantly influenced by the interaction between the cone base piles and the surrounding soil. The increased strength of the soil led to a significant reduction of the pile and gravity base foundation responses, in terms of the bending moments, axial forces, lateral displacements, and rotations.     

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.     

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.     

东营地区地基土工程特性分析

东营地区地处黄河三角洲,其地层主要由第四纪新近沉积土和一般沉积土构成。其特点是地层较软弱,天然地基承载力低,承受荷载后地基变形较大。为了适应东营地区天然地基承载力低的特殊地质情况,目前常用的地基处理方法是水泥粉体喷射搅拌桩复合地基。采用水泥粉喷搅拌桩复合地基处理技术以后,复合地基承载力可提高到天然地基承载力的1.22.3倍。     

Undrained bearing capacity of spudcan under combined loading

The bearing capacities of spudcan foundation under pure vertical (V),horizontal (H),moment (M) loading and the combined loading are studied based on a series of three-dimensional finite element analysis.The effects of embedment ratio and soil non-homogeneity on the bearing capacity are investigated in detail.The capacities of spudcan under different pure loading are expressed in non-dimensional bearing capacity factors,which are compared with published results.Ultimate limit states under combined loading are presented by failure envelopes,which are expressed in terms of dimensionless and normalized form in three-dimensional load space.The comparison between the presented failure envelopes and available published numerical results reveals that the size and shape of failure envelopes are dependent on the embedment ratio and the non-homogeneity of the soil.     

压力注浆螺旋钢管桩抗拔承载性能试验研究

针对海相软土地区螺旋钢管桩承载力低与腐蚀问题,提出一种新型压力注浆螺旋钢管桩,并设计5根足尺试验桩,进行现场抗拔承载性能试验,研究螺旋叶片直径与排布方式对成桩直径与桩基抗拔承载性能的影响.结果表明,成桩直径与螺旋叶片直径呈正相关,在每节延长段钢管末端设置螺旋叶片利于提高水泥土柱完整性,使成桩直径更为饱满,提高桩基的抗拔承载性能.将试验结果和现行规范抗拔极限承载力计算结果进行对比,计算结果约为实测平均值的94％,在此基础上提出压力注浆螺旋钢管桩抗拔承载力计算参数修正建议,为后续的设计提供参考.     

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.     

Performance of small group of geosynthetic-reinforced granular piles

Granular piles are frequently used as a method of improving soft grounds as they provide increased bearing capacity and reduce foundation settlements. However, in very soft clayey soils, they may not derive their load-carrying capacity by low confining pressure provided by the surrounding soil. In such circumstances, granular piles may be reinforced with suitable geosynthetic to increase its load-carrying capacity and to reduce excessive bulging. In this study, the performance of small group of geosynthetic-reinforced granular piles (GRGPs) is examined in terms of load-carrying capacity, settlement, and modulus by laboratory model tests. The parameters investigated include modulus of reinforcement material, area replacement ratio (ARR) based on the column diameter and reinforcement length. The results indicated that increasing the modulus of the reinforcement and the ARR based on the column diameter enhances the overall performance of the GRGP group. It was also observed that reinforcement on top portion of the granular pile is sufficient to substantially increase the load-carrying capacity of granular pile group.     

Experimental simple shear study of composite soil with cemented soil core

Abstract

Cement soil mixing piles are an effective treatment method for marine soft clay. To investigate the static and dynamic characteristics of the composite soil with cemented soil core, a series of experiments are carried out by using the cyclic simple shear test. The result shows that, the static shear strain showed strain hardening, cemented soil core can improve static shear strength of composite soil, vertical stress can enlarge reinforcement of cemented soil core. The tendency of strain development of composite soil with different area replacement ratios under cyclic loading is the same as that of pure clay, existing critical cyclic stress ratios corresponding to different area replacement ratios. In addition, improving area replacement ratio can increase cyclic strength. At same time, adding of cemented soil core does not change shape of hysteresis curve compared with it for clay either. Moreover, cemented soil core can also obstruct stiffness softening. Through regression analysis of the experimental data, relationship between cyclic number and soil softening index is proved to be linear. The results can give a reference for the dynamic characters of the marine soft clay foundation with cement soil mixing piles.