Effect of seabed instability on fixed offshore platforms

Storms, hurricanes, and earthquakes may cause seabed instability, especially if the seabed is weak. The seabed instability, manifested in movement of soil layers, exerts lateral forces that may cause large stresses in offshore foundations. The induced stresses may compromise the stability of the foundation and supported structure. The effect of seabed instability on a fixed offshore structure is examined in this study. The method used accounts for soil nonlinearity, dynamic soil resistance, and pile–soil–pile interaction within the stable soil layer. Dynamic p–y curves, dynamic t–z curves and q–z curves have been used to simulate the soil resistance in the lateral and axial directions. The effect of different parameters that influence the response of offshore structures to seabed instability is evaluated. The parameters considered include the value of soil movement, the sliding layer depth, the wave loading, the pile flexibility, the soil movement profile, and the axial loading at the pile head. The response predicted using the proposed analysis compared well with that calculated using a boundary element solution for a case history of a failed offshore platform.     

Dynamic nonlinear response of pile foundations under vertical vibration—Theory versus experiment

The influence of nonlinearity on the dynamic response of cast-in-situ reinforced concrete piles subjected to strong vertical excitation was studied. Forced vibration test of single piles (L/d=10, 15, 20) and 2×2 pile groups (s/d=2, 3, 4 for each L/d) were conducted in the field for two different embedded conditions of pile cap. From the measured nonlinear response curves, the effective pile–soil system mass, stiffness and damping were determined and the nonlinear response curves were back-calculated using the theory of nonlinear vibration. The test results were compared with the continuum approach of Novak with dynamic interaction factor approach using both linear and linear-equivalent numerical methods. Reasonable match between the measured and predicted response was found for linear-equivalent methods by introducing a weak boundary-zone around the pile to approximately account for the nonlinear behaviour of pile–soil system. The test data were used to establish the empirical relationship in order to estimate the extent of soil separation around the pile with soil under vertical vibration.     

Evaluation of the dynamic <Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis>–<Emphasis Type="Italic">y</Emphasis><Subscript>p</Subscript> loops of pile-supported structures on sloping ground

A key issue in the design of pile-supported structures on sloping ground is soil–pile interaction, which becomes more complicated in case of dynamic loading. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of slope on the dynamic behavior of pile-supported structures by performing a series of centrifuge tests. Three models were prepared by varying the slope and soil density of dry sand grounds. The mass supported on 3 by 3 group piles was shaken applying sinusoidal wave with various amplitudes. Test results showed that the location of maximum values and distribution shape of the bending moment below the ground surface varied noticeably with the pile position in the slope case. The relationship between the soil resistance and pile deflection (p–y_p loops) was carefully evaluated by applying the piecewise cubic spline method to fit the measured bending moment curves along piles. It was found that the shape of the p–y_p loops was irregular due to the effect of slope, and immensely influenced by the movement of the unstable zone. In addition, the effect of the pile group in the horizontal case was evaluated by comparing with the previously suggested curves that represent the relationship between the soil resistance and pile–soil relative displacement (p–y curves) to propose the multiplier coefficients.     

A new method for testing pile by single-impact energy and P-S curve

By studying the pile-formula and stress-wave methods (e.g., CASE method), the authors propose a new method for testing piles using the single-impact energy and P-S curves. The vibration and wave figures are recorded, and the dynamic and static displacements are measured by different transducers near the top of piles when the pile is impacted by a heavy hammer or micro-rocket. By observing the transformation coefficient of driving energy (total energy), the consumed energy of wave motion and vibration and so on, the vertical bearing capacity for single pile is measured and calculated. Then, using the vibration wave diagram, the dynamic relation curves between the force (P) and the displacement (S) is calculated and the yield points are determined. Using the static-loading test, the dynamic results are checked and the relative constants of dynamic-static P-S curves are determined. Then the subsidence quantity corresponding to the bearing capacity is determined. Moreover, the shaped quality of the pile body can be judged from the formation of P-S curves. Foundation item: Key Projects of Tenth Five-year Plan of Yunnan Province (54-02-02).     

Dynamic response of pile groups embedded in a poroelastic medium

The dynamic response of pile groups embedded in a homogeneous poroelastic medium and subjected to vertical loading is considered. The piles are represented by compressible beam-column elements and the porous medium uses Biot's three-dimensional elastodynamic theory. The dynamic impedance of pile groups can be computed directly by using pile–soil–pile dynamic interaction factors. The axial forces and pore pressures along the length of pile groups are computed by superposition method, which greatly reduces the computational time for the direct analysis of pile groups. Parametric studies are conducted for various conditions of pile groups. The superposition method is proposed for the dynamic response analysis of pile groups that is computationally feasible for practical applications.     

Feedback–feedforward control of offshore platforms under random waves

This study investigates the control of jacket‐type offshore platforms. The deck displacement of jacket‐type offshore platforms can be controlled using both passive and active control mechanisms. Among the passive control mechanisms, a tuned mass damper concept is studied in this paper. Active control mechanisms considered here include the active mass damper, the active tendon mechanism and the propeller thruster. An optimal frequency domain approach to active control of wave‐excited platforms is used in which the H₂ norm of the transfer function from the external disturbance to the regulated output is minimized. In this study, the hydrodynamic drag force is evaluated using the JONSWAP wave spectrum. Unlike conventional linearization approaches, the influence of non‐linearity in the drag force is retained in this scheme by expressing the non‐linear force components in terms of higher‐order convolutions of the water‐particle velocities. To demonstrate the effectiveness of this scheme, the platform performance with and without control devices under different sea states is evaluated. It is demonstrated that the control devices are useful in reducing the displacement response of jacket‐type offshore platforms, especially when the wave forces are concentrated at frequencies close to the natural frequencies of the platform. This becomes especially significant in deep waters because the natural frequencies of jacket‐type platforms fall closer to the dominant wave frequencies in deep waters. Adding control devices to deep water platforms will ensure a reduction both in the global response of the platform and in localized effects, such as the fatigue of welded joints. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dynamic analysis of offshore wind turbine in clay considering soil–monopile–tower interaction

A comprehensive study is performed on the dynamic behavior of offshore wind turbine (OWT) structure supported on monopile foundation in clay. The system is modeled using a beam on nonlinear Winkler foundation model. Soil resistance is modeled using American Petroleum Institute based cyclic p–y and t–z curves. Dynamic analysis is carried out in time domain using finite element method considering wind and wave loads. Several parameters, such as soil–monopile–tower interaction, rotor and wave frequencies, wind and wave loading parameters, and length, diameter and thickness of monopile affecting the dynamic characteristics of OWT system and the responses are investigated. The study shows soil–monopile–tower interaction increases response of tower and monopile. Soil nonlinearity increases the system response at higher wind speed. Rotor frequency is found to have dominant role than blade passing frequency and wave frequency. Magnitude of wave load is important for design rather than resonance from wave frequency.     

可液化场地大直径扩底桩的动力p-y曲线特征研究

可液化场地大直径扩底桩-土动力相互作用p-y曲线研究对扩底桩抗震设计具有重要意义。基于有限差分程序FLAC~(3D),分别建立扩底桩和等直径桩的三维有限差分模型,通过在模型底部输入正弦波,得到可液化场地中不同埋深下扩底桩与等直径桩的桩-土动力相互作用p-y曲线,对两者的动力p-y曲线特征进行对比分析。结果表明:正弦波输入下扩底桩动力p-y曲线多呈倒"S"形,随着埋深增加,动力p-y曲线滞回圈面积及面积增长速度逐渐减小,斜率逐渐增大;扩底桩与等直径桩动力p-y曲线所围成的图形相似,两者动力p-y曲线斜率均随埋深增加逐渐增大,扩底桩动力p-y曲线滞回圈面积及面积增长速度在各埋深处均大于等直径桩,利于能量耗散,抗震性能更好。     

Dynamic characteristics of lateral load-deflection relationships of flexible piles

Most offshore platforms are supported on long and large-diameter piles with variable wall-thickness along the length, and soil properties varying with depth. The design and analyses of these piles are made by modelling the soil-pile system with a beam-on-Winkler foundation. Therefore, evaluation of appropriate soil-pile springs for use in such analyses is a matter of concern. Fundamental characteristics of dynamic lateral load-deflection relationships for piles were studied analytically considering the soil-pile-structure interaction under seismic loading conditions. The soil layer was assumed homogeneous, linearly elastic with hysteretic type material damping, and overlying a rigid base. A superstructure with multi-degrees of freedom was supported by a single vertical pile hinged at the rigid base. Parametric studies were carried out to identify the influence of the system parameters on the behaviour of the dynamic lateral load-deflection relationships of piles. The lateral load-deflection relationships vary considerably with depth and are influenced not only by the dynamic properties of soil but also by the structural properties of a pile and loading conditions. These lateral load-deflection relationships can be used to define the soil-pile springs for the seismic response analysis of a soil-pile-structure system, and the results can be extended to problems with soil profiles with layering and non-linearity.     

Dynamic structure–soil–structure interaction between nearby piled buildings under seismic excitation by BEM–FEM model

The dynamic through–soil interaction between nearby pile supported structures in a viscoelastic half-space, under incident S and Rayleigh waves, is numerically studied. To this end, a three-dimensional viscoelastic BEM–FEM formulation for the dynamic analysis of piles and pile groups in the frequency domain is used, where soil is modelled by BEM and piles are simulated by one-dimensional finite elements as Bernoulli beams. This formulation has been enhanced to include the presence of linear superstructures founded on pile groups, so that structure–soil–structure interaction (SSSI) can be investigated making use of a direct methodology with an affordable number of degrees of freedom. The influence of SSSI on lateral spectral deformation, vertical and rotational response, and shear forces at pile heads, for several configurations of shear one-storey buildings, is addressed. Maximum response spectra are also presented. SSSI effects on groups of structures with similar dynamic characteristics have been found to be important. The system response can be either amplified or attenuated according to the distance between adjacent buildings, which has been related to dynamic properties of the overall system.     

均质介质中排桩对瑞利波的阻隔试验分析

本文通过室外试验的方法并绘制二维等值线图以及将波长和双桩变量进行归一化处理来分析瑞利波通过双桩时周边土体振动的变化,结果表明：在桩间、桩前存在振动加强的现象,其中桩间以及桩角处振动强度最大;桩长与波长的比值的增加会使得桩前、桩间土体振动加强,同时也会使得双桩的隔振效果提升。当比值为0.691~0.781的范围内时,各点处变化幅度趋于平缓;桩间距的增加会使得双桩失去相互影响作用,当桩间距与波长的比值在0.34~0.42时,桩前、桩间以及桩后的A_r值趋近于1,即不存在振动加强以及衰减现象;桩径的增加可提升双桩的隔振效果,同时随着桩径与波长的比值增加,桩前、桩间的A_r值均有较小幅度的增加;振源距的增加会使得双桩的隔振效果增强,随着振源距与波长的比值的增加,桩前的A_r值降低了0.13左右,桩间仅仅降低了0.068左右,而桩后的A_r值降低了0.108左右,隔振效果增强,但增强的幅度较小。     

A new method for testing pile by single-impact energy and <Emphasis Type="Italic">P-S</Emphasis> curve

By studying the pile-formula and stress-wave methods (e.g., CASE method), the authors propose a new method for testing piles using the single-impact energy and P-S curves. The vibration and wave figures are recorded, and the dynamic and static displacements are measured by different transducers near the top of piles when the pile is impacted by a heavy hammer or micro-rocket. By observing the transformation coefficient of driving energy (total energy), the consumed energy of wave motion and vibration and so on, the vertical bearing capacity for single pile is measured and calculated. Then, using the vibration wave diagram, the dynamic relation curves between the force (P) and the displacement (S) is calculated and the yield points are determined. Using the static-loading test, the dynamic results are checked and the relative constants of dynamic-static P-S curves are determined. Then the subsidence quantity corresponding to the bearing capacity is determined. Moreover, the shaped quality of the pile body can be judged from the formation of P-S curves.     

基于Pasternak地基模型和Adomian分解方法的扩底桩水平动力响应分析

工程上广泛采用基于Winkler模型的层状地基反力系数法对桩土水平动力响应进行分析,该方法忽略了地基土剪切作用的影响,与工程实际有一定偏差。另外,对桩土的非线性相互作用和如扩底桩、楔形桩等变截面桩问题常用的传递矩阵法或中心差分法,计算过程较为繁琐。基于Pasternak地基模型和Adomian分解方法,提出一种考虑地基土剪切作用的桩土水平动力相互作用近似计算方法,该方法计算简便且结果精度较高,对变截面桩问题有很好的适用性;并基于该方法,对扩底桩水平动力响应问题和影响因素进行分析。结果指出,扩底半径和上部桩周土弹性模量对扩底桩水平动力响应影响较大,随着扩底半径的增加和桩周土弹性模量的增大,扩底桩水平振动位移幅值逐渐减小。另外,在较低频率的荷载激励下,应考虑土层对桩的剪切作用。     

Generalized cyclic p–y curve modeling for analysis of laterally loaded piles

Owing to their simplicity and reasonable accuracy, Beam on Nonlinear Winkler Foundation (BNWF) models are widely used for the analysis of laterally loaded piles. Their main drawback is idealizing the soil continuum with discrete uncoupled springs representing the soil reactions to pile movement. Static p–y curves, obtained from limited full-scaled field tests, are generally used as a backbone curve of the model. However, these empirically derived p–y curves could not incorporate the effects of various pile properties and soil continuity. The strain wedge method (SWM) has been improved to assess the nonlinear p–y curve response of laterally loaded piles based on a three-dimensional soil–pile interaction through a passive wedge developed in front of the pile. In this paper, the SWM based p–y curve is implemented as the backbone curves of developed BNWF model to study the nonlinear response of single pile under cyclic lateral loading. The developed nonlinear model is capable of accounting for various important soil–pile interaction response features such as soil and pile yielding, cyclic degradation of soil stiffness and strength under generalized loading, soil–pile gap formation with soil cave-in and recompression, and energy dissipation. Some experimental tests are studied to verify the BNWF model and examine the effect of each factor on the response of laterally loaded pile embedded in sand and clay. The experimental data and computed results agree well, confirming the model ability to predict the response of piles under one-way and two-way cyclic loading. The results show that the developed model can satisfactorily simulate the pile stiffness hardening due to soil cave in and sand densification as observed in the experiment. It is also concluded from the results that the gap formation and soil degradation have significant effects on the increase of lateral pile-head deflection and maximum bending moment of the pile in cohesive soils.     

Vertical response of single piles: transient analysis by time-domain BEM

The transient dynamic response of single piles in a layered half-space under a time-dependent vertical force is analyzed by an FEM-BEM coupling approach. The pile is modeled by FEM and the layered half-space is modeled by a general cylindrical coordinates time-domain BEM. Only one-dimensional discretization is necessary on the boundaries of the three-dimensional layered half-space by virtue of the Fourier theory, while the pile shaft can be discretized as a one-dimensional elastic beam. The compatibility and equilibrium conditions between pile shaft and soil layers are employed to assemble respective equations into one. Fairly good agreement between two unknown solutions and the current approach is found. Parametric studies reveal the influences of several dimensionless factors, such as E_p/E_s, l/r₀, _p/_s and ν_s. The effect of soil layering and the support condition of the pile tip is also reported by numerical examples.     

大直径钢管桩土塞效应的拟静力判断方法

钢管桩在贯入过程中土塞效应的正确判断对打桩阻力及承载力的预测有重要影响,常用的静力平衡土塞效应判断方法主要适用于小直径钢管桩。随着海洋平台工作水深的不断增加及海上风电工程的建设,直径大于2m的大直径钢管桩被广泛采用,管桩直径的增加改变了桩管内土体的受力与变形特征。通过数值模拟方法获得砂土中不同径长比的钢管桩在打桩过程中桩周土体的破坏模式,确定采用梅耶霍夫公式计算打桩过程中桩端土体阻力,同时分析锤击惯性力对桩管内土塞的影响,提出采用拟静力平衡法判断大直径钢管桩的土塞闭塞效应。开展不同径长比管桩的室内小比尺打桩模型试验,并对实际工程中的土塞闭塞效应进行判断,验证拟静力平衡法对判断大直径钢管桩土塞效应的适用性。     

Prediction of pile response to lateral spreading by 3-D soil–water coupled dynamic analysis: Shaking in the direction perpendicular to ground flow

The 1995 Kobe earthquake seriously damaged numerous buildings with pile foundations adjacent to quay walls. The seismic behavior of a pile group is affected by movement of quay walls, pile foundations, and liquefied backfill soil. For such cases, a three-dimensional (3-D) soil–water coupled dynamic analysis is a promising tool to predict overall behavior. We report predictions of large shake table test results to validate 3-D soil–water coupled dynamic analyses, and we discuss liquefaction-induced earth pressure on a pile group during the shaking in the direction perpendicular to ground flow. Numerical analyses predicted the peak displacement of footing and peak bending moment of the group pile. The earth pressure on the pile in the crustal layer is most important for the evaluation of the peak bending moment along the piles. In addition, the larger curvatures in the bending moment distribution along the piles at the water side in the liquefied ground were measured and predicted.     

插桩过程对临近平台桩基础的影响研究

由于大型自升式钻井船的插桩位置通常距离海上钻井与采油平台较近,桩靴的插入过程可能会对临近平台的桩基础承载力和稳定性产生不利影响。以实际工程为背景,运用球孔扩张理论推导挤土效应产生的水平附加应力大小及其范围;提出一种近似考虑动力挤土效应的拟静力数值模拟方法,分析桩靴下沉到不同深度处时的桩基承载力、桩身应力和最大水平位移,并与静力分析结果进行对比。研究表明,桩靴插入过程对周围土体产生巨大的挤压和扰动作用,使得桩基承载力降低,桩身应力变大,最大水平位移增加;与静力法计算数值相比,由挤土效应导致的单桩承载力下降6%~8%,桩身应力增大30%~80%,桩身最大变形量增长1倍。     

Soil-pile-structure interaction effects on the seismic response of a cooling tower

A study of the effects of soil-pile-structure interaction on the response of rotational shell structures supported by a group of vertical piles is presented. The interaction effects are included in the dynamic analysis through the development of a frequency dependent boundary system at the interface between the shell and the underlying foundation. The substructure method is used to simplify the connection problem between the shell and the pile foundation. A free vibration analysis of a cooling tower is carried out to investigate the dynamic properties of rotational shells with four different foundation stiffnesses. The effects of soil-pile-structure interaction on the response in the shell are demonstrated by a complex response analysis of a cooling tower.     

Response spectrum techniques for three-component earthquake design

An evaluation is made of response spectrum techniques as applied to seismic analysis and design of steel template offshore platforms. Such structures are designed as braced space frames for several loading conditions, including the simultaneous action of three earthquake components. Base shears as well as gross forces and combined stresses in members of three different platforms are computed for 30 real, three-component earthquakes and response spectrum predictions, obtained by several modal-spatial combination methods, are compared to time history solutions. Results are presented in the form of error statistics. The three approximations examined are: (a) combination of modes for one component input, (b) combination of the three partial responses to obtain estimates of total response and (c) combination of gross forces to derive maximum design stresses at a section. Attention is focused on corner piles because these are among the most heavily penalized members by three-component excitations. It is shown that commonly used spatial combination rules may underestimate gross forces in design controlling corner members by 15–30 per cent on the average. This is attributed to correlations between motion components that create additive effects along certain directions. Typical estimates of combined stresses, however, are found to be slightly conservative.