A new look at the phenomenon of offshore pile plugging

Abstract

Open‐pipe piles are widely used for offshore structures. During the initial stage of installation, soil enters the pile at a rate equal to the pile penetration. As penetration continues, the inner soil cylinder may develop sufficient frictional resistance to prevent further soil intrusion, causing the pile to become plugged. The open‐ended pile then assumes the penetration characteristics of a closed‐ended pile. The mode of pile penetration significantly alters the soil‐pile interaction during and after installation. This affects the ultimate static bearing capacity (mainly in granular materials), the time‐dependent pile capacity (in clays), and the dynamic behavior and analysis of the piles.

Following a summary demonstrating the effects of pile plugging, a review of the common view of offshore pile plugging is undertaken. The interpretation of plugging by referring to the average plug length has led to the erroneous conclusion that in most piles significant plugging action does not occur.

Establishment of an analogy between soil samplers and open‐ended piles enabled correct identification of plugging by referring to the incremental changes in plug length. Examination of case histories of plugging of offshore piles revealed that beyond a certain penetration depth‐to‐diameter ratio, most piles are plugged.     

Behavior of soil plugs in open‐ended model piles driven into sands

Calibration chamber tests were conducted on open‐ended model piles driven into dried siliceous sands with different soil conditions in order to clarify the effect of soil conditions on load transfer mechanism in the soil plug. The model pile used in the test series was devised so that the bearing capacity of an open‐ended pile could be measured as three components: outside shaft resistance, plug resistance, and tip resistance. Under the assumption that the unit shaft resistance due to pile‐soil plug interaction varies linearly near the pile tip, the plug resistance was estimated. The plug capacity, which was defined as the plug resistance at ultimate condition, is mainly dependent on the ambient lateral pressure and relative density. The length of wedged plug that transfers the load decreases with the decrease of relative density, but it is independent of the ambient pressure and penetration depth. Under several assumptions, the value of earth pressure coefficient in the soil plug can be calculated. It gradually reduces with increase in the longitudinal distance from the pile tip. At the bottom of the soil plug, it tends to decrease with increase in the penetration depth and relative density, and to increase with the increase of ambient pressure. This may be attributed to (1) the decrease of friction angle as a result of increase in the effective vertical stress, (2) the difference in the dilation degree of the soil plug during driving with ambient pressures, and (3) the difference in compaction degree of soil plug during driving with relative densities. Based on the test results, an empirical equation was suggested to compute the earth pressure coefficient to be used in the calculation of plug capacity using one‐dimensional analysis, and it produces proper plug capacities for all soil conditions.     

喷涂聚脲弹性体技术在海港码头预应力大管桩上的应用

针对北仑电厂预应力大管桩表面潮湿,需候潮作业,施工条件复杂,施工作业时间短的特点,从表面处理、参数的设定、喷涂施工、质量控制及验收和存在问题及解决方案等方面,介绍了喷涂聚脲弹性体技术在已建海港码头预应力大管桩表面防腐保护工程中的应用情况。可为类似结构物的设计、施工、维护及管理提供参考。     

海洋平台隔水套管群桩性状的研究

海洋平台的隔水套管群桩与土共同作用研究是一个很复杂的课题,目前国内外研究资料甚少,因此在平台导管架设计中,一般不考虑隔水套管群桩承受水平力作用,这与实际不相符合。本文结合工程课题,在调查研究和模型试验的基础上,对隔水套管群桩在水平力作用下的工作性状与破坏机理、群桩的水平力及其主要影响因素、单桩与群桩情况下应力应变关系等方面进行较深入的研究;并提出砂土地基隔水套管群桩效应经验公式,弥补了现行计算方法的缺陷和不足。研究成果可供工程设计参考使用。     

波浪作用下单桩基础周围海床液化机制研究

建立波浪作用下单桩周围三维海床动力响应模型,考虑自重影响下的海床长时间固结过程。采用已有物理模型试验数据对模型进行验证,证实其具有较好的适用性。模拟波浪作用下单桩周围三维海床液化区域,通过定量分析超孔隙水压力和土体初始有效应力的变化,讨论单桩插入深度对海床液化的影响机制。研究表明,单桩插入深度发生变化时,土体初始有效应力对海床液化的影响要大于超孔隙水压力,且影响程度随着插入深度的增加而逐渐增大。     

Development of the cyclic p–y curve for a single pile in sandy soil

Pile foundations that support transmission towers or offshore structures are dominantly subjected to cyclic lateral load induced by wind and waves. For a successful design, it is crucial to investigate the effect of cyclic lateral loads on the pile behavior that is loaded laterally. Although the p–y curve method is generally utilized to design the cyclic laterally loaded pile foundations, the effect of cyclic lateral loads on the pile has not been properly implemented with the p–y curve. This reflects a lack of consideration of the overall stiffness change in soil–pile interaction. To address this, a series of model pile tests were conducted in this study on a preinstalled aluminum flexible pile under various sandy soil conditions. The test results were used to investigate the effect of cyclic lateral loads on the p–y behavior. The cyclic p–y curve, which properly takes into account this effect, was developed as a hyperbolic function. Pseudo-static analysis was also conducted with the proposed cyclic p–y curve, which showed that it was able to properly simulate cyclic laterally loaded pile behavior in sandy soil.     

Investigation on the Effect of Geometrical and Geotechnical Parameters on Elongated Offshore Piles Using Fuzzy Inference Systems

Among numerous offshore structures used in oil extraction, jacket platforms are still the most favorable ones in shallow waters. In such structures, log piles are used to pin the substructure of the platform to the seabed. The pile’s geometrical and geotechnical properties are considered as the main parameters in designing these structures. In this study, ANSYS was used as the FE modeling software to study the geometrical and geotechnical properties of the offshore piles and their effects on supporting jacket platforms. For this purpose, the FE analysis has been done to provide the preliminary data for the fuzzy-logic post-process. The resulting data were implemented to create Fuzzy Inference System (FIS) classifications. The resultant data of the sensitivity analysis suggested that the orientation degree is the main factor in the pile’s geometrical behavior because piles which had the optimal operational degree of about 5° are more sustained. Finally, the results showed that the related fuzzified data supported the FE model and provided an insight for extended offshore pile designs.     

Vertical dynamic impedance of pile considering the dynamic stress diffusion effect of pile end soil

A new analytical model is presented to analyze the dynamic stress diffusion effect of pile end soil on the vertical dynamic impedance of the pile. The surrounding soil of the pile is modeled by using the plane strain model and the pile is simulated by using one-dimensional elastic theory. Finite soil layers below the pile end are modeled as conical fictitious soil pile with stress diffusion angle which reflects the dynamic stress diffusion effect of pile end soil. By means of the Laplace transform and impedance function transfer method, the analytical solution of the vertical dynamic impedance at the pile head in frequency domain is yielded. Then, a comparison with other models is performed to verify the conical fictitious soil pile model. Finally, based on the proposed solution, the selected numerical results are compared to analyze the influence of dynamic stress diffusion effect for different design parameters of the soil-pile system on the vertical dynamic impedance at the pile head.