CPT-Based Method for the Installation of Suction Caissons in Sand
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Abstract
A CPT-based method is presented for estimating the self-weight penetration and suction required during the installation of suction caissons in medium dense to dense sand. Existing methods, although fundamental in nature, suffer from the difficulty in estimating key input parameters such as an appropriate bearing factor for the tip resistance and frictional coefficients for skirt friction. Instead, the proposed method is based directly on the cone resistance profile, starting with the Det norske Veritas approach for calculating the installation resistance of skirted foundations. The approach is modified to include a simple linear reduction in end bearing on the skirt tips and internal friction with the level of suction, with those components of resistance assumed to reduce to zero once the suction reaches the critical level corresponding to hydraulic failure of the soil plug. The method is coupled with a seepage model so that, for a given pumping rate, the penetration and corresponding resistance can both be expressed as a function of time. Results of calculations with this complete model are shown to compare well with data from centrifuge model tests and with published data from suction caisson installations.
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Acknowledgments
This work is part of the research program conducted at the Centre for Offshore Foundation Systems (COFS) at the University of Western Australia, established under the Australian Research Council’s Research Centres Program. The first writer holds an International Postgraduate Research Scholarship and a scholarship sponsored by Fugro.
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Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 135 • Issue 1 • January 2009
Pages: 14 - 25
Copyright
© 2009 ASCE.
History
Received: Mar 20, 2007
Accepted: May 28, 2008
Published online: Jan 1, 2009
Published in print: Jan 2009
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