Embedment Effects on Vertical Bearing Capacity of Offshore Bucket Foundations on Cohesionless Soil
Publication: International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 17, Issue 4
Abstract
This paper presents the results from a series of physical modeling and three-dimensional finite-element (FE) analyses in which the authors examined the uniaxial vertical capacity of suction caissons for offshore wind turbines. The experiments were carried out in quartz sand and involved monotonic application of vertical load. It was found that the drained capacity of suction caissons is dependent on embedment ratio. In contrast, predictions from conventional semiempirical depth factors were found to somewhat underestimate when applied to rough foundations. On the basis of the tests and FE analyses, new expressions for the depth factor of shallow foundations were validated for embedment ratios (aspect ratios) up to unity, calibrating the fitting parameters by using data from a range of soil profiles.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
Andersen, K. H., et al. (2005). “Suction anchors for deepwater applications.” Proc., Int. Symp. on Frontiers in Offshore Geotechniques (ISFOG), Keynote Lecture, CRC Press/Balkema, Rotterdam, Netherlands, 3–30.
Barari, A. (2012). “Characteristic behavior of bucket foundations.” Ph.D. thesis, Aalborg Univ., Aalborg, Denmark.
Barari, A., and Ibsen, L. B. (2012). “Undrained response of bucket foundations to moment loading.” Appl. Ocean Res., 36, 12–21.
Barari, A., and Ibsen, L. B. (2014). “Vertical capacity of bucket foundations in undrained soil.” J. Civ. Eng. Manage., 20(3), 360–371.
Bhattacharya, S., Cox, J. A., Lombardi, D., and Wood, D. M. (2013). “Dynamics of offshore wind turbines supported on two foundations.” Proc. Inst. Civ. Eng. Geotech. Eng., 166(2), 159–169.
Bolton, M. D., and Lau, C. K. (1993). “Vertical bearing capacity factors for circular and strip footings on Mohr-Coulomb soil.” Can. Geotech. J., 30(6), 1024–1033.
Bransby, M. F., and Randolph, M. F. (1999). “The effect of embedment depth on the undrained response of skirted foundations to combined loading.” Soils Found., 39(4), 19–33.
Brinch Hansen, J. (1970). “A revised and extended formula for bearing capacity.” Danish Geotech. Inst. Bull., 28, 5–11.
Butterfield, R., and Gottardi, G. (1994). “A complete three-dimensional failure envelope for shallow footings on sand.” Géotechnique, 44(1), 181–184.
Byrne, B. W., and Houlsby, G. T. (1999). “Drained behaviour of suction caisson foundations on very dense sand.” Offshore Technology Conf., Oxford Univ., Oxford, U.K., 10994.
Byrne, B. W., and Houlsby, G. T. (2001). “Observations of footing behaviour on loose carbonate sands.” Géotechnique, 51(5), 463–466.
Byrne, B. W., Villalobos, F., Houlsby, G. T., and Martin, C. M. (2003). “Laboratory testing of shallow skirted foundations in sand.” Proc., BGA Int. Conf. on Foundations, Thomas Telford, London, 161–173.
Cassidy, M. J. (2007). “Experimental observations of the combined loading behaviour of circular footings on loose silica sand.” Géotechnique, 57(4), 397–401.
Danish Standards. (1998). “Norm for fundering (code of practice for foundation engineering).” DS 415, 4th Ed., Copenhagen, Denmark (in Danish).
Davis, E. H., and Booker, J. R. (1973). “The effect of increasing strength with depth on the bearing capacity of clays.” Géotechnique, 23(4), 551–563.
EAU. (2004). “Empfehlungen des arbeitsausschusses ‘ufereinfassungen’ häfen und wasserstraßen EAU 2004.” Ernst & Sohn, Berlin, Germany.
Feld, T. (2001). “Suction buckets, a new innovative foundation concept, applied to offshore wind turbines.” Ph.D. thesis, Aalborg Univ., Aalborg, Denmark.
Gottardi, G., and Butterfield, R. (1993). “On the bearing capacity of surface footings on sand under general planar loads.” Soils Found., 33(3), 68–79.
Gottardi, G., and Butterfield, R. (1995). “The displacement of a model rigid surface footing on dense sand under general planar loading.” Soils Found., 35(3), 71–82.
Gottardi, G., Houlsby, G. T., and Butterfield, R. (1999). “Plastic response of circular footings on sand under general planar loading.” Géotechnique, 49(4), 453–470.
Gourvenec, S. (2008). “Effect of embedment on the undrained capacity of shallow foundations under general loading.” Géotechnique, 58(3), 177–185.
Guo, W. D., and Qin, H. Y. (2010). “Thrust and bending moment of rigid piles subjected to moving soil.” Can. Geotech. J., 47(2), 180–196.
Houlsby, G. T., and Byrne, B. W. (2005). “Design procedures for installation of suction caissons in sand.” Proc. Inst. Civ. Eng. Geotech. Eng., 158(3), 135–144.
Houlsby, G. T., Ibsen, L. B., and Byrne, B. W. (2005). “Suction caissons for wind turbines.” Int. Symp. on Frontiers in Offshore Geotechnics, Taylor and Francis, London.
Houlsby, G. T., and Wroth, C. P. (1983). “Calculation of stresses on shallow penetrometers and footings.” Proc., IUTAMIIUGG Symp. on Seabed Mechanics, Springer, Newcastle, U.K., 107–112.
Ibsen, L. B. (2008). “Implementation of a new foundation concept for offshore wind farms.” Int. Proc. 15th Nordic Geotechnical Meeting, Norway, 19–33.
Ibsen, L. B., Barari, A., and Larsen, K. A. (2012). “Modified vertical bearing capacity for circular foundations in sand using reduced friction angle.” Ocean Eng., 47, 1–6.
Ibsen, L. B., Barari, A., and Larsen, K. A. (2014a). “Adaptive plasticity model for bucket foundations.” J. Eng. Mech., 361–373.
Ibsen, L. B., Barari, A., and Larsen, K. A. (2015). “Effect of embedment on the plastic behavior of bucket foundations.” J. Waterway, Port, Coastal, Ocean Eng., 06015005.
Ibsen, L. B., Borup, M., and Hedegaard, J. (1995). “Data report 9501: Triaxial tests on baskarp sand no. 15, Geotechnical Engineering Group, Aalborg Univ., Aalborg, Denmark.
Ibsen, L. B., Larsen, K. A., and Barari, A. (2014b). “Calibration of failure criteria for bucket foundations on drained sand under general loading.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 04014033.
Ibsen L. B., Liingaard, M., and Nielsen, S. A. (2005). “Bucket foundation, a status.” Conf. Proc., Copenhagen Offshore Wind, IEC, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Jeong, S., Lee, J., and Lee, C. (2004). “Slip effect at the pile-soil interface on dragload.” Comput. Geotech., 31(2), 115–126.
Larsen, K. A., Ibsen, L. B., and Barari, A. (2013). “Modified expression for the failure criterion of Bucket foundations subjected to combined loading.” Can. Geotech. J., 50(12), 1250–1259.
LeBlanc, C., Houlsby, G. T., and Byrne, B. W. (2010). “Response of stiff piles in sand to long-term cyclic lateral loading.” Géotechnique, 60(2), 79–90.
Lundgren, H., and Mortensen, K. (1953). “Determination by the theory of plasticity of the bearing capacity of continuous footings on sand.” Proc., Third Int. Conf. Soil. Mech, Zurich, Switzerland, 1.
Mansur, C. I., and Kaufman, J. M. (1956). “Pile tests, low-sill structure, Old River, Louisiana.” J. Soil Mech. Found. Div., 82(SM5), 1–33.
Martin, C. M. (1994). “Physical and numerical modelling of offshore foundations under combined loads.” D.Phil. thesis, Univ. of Oxford, Oxford, U.K.
Martin, C. M. (2004). “User guide for ABC-Analysis of Bearing Capacity.” Version 1, OUEL Rep. No.226/03, Dept. of Engineering Science, Univ. of Oxford, Oxford, U.K.
Meyerhof, G. G. (1953). “The bearing capacity of footing under eccentric and inclined loads.” Proc., 3rd Int. Conf. on SMFE, Zurich, 440–445.
Nova, R., and Montrasio, L. (1991). “Settlements of shallow foundations on sand.” Géotechniqué, 41(2), 243–256.
Ohde, J. (1939). “Zur Theorie der Druckverteilung im Baugrund.” Bauingenieur, 20, 451–459.
PLAXIS 3D [Computer software]. Plaxis bv, Delft, Netherlands.
Popescu, R., and Prevost, J. H. (1993). “Centrifuge validation of a numerical model for dynamic soil liquefaction.” Soil Dyn. Earthquake Eng., 12, 73–90.
Prandtl, L. (1920). “Uber die Harte plastischer Korper.” Nachr. D. Ges. D. Wiss. Gottingen, Math. Phys. Klesse, 74–85 (in German).
Roscoe, K. H., and Schofield, A. N. (1956). “The stability of short pier foundations in sand.” Br. Weld. J., 3(8), 343–354.
Sieffert, J. G., and Bay-Gress, C. (2000). “Comparison of European bearing capacity calculation methods for shallow foundations.” Proc. Inst. Civ. Eng. Geotech. Eng., 143(2), 65–74.
Skempton, A. W. (1951). “The bearing capacity of clays.” Proc., Building Research Congress, ICE, London, Vol. 1, 180–189.
Tahmasebi poor, A., Barari, A., Behnia, M., and Najafi, T. (2015). “Determination of the ultimate limit states of shallow foundations using gene expression programming (GEP) approach.” Soils Found., 55(3), 650–659.
Tani, K., and Craig, W. H. (1995). “Bearing capacity of circular foundations on soft clay of strength increasing with depth.” Soils Found., 35(4), 21–35.
Terzaghi, K. (1943). Theoretical soil mechanics, Wiley, New York.
Tjelta, T. I. (1995). “Geotechnical experience from the installation of the Europipe jacket with bucket foundations.” Proc., Offshore Technology Conf., Houston, TX, Paper No. 7795.
Villabolos, F. A., Byrne, B. W., and Houlsby, G. T. (2005). “Moment loading of caissons installed in saturated sand.” Int. Symp. on Frontiers in Offshore Geotechnics, Perth, Western Australia.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 17 • Issue 4 • April 2017
Copyright
© 2016 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jul 2, 2015
Accepted: Jul 5, 2016
Published online: Sep 30, 2016
Discussion open until: Mar 1, 2017
Published in print: Apr 1, 2017
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.