A Laboratory model study on the performance of lime pile application for marine soils

In this study, research was conducted to examine the performance of the lime pile application, a deep chemical stabilization method to improve the engineering characteristics of marine soil deposits. By using a laboratory-scale model, the marine soil sample was compacted into soil blocks in circular steel test tanks, with the installation of lime piles in them. An experimental program examined the effect of lime piles on physical and engineering properties of the soil in terms of curing periods and lime pile radial distances. Test results showed that clay fines, linear shrinkage, compressibility, and swelling pressure decreased, while permeability, preconsolidation pressure, and stiffness increased significantly with an increase in curing periods and within a close distance to the lime piles. Also, the electrical resistivity of the treated soils was examined to monitor the changes in their electrical properties. Finally, the correlation between the measured electrical resistivity and swell pressure values of the tested soils at different curing periods suggested that the electrical resistivity values can be used as a monitoring technique for deep chemical treatments of the subsurface soil.     

Influence of Seawater on the Suction and Swelling Behavior of Clayey Soils

The present study examines the suction characteristics and swelling behavior of clayey soils when exposed to natural seawater with respect to distilled water. The effects of saline waters on the engineering behavior of soils need to be determined since the salinity of the pore fluid of soils near coastal areas increases continuously. Six clayey soil samples with different mineralogy and characteristics were gathered and tested to determine the suction and swelling characteristics in the presence of natural seawater and distilled water. The results show that the total suction values of the samples are higher in the presence of seawater than in distilled water. The samples with high swelling potential have lower matric suction values than nonswelling soils. Moreover, in contrast to swelling-type soils, the matric suction values of the nonswelling soils remain similar in the presence both distilled water and seawater. The modified free swell index (MFSI) of the samples is well correlated with the liquid limit (LL), plasticity index (PI), and cation exchange capacity (CEC) in distilled water. However, coefficients of determination decreased in the presence of seawater. Also, there is no significant correlation existing between total and matric suction values and the MFSI values of the samples.     

Review of continental shelf marine geotechnics: Distribution of soils,measurement of properties,and environmental hazards

Abstract

Sands and silty sands are the predominant surficial soils of continental shelves. Cohesive fine‐grained soils are typical off the mouths of large rivers, near bays and estuaries, and in basins located on the shelf. The stratigraphy of shelf soils is very poorly known for most engineering purposes, except in the vicinity of the Mississippi Delta.

Vibratory coring is the most common method of sampling shelf sands to depths of about 13 m; greater soil depths are sampled by borings often using drilling and wireline sampling tools. Employment of self‐contained or wireline static cone penetrometers to obtain in situ measurements of sands has not been as common in the United States as in Europe. Dynamic piston corers are the most common samplers in cohesive soils, but rotary and hydraulically activated incremental corers are becoming available for marine use. Self‐contained or wireline vane shear devices and static cone penetrometers are used for the in situ testing of cohesive soils, and the latter device is also used for cohesionless soils. Dynamic cone penetrometers have been developed and have had limited experimental use at sea. In situ electrical resistivity and nuclear‐transmission and backscatter probes have been used in cohesive soils to obtain bulk‐density and water‐content measurements and for stratigraphic correlation. Acoustical properties of cohesive and cohesionless soils have been measured by in situ probes and have been estimated from results of geophysical surveys made on ships that are under way.

Environmental hazards to the foundations of offshore structures include earthquakes, wave‐induced loading and scour, and burrowing animals. Reported bottom‐current velocities on the United States continental shelf appear to have maximums of about 0.5 m/s under fair‐weather conditions and greater than about 5 m/s under hurricane conditions. Cyclical loading of the seafloor induced by storm waves appears to be a major hazard to soil stability in some areas.

A representative sample of the widely scattered engineering and scientific literature of continental shelf marine geotechnics and geotechnically related subjects has been made to aid marine geologists, geotechnologists, and other specialists.     

筒型基础负压沉贯后筒内水膜形成及筒内灌浆效果的试验设计

筒型基础负压沉贯就位后,筒内表面土的沉降会使土层上部产生一层水膜。严重的水膜现象会影响到筒基平台的正常使用,为此专门设计本项试验来模拟筒内水膜形成的机理,并且提出了向筒内灌浆的方法解决水膜问题的方案。该试验通过配土、设计模型筒基、负压沉贯和筒内灌浆等操作过程,设置土槽、安装孔压传感器等实验手段,从土体破坏的角度,寻求负压沉贯过程中沉贯负压、沉贯阻力及孔隙水压力等因素对水膜形成的影响,试图探询水膜形成的规律,并且通过不同泥浆的灌浆试验来寻找有效解决水膜现象的方法。     

Critical State Sedimentation Line of Soft Marine Clays

The compression behavior responsible for unity sensitivity is very valuable in quantitative assessment of the effects of soil structure on the compression behavior of soft marine sediments. However, the quantitative assessment of such effects is not possible because of unavailability of the formula for the compression curve of marine sediments responsible for unit sensitivity. In this study, the relationship between the remolded state and the conventional critical state line is presented in the deviator stress versus mean effective stress plot. The analysis indicates that the remolded state is on the conventional critical state line obtained at a relatively small strain. Thus, a unique critical state sedimentation line for marine sediments of unit sensitivity is proposed. The comparison between the critical state sedimentation line proposed in this study and the existing normalized consolidation curves obtained from conventional oedometer tests on remolded soils or reconstituted soils explains well the     

Behavior of underwater suction anchor in soil

To study the feasibility and efficiency of underwater suction anchors in soil, the performance of eight model anchors was evaluated in a 30 in. (76·2 cm) by 72 in. (183·0 cm) by 32 in. (81·3 cm) deep test tank. The soil studied were a medium fine sand, a silt and a clay. A gantry-type loading mechanisms was used to apply the vertical breakout force. A pullout rate of approximately 0·1 in/min (0·25 cm/min) was used for all tests.For the range of conditions studied, the test results indicate that the underwater suction anchor is feasible and effective. The breakout behavior of the suction anchors depends upon the anchor geometry including anchor diameter and skirt length, soil strength properties, soil-anchor friction and adhesion, and suction; i.e. the difference between the pressure underneath the porous plate and the ambient pressure. For the anchors and soils tested, the anchor capacity increases linearly with increasing suction provided the anchor skirt length to diameter ratio remains constant. An increase in the anchor capacity results with increasing suction and with increasing internal friction angle of the test soils. To study the results suggest that the underwater suction anchor is particularly useful for short-term anchorage.     

Numerical simulation of water content dependent undrained shear strength of clays

Abstract

A nonlinear mathematical model for estimating the water content dependent undrained shear strength of clayey soils was developed. Three types of clay mixtures (kaolinite, bentonite, and kaolinite-bentonite) were considered. The shear strength of the given soil samples was determined via torvane tests. Experimental results were compared with three numerical results: (i) the analytical function fit, (ii) modeling without the water content effect, and (iii) modeling with the water content effect using the Mohr-Coulomb (M-C) model. There was good agreement among the experimental, analytical, and numerical results with and without the water content effect in the fully softening zone. However, there was a large difference between the numerical results obtained from the developed model with and without the water content effect in the flow zone with a high liquidity index, because the shear strength may decrease significantly to low value in the case of an abrupt increase of the water content. The greatest advantage of the developed model is that it can simulate the reduction of the shear strength and shear band development under the high water content condition, which may trigger a large mobile mass movement.     

Effect of saline intrusion on the properties of cohesive soils in the Red River Delta,Vietnam

Abstract

This study conducted a series of laboratory experiments and established numerical models on selected undisturbed soil samples in the Red River Delta (RRD) to determine the effect of change in soils intruded by saline water. The variation in the technical parameters of soils was verified in soils fully saturated by solution of four salt concentrations, that is, 0.0, 9.9, 19.8, and 33.0?g/L. Results show that the content and composition of clay minerals in cohesive soils before and after saline intrusion are unchanged. The same finding is obtained for clay after removing absorbed water layer by using a centrifuge apparatus. The zeta potential and settlement velocity of soils in the RRD increase when salt is added to the saturated solution. Similarly, the deformation of soils increases proportionally with the salt concentrations of that solution. This result is attributed to the linear decrease in deformation modulus. The decrease in modulus versus salinities is nearly consistent for pressure stages from 100 to 400?kPa. The safety factor of bearing capacity also decreases linearly with salinities. The decrease reaches 12.5–16.3% when soils are in the maximum saline solution. All these changes are considered as the degradation of soils in saline media.     

广西英罗港红树林区木榄群落土壤粒径分布的分形特征

应用分形理论分析了广西英罗港红树林区小榄Bruguiera gymnorrhiza群落土壤粒径分布的分形特征。基于土壤粒径-重量分布资料计算,土壤粒径分布分形维数介于2.78-2.90之间。分形维数的大小与土壤中的细粘粒、盐分和有机质的含量呈显著正相关,与砂粒的含量呈显著负相关。不同质地的土壤,其粒径分布的分形维数呈现砂壤<轻粘土<中粘土的变化。土壤的质地类型、含盐量、有机质含量等是决定土壤粒径分布分形维数的主要因子。     

Comparison of sedimentation-compression curves obtained by nuclear and gravimetric methods for Wilkinson Basin,Gulf of Maine,sediments

Accurate measurements of bulk density are important in the construction of sedimentation-compression curves of water-saturated, fine-grained cohesive sediments for consolidation studies. The bulk density of five cores was measured nondestructively on a laboratory nuclear transmission densitometer and the water content, expressed as void ratio, was derived from an empirical relationship between bulk density and water content. Bulk density and water content measured destructively was determined every 10 cm for a comparison with the nuclear data. Agreement between nuclear and gravimetric methods was within ± 0.02 g/cm³ for bulk density ranging from 1.2 to 1.4 g/cm³. Sedimentation-compression curves made using both methods were in generally good agreement.In the Wilkinson Basin, void ratio gradually decreases with increasing effective overburden pressure. This indicates that consolidation by dewatering the surficial sediments is normal and that the environmental conditions during deposition remained relatively constant.     

The ICE-MOSES experiment: Mapping permafrost zones electrically beneath the Beaufort Sea

A novel variation of the geophysical technique known as MOSES, for Magnetometric Off-Shore Electrical Sounding, has been developed to map the electrical properties of the sea floor in Aretic regions. The particular target is the permafrost layer under the Beaufort Sea, a layer containing frozen or partially frozen sediment from 100 to 600 m thick underlying shallow sea water, typically 10 to 100 m deep, and several tens of metres of soft sediment. A detailed knowledge of the location and physical properties of the permafrost layer is essential for accurate interpretation of reflection seismic data. The permafrost can contain pockets, regions or layers of gas hydrate. The latter is both a possible resource and a hazard to drilling operations or hydrocarbon production. A local map of the permafrost zone is essential geotechnical information required prior to the construction of an offshore structure or pipeline.The MOSES method is particularly suitable for offshore electrical mapping as it can be made relatively insensitive to the shielding effects of the highly conductive sea water, in sharp contrast to many other electrical techniques. The transmitter is a vertical, long-wire bipole, extending from the sea surface to the sea floor. A commutated current is fed to two large electrodes: one near the sea surface and the other on the sea floor. The return current is through the sea water and the subjacent sediment. The receiver consists of two horizontal orthogonal coils located on the sea floor, and the data are measurements of two components of the magnetic field as a function of frequency and transmitter-receiver horizontal separation.The electrical conductivity of a sample of frozen material is much smaller than that of unfrozen or partially frozen sediment of the same type. Frozen and unfrozen thin layers are often observed sequentially throughout the geological section. The resistivity measured as a function of depth by an electrical logging tool is consequently highly variable. The resulting depth-averaged resistivity, the resistivity resolved by a surface electrical method, is macro-an-isotropic. An experimental design study reveals that both the vertical and horizontal averaged resistivities could be determined in a MOSES sounding without vertical scale distortion.A test of the methodology in very shallow water was conducted in the spring of 1986 at a site, approximate coordinates (70° N, 134.5° W), 85 km north-west of the town of Tuktoyaktuk. The instrumentation was lowered and subsequently recovered through holes in the ice which covers the Beaufort Sea at that time of the year. The transmitter power was obtained from a single lead-acid battery. Transmitter-receiver separations ranged from 10 to 300 m. A rapid increase in sediment resistivity with depth was observed. The higher resistivity values are consistent with those expected for a partially frozen zone.     

舟山海洋沉积物及沿海沉积物流动相石油污染的电阻率特性及其影响因素研究

海洋沉积物作为难以降解的石油类污染物的最终归宿,其污染程度的监测至关重要。本文通过现场采集舟山海洋沉积物及沿海沉积物(包括中砂、粉砂质砂和粉砂),以流动相原油为代表,采用单因素分析法室内配制标准污染沉积物样品测定电阻率,探讨沉积物类型、含水率、含油率、时间因素对石油污染海洋及沿海沉积物的电阻率影响及变化规律。结果显示,未污染和原油污染后海洋沉积物中砂、粉砂质砂、粉砂的电阻率随含水率的升高均呈幂函数降低趋势,并符合Archie公式。在含水率15%时,电阻率随含油率总体上升;而在含水率5%时,中砂电阻率呈现一个小幅上升的趋势;粉砂电阻率先小幅下降后略上升再小幅下降,粉砂质砂电阻率则是先大幅下降后略上升再小幅下降。15%含水率污染沉积物的电阻率随时间增加持续上升;5%含水率污染沉积物电阻率先上升后略下降再大幅上升。研究成果可为海洋及沿海沉积物石油污染电阻率法快速监测提供理论支持,以期为海洋环境管理部门提供相应的决策依据。     

南黄海油气资源区粘性土物理力学性质及微结构特征

用土质学的显微结构理论和技术方法,研究了南黄海油气资源区粘性土微结构特征。结合原状样物理力学性质参数,研究颗粒接触、堆垒、孔隙等现象与物理力学性质之间的关系。研究结果表明,沉积物主要为粘质粉土、淤泥质粉质粘土和淤泥等粘性土,其微结构类型有粒状链接微结构、蜂窝状微结构和疏松基质状微结构3种,其中淤泥类土主要为蜂窝状微结构和疏松基质状微结构,结构疏松,孔隙度较大,含水率很高,强度低,压缩性高。粘质粉土为粒状链接微结构．含水率较低,孔隙度相对淤泥类土较小,抗剪强度比淤泥类土略高,压缩性较高。该区粘性土为不理想工程地基土,工程施工时应采取相应措施避开或对其进行改良。     

海上平台桶形基础模型压力压贯与负压沉贯试验研究

介绍了海上平台桶形基础模型（模型桶）压力压贯和负压沉贯的试验概况,对比分析了两者贯入力的巨大差异和产生的原因,给出了模型桶压力压贯中贯入深度与压力的关系,负压没贯负压与贯入深度,抽吸泵流量,基土渗流量,桶内土塞隆起之间的关系,试验结果表明,负压沉贯可以大大降低以砂质粉土为基土的土抗力,为在胜利油田类似基土海域海上平台应用桶形基础提供了试验依据,为海上现场导管架桶形基础平台的安装就位施工和控制提供了     

Physical and Acoustic Properties of Gas-bearing Sediments in Jinhae Bay,the South Sea of Korea

High-resolution seismic survey and sediment core sampling were conducted to investigate acoustic characteristics of gas-bearing sediments in Jinhae Bay, the southeast of Korea. The sediment in Jinhae Bay is mostly homogenous mud deposited after the Holocene transgression. Along with the 410 km of chirp seismic profiling, five piston core samples were collected on the track lines.

Gassy sediments are common and occur widely in the bay. Core samples were analyzed for sediment texture, physical properties (porosity, water content, bulk density, and grain density), acoustic properties (compressional wave velocity and attenuation), and electrical resistivity. X-radiograph image analysis was also performed to observe the shape of degassing cracks. There is no significant downcore variation on physical and sediment textures regardless of existence of gas bubbles. However, compressional wave velocity dramatically decreases from average 1480 to 1380～739 m/s for the cores that penetrate the gas-bearing zones. This is probably due to degassying cracks that developed by escaping gases and free gas bubbles that are still trapped in the cores. Electrical resistivity is the only geotechnical property that increases in the gas-bearing zone where compressional wave velocity abruptly decreases. This indicates the possibility of using both electrical resistivity as an index variable as well as to compressional wave velocity to identify gassy sediment microstructure because there are little changes in texture and composition of sediment.     

FICUS,a new in-situ probe for resistivity measurements in unconsolidated marine sediments

Physical properties of shallow sediments measured at a particular site can not easily be extrapolated over a given profile. The number of samples required to define sediment properties adequately can then become time-consuming and expensive. Laboratory and in-situ experimentations have shown that electrical probing provides a useful complementary technique to extrapolate results from cores. These experiments have pointed out the need for quantitative, easily-transportable and fast resistivity measurements combining high vertical resolution with azimuthal resolution and full coverage, in the shallow subsurface. A new prototype probe called FICUS (Formation Imaging and Coring for Unconsolidated Sediments) has been developed to bridge this gap. FICUS is designed to provide in-situ high resolution electrical resistivity images of the upper few meters of shallow unconsolidated sediments.Laboratory experiments have been completed to test the feasibility of this technique to provide resistivity images of unconsolidated sediments. Laboratory images agree with theoretical predictions from numerical modelling. The obtained cm-scale resolution could be used for petrophysical and sedimentary purposes. The probe may offer additional information about changes in porosity and pore morphology caused by climatic cycles, since electrical resistivity is known to be especially sensitive to these changes. The probe could also allow to detect and map organic pollutants in the future.     

Assessment of cyclic response to suction caisson in clay using a three-dimensional displacement approach

An investigation was made to present analytical solutions of cyclic response to suction caisson subjected to inclined cyclic loadings in clay using a three-dimensional displacement approach. A model representing the relationship between vertical load and vertical displacement and that between lateral load and lateral displacement along the skirt of suction caisson subjected to cyclic loadings is proposed for overconsolidated clay. For the effect of vertical load on cyclic load capacity of suction caisson, using the Mindlin solution in the case of a vertical point load, the vertical stress of soil under the base of suction caisson is presented. For the stress state of soil beneath the base of suction caisson subjected to cyclic loading, the Mohr–Coulomb failure line and critical state line are presented and the relationship between total stress, effective mean principal stress, stress difference, and pore-pressure is elucidated. The comparison of results predicted by the present method for a suction caisson subjected to cyclic loadings in clay has shown good agreement with those obtained from field tests. Cyclic behavior of clay up to failure is made clear from the relationship between cyclic tensile load, vertical and lateral displacements, and rotation and that between depth, vertical, and lateral pressures.     

Finite element modeling of the tensile capacity of suction caissons in cohesionless soil

When suction caissons are used as foundations for jacket structures, the caissons are exposed to significant vertical loads. If the self-weight of the structure is relatively low, a large horizontal load may lead to tension on the foundation on the incoming side. For steady loads, such as the wind load during production, the soil response will be drained. This paper presents the results from a series of finite element analysis (FEA) on suction caissons in cohesionless soil. The analyses are performed on suction caissons with different dimensions and different soil conditions. For normalization, dimensional analyses of the calculated results are performed to create dimensionless groups. The dimensionless groups are used to establish a relation between the normalized tensile capacity and the interface strength. This relation is used to establish two formulations of the drained tensile capacity for suction caissons in cohesionless soils. One for associated plasticity and one for non-associated plasticity with the dilatation angle equal zero.     

电阻率法监测黄河口海床沉积物固结过程现场试验研究

为了研究黄河口海床沉积物固结过程中电阻率同工程力学性质指标的对应关系,探索海床土体固结过程的新型原位监测技术,本文在黄河刁口流路三角洲叶瓣潮坪上,现场取土配置黄河口快速沉积形成的流体状沉积物和观测研究粉质土海床的固结过程。利用静力触探、十字板剪切试验、孔隙水压力监测等原位土工测试手段,实时测定固结过程中海床土强度变化和孔隙水压力消散过程;同时通过埋置自行研制的环形电极探杆,实时测定海床土固结过程中的电阻率变化。通过对比分析海床土电阻率与工程力学性质指标的同步测定数据发现:黄河口饱和粉土的电阻率与微型贯入试验测得的土体贯入强度,静力触探试验测得的比贯入阻力,十字板剪切试验测得的不排水抗剪强度(峰值强度、残余强度)均呈乘幂关系,且相关性良好;海床沉积物在固结过程中的电阻率与孔隙水压力呈负线性相关性。