Improved Prediction of Peak Resistance for Spudcan Penetration in Sand Layer Overlying Clay
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 148, Issue 1
Abstract
A reliable assessment of peak resistance is the key aspect of geotechnical design for spudcan installation in sand-over-clay soil profiles. The most recent failure stress–dependent method has been validated against a large number of centrifuge tests and proved to provide satisfactory accuracy. However, additional centrifuge tests collected in this study indicated that, under certain circumstances, the recently proposed method provides significant overestimations. Further investigation was carried out through centrifuge model tests and large-deformation finite-element analyses covering a comprehensive range of soil parameters and geometries. The measured and computed results confirmed that there is a blind zone for the recently proposed method, where an immoderately higher peak resistance is predicted. The overestimation was found to be related to the overestimated distribution factor. The formula for the distribution factor was therefore modified based on the experimental and numerical results. The modified formula was shown to provide an improved prediction for peak resistance.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (through the Grant Nos. U1806230, 51809247, and 42025702) and the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (through Grant No. ZR2018BEE043). All this support is gratefully appreciated.
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Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 148 • Issue 1 • January 2022
Copyright
© 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Apr 29, 2020
Accepted: Aug 10, 2021
Published online: Oct 27, 2021
Published in print: Jan 1, 2022
Discussion open until: Mar 27, 2022
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