Improved assessments of wave-induced fatigue for free spanning pipelines

For subsea pipeline projects, the costs related to seabed correction and free span intervention are often considerable. Development of reliable methods for fatigue analyses of pipelines in free spans contributes to minimize costs without compromising pipeline integrity. Assessment of wave-induced fatigue damage on multi-span pipelines is investigated, and improved analysis methods are suggested in this paper. A time-domain (TD) algorithm is developed, which accounts for non-linear hydrodynamic loading and dynamic interaction between adjacent spans. The proposed TD approach is employed to evaluate linearized frequency-domain (FD) solutions from recognized design standards and to study the dynamic response of multi-span pipelines to direct wave loading. Differences between multi- and single-span analyses are described for the first time, and the common assumption that the main fatigue damage contribution comes from the fundamental mode is demonstrated not to hold for multi-spans. An improved FD solution capable of predicting multi-mode response is derived and demonstrated to give accurate fatigue life estimates for multi-span pipelines.     

Residual compressive strength of inclined steel tubular members with local corrosion

In jacket-type offshore structures, corrosion damage affects the structural performance under compressive loading, which is created by the working and design loads of the main system. In this study, the effects of corrosion damage on the compressive structural behavior and strength of steel tubular members were investigated. Artificial corrosion damage was applied to the tubular specimens via mechanical processing and hand drilling to replicate the inclined nature of jacket-type offshore structures. The damage was applied to either half or all of the circumference of the specimens. The compressive failure modes of the artificially corroded tubular members were affected by the corrosion conditions. The compressive strengths were also affected by the level of corrosion. From the results of this study, the residual compressive strengths of corroded tubular steel members can be estimated based on the condition of the damaged sectional areas.     

Laboratory Study for Influence of Clay Content (CC) on Wave-Induced Liquefaction in Marine Sediments

In this artice, the influence of clay content on the wave-induced liquefaction in marine sediments was reported. The one-dimensional (1-D) equipment was setup with a vertical cylinder and 1.8–m–thick clayey sandy deposit and 0.2–m–thick water above the deposit. Unlike the previous experimental study for a single soil layer, this study used sand-kaolin mixtures, sand-illite mixtures, and sand-bentonite mixtures as the experimental samples. A series of experiments with 3,000 wave cycles in each test were conducted under numerous wave and soil conditions, which allowed us to examine the influence of clay content (CC) on wave-induced liquefaction in marine sediments. The experimental results showed that the clayey sandy deposit will become prone to liquefaction with the increase of CC when CC is less than a critical value, which depends on the type of clay. However, when CC is greater than the critical value, liquefaction depth will decrease as CC increases. Furthermore, when the CC value reaches a certain level, liquefaction will not occur. For example, no liquefaction occurs when CC ≥ 33% for both kaolin-sand and illite-sand mixtures and CC ≥ 16.36% for bentonite-sand mixtures.     

坑式钢管静压桩在地基加固中的应用

坑式钢管静压桩是解决既有建筑物因软弱土层地基产生沉降变形的一种技术方法。针对山西北化关铝化工有限公司质检楼地基沉降变形及工程地质条件,提出了采用坑式钢管静压桩进行加固处理的设计方案,介绍了坑式钢管静压桩施工方案和施工流程及注意事项;总结了施工过程中遇到的问题,并对施工后的监测数据进行了分析。结果表明,坑式钢管静压桩施工对软弱地基加固效果良好,可成功地解决软弱土层产生的地基沉降开裂问题。     

Calibration of cyclic constitutive models by oscillating functions

Most structures are subjected to more cyclic loads during their life time than static loads. These cyclic action could be a result of either natural or man-made activities and may lead to soil failure. In order to understand the response of the foundation and its interaction with these complex cyclic loadings, various researchers have over the years developed different constitutive models. Although a lot of research is being carried out on these relatively new models, little or no details exist in literature about the model-based identification of the cyclic constitutive parameters which to a large extent govern the quality of the model output. This could be attributed to the difficulties and complexities of the inverse modeling of such complex phenomena. A variety of optimisation strategies are available for the solution of the sum of least-squares problems as usually done in the field of model calibration. However, for the back analysis (calibration) of the soil response to oscillatory load functions, this article gives insight into the model calibration challenges and also puts forward a method for the inverse modeling of cyclic loaded foundation response such that high-quality solutions are obtained with minimum computational effort.     

Effect of loading duration on uncertainty in creep analysis of clay

Some studies suggest that creep parameters should be determined using a greater quantity of creep test data to provide more reliable prediction regarding the deformation of soft soils. This study aims to investigate the effect of loading duration on model updating. One‐dimensional consolidation data of intact Vanttila clay under different loading durations collected from the literature is used for demonstration. The Bayesian probabilistic method is used to identify all unknown parameters based on the consolidation data during the entire consolidation process, and their uncertainty can be quantified through the obtained posterior probability density functions. Additionally, the optimal models are also determined from among 9 model candidates. The analyses indicate that the optimal models can describe the creep behavior of intact soft soils under different loading durations, and the adopted method can evaluate the effect of loading duration on uncertainty in the creep analysis. The uncertainty of a specific model and its model parameters decreases as more creep data are involved in the updating process, and the updated models that use more creep data can better capture the deformation behavior of an intact sample. The proposed method can provide quantified uncertainty in the process of model updating and assist engineers to decide whether the creep test data are sufficient for the creep analysis.     

静压桩承载力时间效应的研究进展

由于静压桩沉桩后桩周土重塑,静压桩承载力表现出随着休止期的延长而增长的特性。本文从静压桩沉桩后桩周土体内孔隙水消散固结的角度出发,对静压桩承载力时间效应的理论和试验分别进行归纳,结合孔隙水消散路径及固结模型,对桩周土体初始超静孔隙水压力大小及其分布特征进行总结,分析承载力各种测试方法的优缺点,对静压桩承载力的时效性进行深化研究,并探讨了不同地质条件、不同桩的类型对休止期内静压桩承载力的影响,进一步对基于实测数据得出的经验公式进行总结。讨论了基于不同本构关系模型的应力场及位移场解答和沉桩后孔隙水压力消散解答,在此基础上总结了桩基极限承载力理论公式;探讨了黏性土、砂土条件下,考虑超固结比、不排水抗剪强度和塑性指数比对桩基极限承载力系数A的影响,在此基础上归纳了桩基极限承载力经验公式。建议在经验公式基础上设置多重参数,以提升经验公式的精确度,并完善对不同桩、土类型的参数解答;利用BP神经网络,导入静压桩承载力相关参数,以得到针对不同地质条件、桩型、休止期的承载力最优解。     

三峡库首区重点断裂围限区蓄水的加卸载效应

通过对蓄水前后三峡库首区构造应力场进行三维数值模拟发现,相对于蓄水前,蓄水至135 m水位时,官渡口断裂-马鹿池断裂-牛口断裂围限区、秭归地理中心和九湾溪断裂带,出现了4个主应力下降区和共轭的主应力增长区,形成了差应力场;175 m水位与135 m水位相比,局部差应力场呈现逆向变化,即形成了加载效应与卸载效应的交替过程。这一过程,可能是水库诱发地震的诱震(或触震)因素。     

纵波质点的运动与界面的反射

在原有波动学的基础上,通过对波传播质点的运动和作用进行研究,提出了波传播的力学作用不仅有因形变产生的应力,还存在着另一种由速度决定的不同形式的力——“动作用力”.动作用力才是波传播的根本动力.由“动作用力"和形变应力确立波的动力学方程,由这个方程,又可确定质点的运动规律.质点在波传播中一般并不作弹性振动,质点沿一个方向运动进行能量传递后,只作微弱的回复运动.质点这种运动特点才符合能量守恒.质点这种运动特点决定不同的界面性状有不同形态的反射波.     

CSAMT的静态效应校正及应用

CSAMT方法在地下近地表存在电性横向不均匀时,在双对数坐标系中视电阻率曲线会出现沿着视电阻率轴平行移动的现象,称之为静态效应.静态效应对深部电性结构处理解释结果影响重大,需对其进行合适的校正.本文介绍了目前通常使用的几种静态校正方法,并且分析了各方法的优缺点.在新疆某地进行的CSAMT铜矿勘探中,应用了曲线平移法进行静态校正,取得了较好的效果.