Bearing Capacities of Buried Bucket Foundations in Marine Tidal Flat Subjected to Combined Loading

Acknowledgments

Notation

A

cross-sectional area of the bucket foundation;

a, b, c

fitting parameters;

B_H

horizontal extend boundary distance;

B_V

vertical extend boundary distance;

D

foundation’s diameter;

E

Young’s modulus;

H

horizontal load;

H/As_uo

dimensionless horizontal load;

h

H/H₀, normalized horizontal load;

H₀

ultimate horizontal load;

H₀/As_uo

dimensionless ultimate horizontal load;

H_max

maximum horizontal load-bearing capacity;

k

gradient of strength with depth;

kD/s_um

strength nonhomogeneity of clay;

L

skirt length of the foundation;

L/D

skirt length ratio;

M

moment load;

M/ADs_uo

dimensionless moment load;

M₀

ultimate moment load;

M₀/ADs_uo

dimensionless ultimate moment load;

M_max

maximum moment load-bearing capacity;

m

M/M₀, normalized moment load;

N_ch

horizontal bearing capacity factor;

N_cm

moment bearing capacity factor;

N_cv

vertical bearing capacity factor;

RP

reference point;

s

vertical displacement;

s/Dθ

constant v-m displacement ratio;

s_u

undrained shear strength of clay;

s_u0

undrained shear strength at the skirt tip level;

s_ub

undrained shear strength of underlying clay;

s_ub/s_ut

relative strength of MTF clay;

S_um

undrained shear strength at mudline;

s_ut

undrained shear strength of top soft clay;

t

thickness of steel bucket;

u

horizontal displacement;

u/Dθ

constant h-m displacement ratio;

u/s

constant v-h displacement ratio;

V

vertical load;

V/As_uo

dimensionless vertical load;

v

V/V₀, normalized vertical load;

V₀

ultimate vertical load;

V₀/As_uo

dimensionless ultimate vertical load;

w

buried depth of the bucket foundation;

β

geometric correction factor;

η

material correction factor;

λ

applied loading correction factor;

γ′

effective unit weight of clay;

θ

rotational angle; and

υ

Poisson’s ratio.

References