Elastic Stiffnesses of a Rigid Suction Caisson and Its Cylindrical Sidewall Shell
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 145, Issue 2
Abstract
A finite-element study is presented for the linear-elastic behavior of rigid suction caisson (bucket) foundations installed in either a homogeneous or nonhomogeneous Gibson soil stratum. Closed-form expressions are developed for the stiffnesses of the suction caisson in vertical (axisymmetric) and lateral (antisymmetric) loading, with emphasis on nonhomogeneous soil. The contribution of the cylindrical sidewall (shell) acting alone to the overall response of the system is also explored. It is then shown that for a shell length (depth of embedment) exceeding half of the caisson’s radius, in particular, the shell can offer essentially the same stiffness as the whole caisson.
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Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 145 • Issue 2 • February 2019
Copyright
©2018 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jan 26, 2018
Accepted: Aug 20, 2018
Published online: Dec 6, 2018
Published in print: Feb 1, 2019
Discussion open until: May 6, 2019
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