Analysis of resistance factors for LRFD of soil nail pullout limit state using default FHWA load and resistance models

Abstract

Resistance factors for load and resistance factor design (LRFD) of pullout limit state of both permanent and temporary soil nails are calibrated against a wide design space using the current Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) nail load and resistance models. The calculated resistance factors were shown to scatter broadly among design scenarios that differ in wall face batter, soil friction angle, nail ultimate bond strength, and surcharge live load. An important lesson learned from the analysis results is that the current practice of using a single resistance factor for LRFD of nail pullout limit state could not result in uniform reliabilities across different design scenarios. Simple artificial neural network (ANN) models were developed for computation of resistance factors. Design examples demonstrated the ability of the ANN models in providing resistance factors that yield satisfactory and consistent reliabilities in different nail pullout designs.     

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.     

Reliability-Based Design for Jacket Platform Under Extreme Loads

In this paper, reliability analysis for the offshore jacket platform with the interaction of structure- pile- soil under extreme environmental loads is carried out. The inherent uncertainties of the environmental load, foundation soil, platform itself, and calculating models are evaluated. The action of extreme loads on the offshore platform is modeled as a function of extreme wave height. The system capacity of the whole platform is determined by nonlinear pushover analysis, and the relevant probability property is obtained by the simulation method. The reliability model for the whole jacket platform is described as the relationship between the load and resistance based on the offshore design codes. The reliability of whole platform is calculated by the analytical method and the importance sampling method on the basis of a case study for a tripod jacket platform.     

基于遗传算法的简易海洋平台的疲劳可靠性优化设计

本文提出了利用损伤力学的非线性疲劳损伤模型，在随机海浪交变荷载作用下，简易海洋平台疲劳可靠性优化设计的遗传算法。计算结果表明了计算模型的可靠性与遗传算法解决结构物疲劳可靠性优化设计的有效性     

Reliability-Based Optimum Design of a Simple Offshore Platform Based on Genetic Algorithms

In this paper,the problem of reliability-based optimal design of simple offshore platform isstudied,and a nonlinear fatigue damage model based on damage mechanics and genetic algorithms areused in the fatigue reliability optimum design of the structure under stochastic wave load.The fatigue dam-age model and the yield failure reliability analyzing model are used in the paper.The reliability of the mod-els and the effectiveness of genetic algorithm are shown by the results of optimum design.     

海洋工程中桩基水平向承载力可靠指标的影响因素分析

桩基础水平向承载力的计算是海洋工程中桩基设计的重要组成部分。论文在搜集了大量平台建设资料的基础上,以现有的桩基水平向承载力的设计计算方法为依据,进行了水平向承载力的可靠度研究。对影响可靠指标的各个因素进行了灵敏度分析。     

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.     

Numerical investigations of soil plugging effect inside large-diameter,open-ended wind turbine monopiles driven by vibratory hammers

Abstract

This study established a Couple Eulerian–Lagrange model to simulate monopile vibratory penetration for the investigation of soil plugging effect during high-frequency penetration of monopiles for wind turbine. Simulation analysis is focused particularly on soil plugging effect of a large diameter monopile during vibratory penetration into sand, clay, or layered soil. The results of the numerical simulation show that soil plugging effect is unlikely to occur during monopile penetration into the clay soil, while partial soil plugging may occur during the sand penetration. Penetration resistance at the pile toe is transferred to the radial stress around the pile wall. At a critical point penetration process, internal shaft friction becomes larger than external shaft friction. Moreover, radial pressure factors increase during partial soil plugging effect. For layered soil, the topsoil not only has great influence on the soil plugging effect, but also affects shaft friction in the subsoil during monopile penetration.     

极端荷载作用下海洋导管架平台体系可靠度分析

采用非线性倒塌分析方法，考虑桩－土－结构的非线性相互作用，研究了导管架平台在极端荷载作用下承载能力的计算模型，分析了平台结构体系在极端荷载作用下的全倒塌全过程，在此基础上，结合蒙特卡洛法，提出了海洋导管架平台结构的体系可靠度计算方法。最后对工程实例－涠11－4C海洋平台的结构进行了体系可靠性分析，并对比分析了不同的荷载效应计算公式对计算经的影响，研究表明计算经满足工程设计要求，便于工程应用。     

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.     

Determination of Partial Factors of Breast Wall on Top of Sloping Breakwater

- By applying the theory of structural reliability, reliability analyses for the stability of a breast wall on the top of a sloping breakwater are carried out. Based on the analyses, the method for determining partial action / load factors and partial resistance factors of breast walls is expounded, and the design expressions with partial factors are given. The values of partial action / load factors and partial resistance factors are recommended preliminarily according to the computation for breast walls with typical cross-sections.     

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.     

Calibration of LRFD Format for Steel Jacket Offshore Platform in China Offshore Area （2） ： Load, Resistance and Load Combination Factors

1.IntroductionLoad and Resistance Factor Design(LRFD)isthe commonly adoptedreliability-based designfor-mat for structural design(CNE,1990;AAHTO,1994;OMTC,1983;CMC,1984).Code calibra-tionforthe LRFDformat is a processto determinethetarget reliability by de…     

Reliability Analysis for Offshore Platform Structural Systems

A system reliability estimation method for spatial jacket platforms is developed in this paper,The jacket platform is modeled into three-dimensional assembly of spatial beam and plate elements in Fi-nite Element Method(FEM).The limit failure states correspond to collapse of a series of structural mem-bers which are identified by engineering design criteria.In this paper the following aspects are taken intoaccount:the punching shear and buckiing failures in member failure modes for the tubular joints and tubu-lar columns respectively;incremental loading approach for establishment of the safety margin equations ofsystem failure;the algorithm of enumerating significant failure modes for the structural systems and otherconcepts,such as the false failure mode and the virtual limit state.The final work is devoted to the reliabili-ty analysis for a practical jacket platform presently put into operation on the Bohai Sea.The computed re-sults shows that method suggested in this paper is feasible and effective for     

Investigation of three-dimensional active earth pressure and load transfer according to aspect ratio

ABSTRACT

Although there is a noticeable difference between two-dimensional and three-dimensional earth pressures, most researchers have suggested various earth pressure theories under the two-dimensional condition. Only a few studies have been conducted on the three-dimensional load transfer to the adjacent ground, whereas most studies in literature on the three-dimensional active earth pressure have been conducted by focusing on the stability of active wall. For accurate prediction of the three-dimensional active earth pressure, it is required to study not only the three-dimensional earth pressure distribution but also the three-dimensional load transfer to the adjacent ground. In this paper, size and distribution of the three-dimensional active earth pressure as well as the load transfer according to aspect ratio of retaining wall are investigated through a series of model tests. As a results, the three-dimensional active earth pressure distribution showed the highest value at the wall height of 0.5–0.55h when the aspect ratio of equal to 1.2 or higher. The load transfer showed higher values in vertical direction than horizontal direction. The load transfer distribution can be evaluated by applying the size and effect range of the loads transferred to the adjacent soil of the retaining wall.     

Reliability-Based Load and Resistance Factors Design for Offshore Jacket Platforms in the Bohai Bay: Calibration on Design Factors

For the fulfillment of the probability-based structural design for the offshore jacket platforms in the Bohai Bay, the design factors of loads, resistance and load combinations are much necessary to be calibrated according to the proposed target reliability index. Firstly, the limit states function for the offshore jacket platforms is introduced. Then, four approaches to calibrate the factors of load and resistance are presented and compared. Afterwards, the methods to calibrate the load combination factors are developed. Finally, the factors of load, resistance and load combination for the offshore jacket platforms in the Bohai Bay are calibrated and the corresponding design formulae are recommended. The results are proved to be rational in practice, and also illustrate that the proposed target reliability index for offshore jacket platforms in the Bohai Bay is also appropriate.     

钢悬链线立管强度可靠性计算研究

在钢悬链线立管分析中,材料性能、载荷参数、计算方法等都存在着大量不确定性。为考虑不确定性因素造成的影响,采用作用效应-抗力半随机过程构建可靠性模型,并采用极小化变换转化为静态可靠性问题。选用物理含义较为明确的屈服判定准则建立功能函数,通过单样本K-S检验对载荷随机过程的概率特性进行极值统计,提出载荷转化的方法以实现与目标可靠性指标的比对,并引入模型和主观不确定性随机变量。在此基础上采用改进的一次二阶矩法,对立管的强度可靠性进行了计算。结果表明此方法与利用系数方法能够相互印证,可以为立管的可靠性计算提供参考。     

Evaluation of vertically and laterally loaded bucket foundation in clay using a three-dimensional displacement approach

ABSTRACT

An investigation is made to present analytical solutions provided by a three-dimensional displacement approach for analysis of bucket foundations subjected to vertical and lateral loads in cohesive soils. The nonlinear vertical and lateral stiffness coefficients along the skirt of the bucket foundation in nonhomogeneous soil are presented using three-dimensional solutions for vertical and lateral loads and taking into account the dependence of stiffness coefficients on the shear strain. The vertical, lateral, and rocking stiffness coefficients on the base of the skirt of a bucket foundation are obtained from the solutions of hollow rigid cylindrical punch acting on the surface of a soil. The ultimate vertical stress of a soil under the base of a bucket foundation subjected to vertical and moment loads is presented analytically by considering only compression and ignoring tension on the base. The vertical and lateral yields along the skirt and the compression and shear failures on the base are taken into account in analysis of ultimate load capacities. Envelopes of the combined ultimate horizontal and moment load capacities of a bucket foundation in clay are shown. Relationships between ultimate lateral and moment load capacities and the embedment ratio (skirt length to diameter) are presented.     

Reliability-Based Load and Resistance Factors Design for Offshore Jacket Platforms in the Bohai Bay： Calibration on Design Factors

For the fulfillment of the probability-based structural design for the offshore jacket platforms in the Bohai Bay, the design factors of loads, resistance and load combinations are much necessary to be calibrated according to the proposed target reliability index. Firstly, the limit states function for the offshore jacket platforms is introduced. Then, four approaches to calibrate the factors of load and resistance are presented and compared. Afterwards, the methods to calibrate the load combination factors...     

中国南海极端风暴海况下固定式平台结构可靠性分析

基于中国南海海域风暴环境条件,研究分析南海海域固定式导管架平台结构整体性和可靠性,以及新建固定式平台结构设计准则。采用海洋环境数据后报方法,得到南海海域1972~2011共40年的风、浪、流联合数据,从中抽取风暴环境条件;利用通用荷载模型,将40年间的风暴环境数据转变成结构的荷载数据,即基底剪力或倾覆力矩;并计算得到风暴环境荷载的短期及长期分布,以及任意风暴下荷载的概率分布;根据结构可靠性模型,结合荷载的长期分布,研究基于结构暴露等级及失效概率的固定式平台结构强度储备比。根据计算,得到了不同暴露等级下中国南海平台的强度储备比,并与墨西哥湾及北海海域进行了比较,为新建平台提供设计参考。