Penetrometer-Based Assessment of Spudcan Penetration Resistance
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 137, Issue 6
Abstract
Estimation of spudcan penetration resistance is an important design step to guarantee the stability and functionality of offshore mobile jack-up units. Dependence on in situ penetrometer test data to evaluate the stratigraphy and resulting spudcan capacity profile has been increased. However, this becomes difficult in intermediate soil types in which the degree of consolidation during penetration falls between the extremes of fully drained or fully undrained. In this study, a penetrometer-based methodology utilizing results from cone and -bar penetration tests is developed. Three main steps are involved, comprising estimation of the relative penetration resistance of spudcan and cone or -bar penetrometer under fully drained and fully undrained conditions, and then quantifying the effect of the different normalized penetration rates for spudcan and penetrometer. Values of the various correlation parameters for the proposed model are evaluated. The validity and accuracy of the proposed methodology are evaluated through case studies from centrifuge tests in clay and a field example of spudcan installation in interbedded carbonate silts and sands. The comparisons confirm the potential of the proposed methodology for interpretation of penetrometer tests and application to the prediction of foundation performance.
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Acknowledgments
The work presented in this paper was undertaken while the first author was a visitor at the University of Western Australia. It forms part of the activities of the Centre for Offshore Foundation Systems (COFS), established under the Australian Research Council’s Research Centres Program and currently supported as a Centre of Excellence by the State of Western Australia and through grants ARCFF0561473 and ARCDP0665958 from the Australian Research Council. This work was also supported by the Korea Science and Engineering Foundation (KOSEF) grant funded by the Korea government (MEST; No. KOSEF2009-0077294).
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 137 • Issue 6 • June 2011
Pages: 587 - 596
Copyright
© 2011 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jan 27, 2010
Accepted: Oct 19, 2010
Published online: Oct 28, 2010
Published in print: Jun 1, 2011
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