Technical Committee 209

Offshore Geotechnics
Comit technique 209

Gotechnique marine

General Report of TC209

Offshore Geotechnics
gnral du
Rapport Gnral
du TC209
TC209
Gotechnique Offshore
marine
Jewell R.A.

Fugro GeoConsulting

ABSTRACT: This general report introduces the discussion session organized by ISSMGE Technical Committee 209 (TC209)
Offshore Geotechnics. The main topics include offshore wind projects, pipelines and seabed structures, seabed soils, coastal and
nearshore work, and pile foundations.
RSUM : Ce rapport gnral introduit la sance de discussion organise par le Comit Technique 209 (TC209) Gotechnique
Offshore de la SIMSG. Les principaux thmes abords sont les projets doliennes offshore, les pipelines et structures sous-marines,
les sols sous-marins, les travaux ctiers et nearshore et les fondations sur pieux
KEYWORDS: offshore, caisson, piles, pipes, cyclic load, stability diagram, lateral load, tests, numerical analysis, bearing capacity
1

INTRODUCTION.

The organizers of the 18th International Conference

Challenges and Innovations in Geotechnics have implemented
important changes to the conference format. One is the
inclusion of Offshore Geotechnics at this main ISSMGE forum.
Second is the focus given to the technical committees.
This general report covers the session organized by the
ISSMGE Technical Committee 209 (TC209) Offshore
Geotechnics chaired by Philippe Jeanjean. Participation by
TC209 at this 18th conference includes the 2nd ISSMGE
McClelland Lecture by Mark Randolph, this discussion session
and a workshop on recent research and development on piles
under cyclic loading.
The main difference in offshore geotechnics arises from the
conditions and environment offshore. There is a stark contrast
in access for site investigation, soil sampling, field testing,
installation and observation. Activities offshore often require
new tools. Soft soil conditions at seabed level are encountered
in deepwater, frequently with high carbonate content, unusual
mineralogy or biogenic activity. Combined and cyclic loading
usually dominate design, whether caused by waves and currents
acting on structures or by repeated expansion and contraction of
pipelines on the seabed. Large displacement is a feature of the
installation and operation of seabed pipelines. Many of the
above features of offshore geotechnics are discussed in papers
to this session.
This general report has been organized into five main subject
areas: Offshore Wind; Pipelines and Seabed Structures; Seabed
Soils; Coastal and Near Shore work; Pile Foundations.
Since papers on the cyclic loading of piles will be presented
and discussed at the TC209 workshop, these are highlighted in
this general report but will not be presented during the
discussion session. The main focus for presentations will be
Offshore Wind and large displacement as encountered with
Offshore Pipelines.
Only a limited selection of papers will be presented at the
discussion session. All the papers are in the proceedings and
many will be presented at the poster session. Participants are
strongly encouraged to attend the TC209 workshop where the
cyclic behavior and design of piles will be presented and
debated based around papers to this session.

2.1

OFFSHORE WIND.
Site investigation

Project development, engineering design and project

construction are three main phases for offshore wind farms. A
major challenge is to minimize geotechnical risk for foundation
engineering. In current practice, geotechnical risk is addressed
mainly during the engineering design phase P2 in Table 1. BenHazzine and Griffiths (2013) suggest that risk management may
be improved through more extensive geophysical survey and
preliminary site investigation during the project development
phase P1. The authors highlight various sources of geotechnical
risk such as inherent soil variability, measurement errors and
transformation errors caused by simple empirical
interpretation of data.
Table 1. Timing of Geotechnical Work for Offshore Windfarms
(Ben-Hazzine and Griffiths, 2013)

Muir Wood and Knight (2013) use experience from 15

offshore wind farm projects in the UK to illustrate the manner
in which geotechnical risk was managed and to define
categories of poor, mediocre and good practice (or vice versa).
Poor practice includes appointment of the foundation design
team after site investigation is completed, insufficient planning
and poor interpretation of geophysical and geotechnical surveys.
Mediocre practice often involves incorrect scope for
geophysical and geotechnical surveys causing extra cost and
increased risk. On projects with good practice the foundation
design team was appointed at the start of the project and
specified the site investigation work. The ground models were

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Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

developed and refined over multiple phases of geotechnical and

geophysical investigation. The authors conclude that a formal
approach to risk management with staged investigations and
early appointment of the foundation design team is the best
practice.
2.2

Wind turbine performance

A wind energy project involves several disciplines within civil

engineering. The complex interaction between the turbine and
the supporting structure governs the dynamic behaviour.
Analysis is required of the structural modal parameters that
influence fatigue of a wind turbine. Indeed, continuous
monitoring of modal frequencies and damping ratios during the
operational life of a wind turbine can provide early warning of
the onset of structural damage.
Damgaard et al. (2013) assess instrumentation data from 30
offshore wind turbines in the North Sea. The measured modal
frequency and damping ratio are found to vary with time.
However, the observed magnitude and pattern of change with
time might result from scour erosion or backfilling around the
monopile structure. This highlights that the dynamic interaction
between an operating turbine and the supporting structure may
be affected by changes with time of the local seabed level,
something that could be reduced by scour protection.
2.3

(Arshi et al, 2013)

Figure 1. Hybrid Monopile and Shallow Foundation.

Foundation systems

The power capacity of a wind turbine, typically in the range

2MW to 5MW, but increasing toward 10MW in future,
determines the required height above mean sea level and the
maximum horizontal and vertical loads to be supported.
Deeper water increases the moment arm for both wind and wave
loading and often signifies larger design storms. There are
many novel features to the required foundation engineering as
discussed in papers to this session, Table 2.
Table 2. Papers on Foundation Systems for Offshore Wind.

Shallow
Foundation
Monopile
Caisson
Hybrid
(pile/caisson)

SINGLE
LOAD
Arroyo et al

Kim et al
Arshi et al

E.c; A
E.1g; A

CYCLIC
LOAD
Roesen et al
Versteele et al

E.1g; A
A

E = Experimental (E.1g lab floor; E.c centrifuge);

A = Analysis

In brief rsum, shallow foundations and monopiles

generally provide efficient support for wind turbines. However,
these foundations are less effective when the moment load to be
resisted increases due to larger turbines and/or deeper water.
One approach is to improve the capacity by combining a
monopile and shallow foundation, Figure 1. Alternatively, a
caisson can support combined vertical, horizontal and moment
loading at seabed level. Three or four caissons may be
combined to support a structure where greater load carrying
capacity is required, Figure 2.
The issues for foundation engineering discussed in the
papers include: (1) the impact of the loading path and loading
direction on safety factor and use of a single failure envelope;
(2) improved performance by combining a shallow foundation
and monopile; (3) the incremental displacement of cyclically
loaded monopiles; and, (4) assessment of simultaneous pore
water pressure generation and dissipation for caissons under
storm loading.

(Versteele et al, 2013)

Figure 2. Monopod and Multipod Foundations.

2.3.1 Bearing capacity analysis

The assessment of bearing capacity for offshore wind turbine
foundations differs from onshore practice in several respects.
The issues include: (a) separate correction factors in analysis for
shape, depth, load inclination and eccentricity that are
cumbersome and prone to calibration error; (b) use of separate
partial factors on loads and resistances as in DNV-OS-J101
when the difference between favourable and detrimental effects
can be subtle; and (c) simultaneous application of two major
horizontal loads from wind and wave acting in separate
directions. Arroyo et al highlight these issues and question the
suitability of the conventional design approach for offshore
wind foundations (Arroyo et al 2013).
A more satisfactory framework for capacity checks would be
through failure-envelopes as detailed in the paper. Arroyo et al
examine a synthetic design example to illustrate their case using
the geometry of a Thornton Bank GBS and a set of derived
loading parameters, Figure 3. The complex interaction between
horizontal and moment loading, and the impact of different
directions for wind and wave loading are illustrated by the
authors using Figure 4 and the results in Table 3.
It is conventional to increase both detrimental loads at the
same time, so that the load increment causing the limit to be
reached is in the same direction as the reference combined load.
The authors consider the cases where only wind or wave
loading is increased. Such analysis might be used to assess the
impact of any error in the assessment of those loads. Because
of the greater influence on moment of wind loading, the
analysis shows that an underestimate 21% (in this case) in the
wind load would be sufficient to cause failure compared with an
underestimate 50% for the wave load, Table 3.
Arroyo et al (2013) conclude that failure envelopes offer a
powerful framework for analysis of shallow foundation
capacity; the approach is particularly well suited for offshore
wind structures that require refined design in the face of
considerable uncertainty.

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Technical Committee 209 / Comit technique 209

the caisson. Centrifuge tests are currently underway to define

better the benefit of caisson versus simple shallow foundation in
such hybrid foundation systems.

(Arshi et al 2013)
Figure 5. Moment resistance chart for hybrid foundations.

2.3.3

Lateral displacement due to cyclic loading

The focus above is the limit resistance of offshore wind tower

foundations subject to a single application of combined loading.
In practice, the structures are subject to several episodes of
extreme loading caused by major storms and a great number of
cycles of low amplitude loading from normal wind and wave
conditions. The latter source of repeated loading may cause
fatigue or serviceability problems (Roesen et al. 2013).
The authors report a series of 1g laboratory tests on
monopiles in sand subject to one-way cyclic loading over more
than 50,000 cycles. One limitation in these 1g tests is a more
rigid pile compared with a typical prototype, but the trend of
results should be similar. The cyclic loading is described by
two non-dimensional ratios: the maximum moment compared
with the static moment capacity b = Mmax/Mstatic in the range
1 > b > 0; and the ratio of the minimum to the maximum
moment c = Mmin/Mmax which has a value 1 for a static test, 0
for one-way loading (the case examined by Roesen et al) and -1
for two way cyclic loading.
The pile displacement is measured by the rotation at the
soil surface. The results of a static load test and the measured
displacement in one-way cyclic load tests (c = 0) with load
intensity b = 0.2 to 0.4 are shown on Figure 6.

Figure 3. Thornton Bank GBS (after Peire et al 2009).

(Arroyo et al 2013)
Figure 4. Incremental loading paths to failure.
Table 3. Results of analysis on incremental load to failure.

2.3.2 Hybrid foundations

When considered as a monopile design, the addition of a
shallow footing at seabed level may be thought of as adding
fixity to the monopile head thereby generating improved
resistance and stiffness to lateral loading, Figure 1. A simplified
design analysis would assess the limiting moment capacity of
the shallow foundation acting alone and include the equal and
opposite moment resistance to the analysis of the monopile.
The shallow foundation not only increases load carrying
capacity but also reduces the bending moment supported by the
monopile, by about 25% in the example cited by Arshi et al
(2013).
Experimental modelling of these hybrid systems at 1g and in
the centrifuge are described together with numerical and
analytical work. The significance of the geometric ratio of
footing to pile diameter, and pile length to pile diameter is
demonstrated and a form for design charts proposed, Figure 5.
Some tests on caisson/monopile combinations are noted and
indicate additional benefit due to the lateral load resistance of

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(Roesen et al 2013)
Figure 6. Static and cyclic one-way loading tests on model monopiles.

The incremental rotation due to one-way cyclic loading may

be quantified with respect to the rotation caused by the first,
single loading N = N 1 . Tests with different loading
intensity may then be compared through the non-dimensional
form N/1 as shown on Figure 7.
The test data are compared with a simple power law
b
(N/ 1) = aN , where a and b are empirical constants found
from testing. The power law seems to provide a reasonable
asymptotic limit for the data after about 1000 or more load
repetitions, Figure 7. The value of the constant a is found to
vary almost linearly with the applied load magnitude b . The
slope of accumulating displacement with repeated loading, the
constant b, appears to be a function of the combination of

Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

monopile and sand parameters, presumably including the

installation process. The rate of accumulation appears not to
depend markedly on the applied load magnitude. The analysis
in 6.2 suggests that the data might also fit with a natural
logarithm through to low numbers of cycles (N/ 1) = c.ln(N).

process is repeated for the next package of cyclic loading, and

so on.
The analysis for pore pressure generation uses two relations
for the sand material. First the measured cyclic shear strength
versus number of cycles to liquefaction, Nl, from cyclic
laboratory tests; second an empirical formula linking pore water
pressure generation to number of load cycles, Figure 9.
Liquefaction occurs at u/umax = 1 when N/Nl = 1.

(Roesen et al 2013)
Figure 7. Monopile rotation versus number of cycles.

2.3.4 Caisson foundations

A centrifuge test of a caisson in sand is reported by Kim et al.
(2013). The caisson response to single combined load to failure
is measured and numerical analysis applied. The test details are
provided elsewhere and it is not clear whether the 1/70th scale
caisson was installed by suction during the centrifuge test or
before testing. Soil material from the proposed site is used to
model a planned prototype caisson foundation. The measured
response of the modelled prototype 15.5m diameter 10.5m long
caisson is shown on Figure 8 in terms of applied moment versus
rotation.
The authors report a parametric analysis using FLAC to
show the significant influence of the assumed elastic modulus
and cohesive strength parameters assumed for the soil.

(Versteele et al 2013)
Figure 9. Generation of excess pore water pressure.

The results of a 3D analysis for a caisson foundation are

reported to illustrate the method, Figure 10. The 20m diameter
by 10m length caisson is subjected to a 6 hour design storm of
2160 waves. These are split for analysis into 5 individual load
packages. The direction of wind and wave loading is assumed
to be aligned. The results illustrate the asymmetric nature of
pore water pressure generation that has potential consequences
for possible differential settlement and tilting of the caisson.

(Kim et al 2013)
Figure 8. Measured moment-rotation for prototype caisson.

(Versteele et al 2013)
Figure 10. Example of excess pore water pressure below a caisson.

The offshore design standard DNV-OS-J101 (DNV, 2011)

requires structures to resist a 50 year design storm considering
both peak loads and the entire history of cyclic loading. It is
this latter requirement that is tackled by Versteele et al (2013)
for the case of caisson foundations in sand.
Because a full analysis of cyclic loading of caissons in sand
is not practically feasible with current numerical methods, the
authors develop an analysis to provide insight into the
competing processes of excess pore water pressure generation
and dissipation during the design storm. The analysis breaks
the storm into several packages of cyclic loading (magnitude,
number of cycles and time). The excess pore water pressure
generated at each point in the soil by the package of cyclic
loading is computed analytically and input into the numerical
analysis. The dissipation and redistribution of pore water
pressure during the time period is computed numerically. The

Versteele et al (2013) conclude that the model is useful in

predicting areas beneath the caisson prone to the development
of excess pore pressure. However, the analysis does not predict
liquefaction behaviour or compute settlement, nor does it allow
for load redistribution in the caisson due to the changing
effective resistance in the soil during the design storm. There is
further development work to be done.

2298

PIPELINES AND LARGE DISPLACEMENT.

A challenging feature for offshore pipelines is the large

displacement that can occur during installation and service.
Large displacement is particularly extreme for laying pipe on a
soft seabed. Large displacement also results from multiple
cycles of heat expansion and contraction of the operating
pipeline. This requires engineering design to avoid localized

Technical Committee 209 / Comit technique 209

pipe distortion and over-stress irrespective of the sea bed soil

type. A less discussed cause of large displacement is where a
pipeline crosses a seismic fault; here it is movement of the
ground with respect to the pipe that causes gross distortion.
Fault crossings occur both onshore and offshore.
The geotechnical analysis for large displacement requires
suitable tools and numerical models and both have developed
significantly in recent years. A variety of large displacement
numerical methods with 3D capability are commercially
available for design purposes. Similarly, constitutive models
for soft clay that account for competing strain rate and strain
softening effects, and competing pore pressure generation and
dissipation, are available for designers. Specific numerical
elements to model the large displacement interaction between a
pipe and the surrounding soil are also currently under
development for practical application in design (SAFEBUCK
JIP). However, the constitutive and numerical modeling for
large displacement in dense sand is less well advanced.
Pipe buckling and pipe walking is usually assumed to occur
between fixed seabed structures. There may be scope for
permitting the seabed structures to move horizontally to help
accommodate axial pipe displacement.
Several of these topics are described in four papers to the
discussion session.
3.1

Dynamic embedment of offshore pipelines

Dutta et al (2013) examine pipe laying and dynamic embedment

using Coupled Eulerian Legrangian (CEL) methods available in
ABAQUS software. Progressive degradation of undrained shear
strength with plastic shear strain is included using the model of
Einav and Randolph (2005). Similar analysis by Wang et al
(2010) used remeshing and small strain (RITSS analysis).
The simplified problem is illustrated in Figure 11. A pipe is
penetrated monotonically into a soft clay sea bed under selfweight (submerged weight of pipe). The pipe is then cycled
laterally by a displacement u/D = 0.05, in the x direction of
Figure 11, under constant self-weight vertical load. This causes
additional pipe penetration.

incorporate initial overloading of the pipe, but the forty cycles

of lateral loading resulted in a dynamic embedment factor of the
order 4 to 5, within the range often assumed in practice.

(Dutta et al 2013)
Figure 12. Static and dynamic pipe penetration of a seabed.

As shown previously by Wang et al (2010), the analysis

provides insight into the size of the zone of highly sheared and
softened soil around the pipe and the shape of the berms formed
by pipe penetration. The results in Figure 13 are for the heavier
pipe and show dynamic pipe penetration and monotonic pipe
penetration to the same depth (increased vertical load). The
comparison is striking. Dynamic embedment causes more
extensive plastic strain softening in the soil, coloured red, and
wider and flatter berms than generated by monotonic pipe
penetration. The latter could be important for the analysis of
initial lateral breakout of the pipe. Dynamic embedment affects
the magnitude of pipe penetration, the zone of soil remoulding
and the shape of the berms formed.

(Dutta et al 2013)
Figure 13. Dynamic and monotonic pipe penetration of a soft seabed.
(Dutta et al 2013)
Figure 11. Pipe penetration of a seabed.

3.2

The analysis uses the same dimensions, soil parameters and

loading sequence as the first stage of two pairs of centrifuge
tests by Cheuk and White (2008) on a light and heavier pipe.
The progressive pipe penetration and magnitude of horizontal
resistance caused by cyclic lateral displacement is computed.
The penetration of the pipe with cycles of lateral displacement
is shown in Figure 12 for one pair of pipe tests.
Current practice is to estimate separately the embedment due
to pipe laying and due to dynamic effects. The initial
embedment on pipe laying involves temporary overload at the
touch down point. Typically the pipe weight is increased by a
lay factor and the initial pipe penetration under monotonic
loading is computed for this higher load. The effect of small
amplitude cyclic lateral motion is incorporated using a
dynamic embedment factor that multiplies up the initial
monotonic pipe lay embedment to determine a final estimated
pipe embedment. The centrifuge tests and analysis here did not

Pipeline fault crossing

Damage is caused to pipelines that cross a seismic fault that

subsequently displaces. Rupture of oil or gas pipelines can
cause fire and environmental risk. For critical pipelines, the
magnitude and direction of localized fault displacement should
be assessed and appropriate engineering implemented to avoid
pipe rupture due to ground movement.
Moradi et al completed centrifuge tests on buried steel pipe
subject to an upward thrust fault at 30 to the vertical in the
direction of the pipe. A fault displacement 70mm was applied
across an 8mm diameter buried pipe with 0.4mm wall thickness
tested in a centrifuge at 40g. In one test the pipe is simply
buried in the compacted sand. A low density and light weight
loose backfill was used in the second test. The axial and
bending strain in the pipe was measured in both tests. The light
backfill allowed the pipe to buckle and displace over a greater
length considerably reducing the damage to the pipe. The pipe
embedded in the sand suffered more localized deformation and
damage, as illustrated by the photos post testing, Figure 14.

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Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

cycling. However, the shear strength is found to be largely

independent of the previous number of load cycles and the
strain amplitude.
Kim and Safdar (2013) report cyclic direct simple shear
tests on compacted silty sand to define the limiting cyclic stress
ratio versus number of cycles for two initial void ratios.
Tyldesley et al (2013) describe site investigation to define
parameters for wind farm foundation design on a deep deposit
of carbonate clayey silt till in Ontario Canada. This onshore site
investigation demonstrates the use of insitu tests and shear wave
velocity measurement, interpreted together with laboratory tests,
to assemble knowledge on soil strength and stiffness properties.

(Moradi et al 2013)
Figure 14. Pipe response to shear fault displacement in a centrifuge.

3.3

Seabed structures that displace horizontally

The sea bed in deep water is generally soft and often requires
large shallow foundations to support seabed facilities. If some
movement could be tolerated the size could be reduced.
Further, if the structure connects with a pipeline subject to
walking or other axial force, there may be merit in allowing the
structure to slide horizontally to help relieve concentrated load.
Bretelle and Wallerand (2013) examine the design for a
shallow foundation that displaces horizontally in a cyclic
fashion, as might be caused by repeated pipe expansion and
contraction. The influence of soil softening, foundation
settlement and potential change in stiffness with time is
examined through relatively straightforward analysis. The
authors conclude that shallow foundations designed to displace
horizontally could be useful for subsea pipeline networks.
3.4

COASTAL AND NEARSHORE WORK.

There are three papers on diverse topics. Madrid et al (2013)

describe site investigation, cyclic laboratory tests and numerical
analysis for the stability of a caisson breakwater in about 20m to
25m depth of water. The caissons are founded on a rubble
mound infilling a large zone where the deep underlying soft
clay soil was removed, Figure 15.
+11.00
SEAWARD SIDE

+3.00

0.00

-13.00

RIP RAP 300kg

-18.00
-22.00

0.00

CAISSON

CONCRETE BLOCK

-15.00

RIP RAP 4 ton

-13.75

RIP RAP 300kg

RUBBLE MOUND
-26.00

-21.00
-23.00

172.27

Large displacement in dense sand

While numerical analysis for large deformation is increasingly

amenable for engineering design, a relatively simple
constitutive model for dense sand that provides stable large
deformation analysis is still subject to study. Li et al (2013)
propose a Critical State Mohr Coulomb (CSMC) model:
deformation up to peak strength is elastic and thereafter dense
sand dilates (including non-associated flow) and reduces in
strength to the critical state angle of friction. The concept of the
state parameter defined by Been and Jeffries (1985) is used.
A key objective is analysis for punch through of a spudcan
footing in dense sand overlying soft clay. Li et al (2013) have
not reached that target. However, development of the model
starkly highlights non-uniform deformation and preferential
shear band formation in dense sand post peak that makes data
acquisition (lab tests) and model calibration such a challenge.
In analysis for bearing capacity of a circular plate on uniform
sand, the authors found that the elastic stiffness of the sand
influences bearing capacity by as much as 50% over the realistic
range, reminiscent of rigidity index in penetration problems.
Stiffness was found to have greater impact than dilation angle.
The analysis for bearing capacity is described in terms of a
combined bearing capacity factor Nq that applies across the
range from Nq alone to N. The proposed formula for Nq
includes soil stiffness and dilation angle along with peak
friction angle, foundation size, soil unit weight and surcharge.
4

SEABED SOILS.

The three papers on soil properties cover diverse topics. Ho et al

(2013) describe undrained cyclic triaxial compression tests on
isotropically consolidated Singapore Marine Clay. The focus is
the behavior of the clay when it is sheared monotonically to
failure after cycling. The tests show that when the current mean
effective stress in the sample reduces below half the original
preconsolidation pressure, p/pc 0.5, due to cyclic loading,
some increase in mean effective stress commences at higher
stress ratio in each cycle. At mean effective stress p/pc
0.6 (first few cycles) the mean effective stress of the clay
always reduces. This behavior is similar to normally versus
over consolidated clay. The final effective stress path for
monotonic triaxial compression to failure after cycling similarly
depends on the mean effective stress p/pc at the end of

2300

(Madrid et al 2013)
Figure 15. Caisson breakwater and stability analysis for wave impact.

There is much detail in the paper on soil testing and soil

properties, loading cases for various phases of project
construction and hydrodynamic testing to determine dynamic
uplift. A good description is provided on the way cyclic
loading and shear strength reduction were treated for design.
Relic footprints from earlier jack-up activity can occur next
to the location for new shallow foundations. Ballard and
Charue (2013) describe a study on a circular zone of remoulded
soft clay (Sr = 2) with a diameter equal to the size of the square
mudmat and with soft clay thickness of half that size. The
limiting envelope for combined moment and horizontal
resistance is computed for a range of applied vertical load
(V/Vult), and a range of distance between the mudmat and the
remoulded zone/footprint that causes the moment and horizontal
resistance to be reduced, as well as Vult. 2D and 3D analyses
show very substantial benefit from the 3D geometry in this case.
A detailed design and project record for installation of large
diameter, buried HDPE pipes in a nearshore environment prone
to seismic loading is described by Bellezza et al (2013). Details
for the case history and the various code requirements
considered in design are documented. Initial measurements are
provided on the vertical deflection of the installed pipes.
6

PILE FOUNDATIONS.

A lack of code guidance on capacity, stiffness and displacement

for cyclically loaded piles is being addressed by collaborative
research including the original GOPAL study and the current
SOLCYP project, supplemented by individual research work.
Several papers to this session report on SOLCYP results from
instrumented field tests, calibration chamber and centrifuge

Technical Committee 209 / Comit technique 209

tests. SOLCYP will be presented and discussed at the TC209

workshop and recorded for publication. Therefore only some
key aspects are described below to avoid duplication.
There are four axial load magnitudes: the mean Qmean and
the half-amplitude of the cyclic load Qcyclic define the maximum
Qmax = Qmean + Qcyclic and the minimum Qmax = Qmean - Qcyclic
pile loads. These loads are typically referenced to the ultimate
pile capacity in tension QT or compression QUC. The ultimate
capacity and the capacity under cyclic load is determined at a
limiting displacement (0.1D or less) or due to an increasing rate
of displacement; either continuing displacement after a static
load increment or the cyclical displacement rate (mm/cycle).
6.1

Stability diagram: cyclic axial loading

The stability diagram is a non-dimensional map for cyclic pile

behavior. The diagram in Figure 16 is for axial tension tests on
model driven piles in dense sand in a calibration chamber (Silva
et al, 2013). A similar diagram is found for the equivalent field
test data (Rimoy et al, 2013). The chart defines the region of
stable cyclic load combinations for a number of load cycles to
be resisted. One way loading (Qmean>Qcyclic) is more stable. The
dashed line shows the limit of valid load combinations.
Puech et al (2013) provide the equivalent stability diagrams
for cyclic compression loading of bored piles in dense sand
from field and centrifuge tests. The field tests by Benzaria et al
(2013a) are shown on Figure 17. The results from centrifuge
model tests are very similar. Note that only one-way loading
was tested and the data should not be extrapolated beyond.
While bored piles in stiff clay have lower ultimate resistance
compared with driven piles, cyclic compression tests on bored
piles in over-consolidated clay indicate a much larger range of
stable load combinations compared with piles in dense sand
(Benzaria et al, 2013b).
Information on deformation can be included on the stability
diagram as shown by Rimoy et al (2013) for field tests under
cyclic axial tension on driven piles in sand, Figure 18. The data
on the accumulation of displacement with cycling shows mostly
stable behavior that suddenly degrades near the limiting number
of cycles, a rather brittle behavior under tensile load.
A consistent observation for driven piles in dense sand is that
stable cycling increases the ultimate capacity when tested
subsequently. This is attributed to densification with some
relaxation in lateral effective stress around the pile, as measured
in the exceptional data of Silva et al. (2013). Conversely, strong
cyclic loading (as would lead to instability) acts to reduce the
ultimate axial pile capacity that can be mobilized subsequently.
Data on large axial pile tests in silt on a 4.2m long test pile
are also interpreted in a stability diagram by Chen et al (2013).
6.2

(Tsuha et al (2012) calibration chamber tests)

Figure 16: Stability diagram: tension tests on model driven piles in sand.

(Puech et al, 2013)

Figure 17: Stability diagram: field compression on bored piles in sand.

Cyclic lateral loading

Rosquot et al (2013) report data on lateral displacement for

model driven piles in sand tested under one-way loading at 40g
in a centrifuge. As in 2.3.3, but for displacement rather than
rotation, the lateral displacement yN compared with the first
load displacement y1 [yN = yN y1] is linked with the number
of cycles. A logarithmic form yN/ y1 = c.ln(N) fits the data
well where c varies with the amplitude of cyclic load and the
maximum lateral load (equivalent to 2Qcyclic/ Qmax in the axial
terminology above, written as DF/F by Rosquot et al). Based
on their test data the authors suggest c = 0.1(DF/F)0.35 as a
general fit, but sand and pile properties might also be important.

(Rimoy et al, 2013 field tension tests on driven piles in sand)

Figure 18: Stability diagram: accumulated displacement.

The natural logarithm form has the advantage of fitting the data
through to low numbers of cycles (recall 2.3.3). Rosquot et al
(2013) also note that the maximum moment in the pile does not
increase significantly with lateral cyclic loading. Finally, the
work to extend p-y analysis for laterally loaded piles failed to
capture the measured behavior beyond the first few cycles.

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Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

6.3

Extension of t-z analysis to cyclic loading

Burlon et al (2013) extend static t-z analysis for piles in sand to

the case of tensile and compressive cyclic load and compare the
results with centrifuge test data. The analysis turns out not yet
to be practical as four new parameters are introduced that
require measurement in cyclic pile tests. Even then, the fit with
the test data is good only for relatively few load cycles.
6.4

Plugging of open-ended displacement piles

Laboratory tests on sand to measure pile plugging, using PIV

observations, are described by Lueking and Kempfert (2013).
The fully plugged limit IFR=0 was not achieved in the tests.
The results of 2D Plaxis analysis are reported to investigate the
mechanism of plugging. Based on this study, the authors
propose two largely empirical calculation methods for the
analysis of end-bearing for open-ended, partially plugged piles.
6.5

Cyclic pressuremeter tests

Reiffsteck et al (2013) report new work on the application of

Mnard and self-boring pressuremeter tests to measure the
change in soil properties with cyclic loading and, potentially,
liquefaction resistance. Data are reported for several sites where
cyclic pile tests were completed (SOLCYP). The authors
emphasise the importance of a high quality borehole and the
need for at least 50 cycles of repeated load to characterize the
shear modulus. Soil horizons susceptible to liquefaction could
be identified by large volume expansion. The acquisition of
pore water pressure data during the test would greatly improve
the test control (data on drainage/rate effects) and interpretation.
6.6

Osterberg cell testing

The general reporter is not aware of recent cyclic pile tests

using O-Cell technology (Osterberg, 1989). A two level O-Cell
test arrangement, for example, permits end bearing to be
eliminated from cyclic axial compression tests on piles.
7

CONCLUSIONS.

As demonstrated by papers to this session, the practical

challenges of offshore geotechnics actively drive forward the
development of soil mechanics and geotechnical engineering.
This is partly due to more extreme loading and deformation than
usually encountered onshore. The fruits of this research and
development are of great value for the overall understanding
and pactice of geotechnical engineering. That is why offshore
geotechnics should remain part of this key ISSMGE conference.
8

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author would thank TC209 Chairman Philippe Jeanjean for

the invitation to prepare this General Report, and colleagues
J.C. Ballard, P. Peralta and V. Whenham for valuable support.
9

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mudmat stability - How beneficial are 3D effects? Proc. 18th
ICSMGE, Paris.
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Bellezza I., Mazzieri F., Pasqualini E., DAlberto D. and Caccavo C.
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pipelines in a coastal area. Proc. 18th ICSMGE, Paris.

2302

Ben-Hassine J. and Griffiths D.V. 2013. Geotechnical Exploration for

Wind Energy Projects. Proc. 18th ICSMGE, Paris.
Benzaria O., Puech A. and Le Kouby A. 2013a. Essais cycliques axiaux
sur des pieux fors dans des sables denses. Proc. 18th ICSMGE.
Benzaria O., Puech A. and Le Kouby A. 2013b. Essais cycliques axiaux
sur des pieux fors dans largile surconsolide des Flandres.
Proc.18th ICSMGE, Paris.
Bretelle S., Wallerand R. Fondations Superficielles Glissantes pour
lOffshore Profond Mthodologie de Dimensionnement. Proc.
18th ICSMGE, Paris.
Burlon S., Thorel L. and Mroueh H. 2013. Proposition dune loi t-z
cyclique au moyen dexprimentations en centrifugeuse. Proc. 18th
ICSMGE, Paris.
Chen R.P., Ren Y., Zhu B. and Chen Y.M. 2013. Deformation behavior
of single pile in silt under long-term cyclic axial loading. Proc. 18th
ICSMGE, Paris.
Cheuk, Y.C. and White, J.D. (2008). Centrifuge modelling of pipe
penetration due to dynamic lay effects. Proc. Int. Conf. on Offshore
Mechanics and Arctic Engineering, Portugal. OMAE2008-57923.
Damgaard M., Andersen J.K.F., Ibsen L.B. and Andersen L.V. 2013.
Time-Varying Dynamic Properties of Offshore Wind Turbines
Evaluated by Modal Testing. Proc. 18th ICSMGE, Paris.
DNV-OS-J101 (2011). Design of Offshore Wind Turbine Structures.
Det Norske Veritas (DNV) Offshore Standard, September 2011.
Dutta S., Hawlader B. and Phillips R. 2013. Numerical investigation of
dynamic embedment of offhore pipelines. Proc. 18th ICSMGE.
Einav, I. and Randolph, F.M. (2005). Combining upper bound and strain
path methods for evaluating penetration resistance. Int. J.
Numer.Meth. Engng., Vol. 63, pp. 1991-2016.
Ho J., Goh S.H. and Lee F.H. 2013. Post Cyclic Behaviour of Singapore
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Kim D.J., Youn J.U., Yee S.H., Choi J., Choo Y.W., Kim S., Kim J.H.,
Kim D.S. and Lee J.S. 2013. Centrifuge test and numerical
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Kim J.M. and Safdar M. 2013. Behaviour of marine silty sand subjected
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Li X., Hu Y. and White D. 2013. A large deformation finite element
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Moradi M., Galandarzadeh A. and Rojhani M. 2013. The new
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Muir Wood A. and Knight P. 2013. Site investigation and geotechnical
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Osterberg, J.O. 1989. New Device for Load Testing Driven Piles and
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on Piling and Deep Foundations, London, A.A. Balkema, p. 421.
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Foundations for the Thornton Bank Offshore Wind Farm. Terra et
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Jardine R. 2013. Diagrammes de stabilit cyclique de pieux dans les
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Rosquot F., Thorel L., Garnier J. and Chenaf N. 2013. Pieu sous
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lateral displacement. Canadian Geotech. Jrnl, Vol. 47, pp. 842-856.

Shallow foundations for offshore wind towers

Fondations superficielles pour des installations oliennes maritimes
Arroyo M., Abadas D., Alcoverrro J., Gens A.

Dep. of Geotechnical Engineering and Geosciences, Technical University of Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain

ABSTRACT: Direct foundations are present in about 25% of the installed offshore wind power towers. The peculiarities of this type
of structure are well known: high dynamic sensitivity, complex couplings between environmental actions, machine operation and
structural response, complex installation and maintenance, difficult site investigation. There is a clear need for optimized foundation
design tools that would enable cost reduction and a more detailed assessment of the risk of every installation. One such tool is likely
to be the systematic use of failure envelopes for capacity checks. The paper explores the benefits of such an approach with various
realistic design examples.
RSUM : Les fondations superficielles interviennent dans la ralisation de 25% des structures oliennes maritimes. Les
particularits de ce type de structures sont bien connues: haute sensibilit dynamique, couplages complexes entre les actions
environnementales, le fonctionnement de la machine et la rponse structurelle, installation et maintenance difficiles, investigation
gotechniques onreuses. Un besoin vident d'optimisation des outils de conception est ncessaire pour permettre la rduction des
cots et une valuation plus dtaille du risque de chaque installation. Le recours systmatique des enveloppes de rupture pour les
justifications de la capacit portante des fondations peut bien tre un tel outil. Ce papier explore les avantages d'une telle approche
avec divers exemples de conception ralistes.
KEYWORDS: direct foundation, capacity, offshore, energy, wind farms
1

INTRODUCTION

Offshore wind is an increasingly large contributor to the energy

production mix of several European countries, particularly those
bordering the North and Baltic seas. An exponential increase in
installations is currently anticipated in this region. It is
reasonable to expect that other regions of the world will follow
suit.
Offshore wind turbines (OWT) are generally larger than
those installed on land, with 3 to 5 MW of nominal capacity
being now the norm, but with turbines of up to 10 Mw coming
soon to the market. Rotor diameters of more than 100 m and
nacelle locations 80 m above mean sea level are common. The
result is a relatively lightweight and slender structure,
supporting a rotating machine finely tuned to maximize power
production while minimizing structural loading.
While initial OWT installations took place near shore (< 10
km) at locations with relatively shallow water depths (< 20 m),
current developments are clearly located offshore (10 -100 km
from the nearer coast) with water depths of 20-50 m being
typical. Several floating support concepts are now being
developed; however, commercial installations are still always
supported by some kind of fixed structure. For these, the
foundation of choice would depend in any case on the particular
site conditions, construction equipment availability and, to a
certain extent, local traditions.
To this date pile foundations have been largely dominant,
mostly as single large (4-6 m diameter) monopile installations,
and lately also as smaller (1-2 m) piles for jackets and tripods.
However, examining the industry databases (e.g. Burton et al
2011) it appears that at the end of 2011 about 25% of the
installed power was supported by direct foundations or gravity
base substructures (GBS). Most of these GBS installations took
place in relatively shallow waters, but there are some examples
already at larger distances from the coastline and in deeper
waters. Perhaps the most significant is the Thornton Bank I

project, 27 km offshore Zeebrugge in Belgium, where 6 OWT

of 5 Mw were installed in water depths of 20-30 m. The
foundation design for this installation was described by Peire et
al (2009) and its outline is reproduced here in Figure 1. These
are large (44 m height; 23.5 m base diameter) concrete shells,
floated into place and later ballasted with a mixture of sand and
olivine with the base at 4 m below the original seafloor level.
The geotechnical profile at the site comprises medium and high
density sands and stiff tertiary clays.
2

DESIGN ISSUES FOR DIRECT OWT FOUNDATIONS

There are several specific standards dealing with OWT. Perhaps

the highest ranked is IEC 61400-3 (2009) which, from the point
of view of structural design, establishes design cases and site
ambient load specification procedures, introduces a safety
format and gives broad indications about structural design
procedures. However, detailed specification of structural and
foundation design procedures is deliberately referred to other
documents, like the ISO 1990X offshore standard series or
DNV-OS-J101 (2010).
As might be expected, the indications given by such
standards are, on the one hand, firmly based in conventional
design practice when being specific, and somewhat elusive with
problems that lack a clear conventional solution. An example of
the later is the consideration of fatigue or foundation failure
under cyclic loading. An example of the former is the
consideration of foundation bearing capacity which, for shallow
foundations, follows a conventional superposition and
correction procedure not very different from those outlined by
Brinch-Hansen (1970) or Vesic (1975).
When designing foundations for OWT, there will be of
course issues of geotechnical capacity under extreme loads.
However the design drivers might be sometimes related to other
considerations, such as dynamic characteristics of the whole

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Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

structure (Van der Temple and Molenaar, 2002) or displacement

limits imposed by operating constraints (e.g. foundation tilting
limits of 0.25 - 0.5 are sometimes quoted). However, even if
we narrow our focus to bearing capacity considerations there
are reasonable grounds to question the suitability of the
conventional design approach.

3
3.1

FAILURE ENVELOPES
Concept

Failure envelopes were introduced (Butterfield & Ticof, 1979)

as an alternative to classical bearing capacity analyses. They
were based on the concept of interaction diagram, which was
applied to the system of loads acting on the foundation. Most
developments to date but not all-, refer to the case in which
that system can be reduced to loads acting within a plane (V, H,
M) where M represents the moment acting within the plane, M
normalised by a characteristic foundation dimension, M/B.
Failure envelopes are implicit in the traditional approach to
bearing capacity. However, it was clearly appreciated from the
beginning that an explicit failure envelope was useful to link
previously separate checks on different foundation failure
modes (e.g. sliding and bearing capacity) into a coherent view.
Failure envelopes offered advantages also from the
experimental viewpoint, because they provide a clearer
framework for experimentation, even suggesting new, more
efficient, procedures (like swipe tests).
Failure envelopes are also attractive because they can fit well
with generalized force-displacement foundation models
(macroelements; Nova and Montrasio, 1991) that are used to
compute foundation displacements and represent an economical
solution to non-linear soil-structure interaction studies. Finally,
failure envelopes are interesting because they enable a more
coherent approach to foundation safety.
3.2

Safety considerations

Already Georgiadis (1985) clearly identified as one major

advantage of failure envelopes that they allow a very natural
consideration of the influence of different loading paths. To do
that, it is important to distinguish between the reference design
load state and incremental loading paths (Figure 2).

M
(H, M)

Figure 1. Thornton Bank GBS (Peire et al, 2009).

Indeed there are several aspects of the traditional approach to

bearing capacity that are poorly suited to deal with OWT.
Firstly, using separate corrections for shape, depth, load
inclination, load eccentricity is cumbersome and prone to
calibration error if the effects that are being corrected for are not
truly independent. This is perhaps the reason behind the large
scatter between inclination factor formulations (Siefert & BayGress; 2000); that uncertainty is particularly undesirable for
structures, like OWT, that are mostly designed to sustain
horizontal loads.
Secondly, the traditional approach to bearing capacity
quickly leads to conundrums when the security format (as is the
case for most modern codes, like DNV-OS-J101) is based on
separate partial factors for loads and resistances. As discussed in
detail by Lesny (2007) the same action might have a detrimental
or favourable effect depending on which other actions are being
simultaneously considered. Also it is fairly evident that a
traditional bearing capacity check is far from eliminating the
most likely path towards failure.
Finally, it is very difficult to generalize the traditional
approach to cases when two major horizontal loads (wind,
wave) are acting in separate planes. All these problems are best
dealt with if the traditional approach to capacity checks is
replaced by a failure-envelope based one.

2304

(H, M)

(Hr, Mr)
H

Figure 2. Schematic load envelope illustrating a reference design load

and one incremental load path

Any load system (V, H, M) shall remain within the failure

envelope. It is however convenient to establish a nondimensional safety measure. To do so a simple approach is, for
any incremental loading direction, to obtain the crossing point
with the failure envelope (Vr, Hr, Mr) and then define a
generalized safety factor, SF, as

SF V,H, M V,H, M 1 r

(1)

(Vr
V rV , H r
H r H , M r
M r M )

(2)

It is thus made explicit the fact that safety is not only

dependent on the initial design situation but also on the
incremental loading path. This definition includes, as a
particular case, the traditional safety factors against bearing
capacity (the incremental load direction and the reference

Technical Committee 209 / Comit technique 209

design load are collinear) or sliding (incremental loading

direction collinear with the Horizontal component of the
reference design load). Another particular case included is that
of plastic overturn, a prescribed check for breakwater design
in Spanish regulations (Puertos del Estado, 2005) in which the
lever arm of the horizontal loading is maintained (i.e. the
incremental load is aligned with the the Horizontal and Moment
components of the reference load).
3.3

Example formulations

There are many failure envelopes in the literature. For

foundations failing without drainage at the soil-foundation
interface Gourvenec & Randolph (2011) offer an excellent
review. For the example below a sand profile is assumed and
drained conditions are reasonable. In these circumstances a
convenient expression for a failure envelope is that proposed by
Gottardi et al. (1999) (Figure 3)

F (V , H , M )

hm
(4v (1 v ))
hm

2a

(3)

Where (a, h0, m0) are shape factors, empirically determined

as (-0.22, 0.12, 0.09) for quartzitic sand, and we use a nondimensional notation in which v = V/V0, h = H/V0, m = M/(DV0)
and D is the foundation diameter. The normalizing factor V0 is
the maximum load (i.e. centered vertical) that the foundation
can sustain. Here that maximum load is computed assuming no
embedment and introducing the bearing capacity factor N from
Bolton & Lau (1993) into

V0

1
2

EXAMPLE APPLICATION

To illustrate the argument we propose an example, synthetic but

realistic. The case is developed using the characteristics of the
gravity base substructure built at Thornton Bank (Peire et al.
2009) and the design loading specified for a Baltic windfarm
development site, Kriegers Flak (Bulow et al, 2009). This
reference gives some basic characteristics for the OWT
superstructure (Table 1).
Table 1 Super-structure characteristics

Figure 3 Failure envelope by Gottardi et al (1999)

h
h

4
2

DN

(4)

Rated power

5 MW

Rotor diameter

126 m

Nacelle height above msl

90 m

Nacelle-rotor weight

4.1 MN

Tower weight

3 MN

The same reference also includes resultants from ambient loads

for a range of depths and load hypothesis (e.g. extreme, fatigue).
Using these data, Table 2 has been computed for a 30 m depth
case and extreme load scenario. It appears that, in this particular
case, 80% of the total horizontal thrust is due to sea action, but
this load is the source of less than 20% of the overturning
moment at foundation level. This might partly reflect the fact
that at that particular site sea current is relatively strong,
lowering the action line of sea forces.
These ambient loads should be combined with the OWT
selfweight. Using the Thornton Bank design like a template for
substructure shape, the relevant characteristics of that part of the
OWT are those listed in Table 3. As usual with gravity base
OWT, the dead weight of the substructure is significantly larger
than that of the superstructure. Combining all environmental
actions and structure selfweight the resultant load combination
acting at the foundation level is (H, V, M) = (10.1; 44.5; 284.3)
in MN and MNm. This will be the reference design load state in
this example.
Tabla 2 Ambient loading parameters
Parameter / load

Unit

Value

Total thrust, H

MN

10.1

Total overturning moment, M

MNm

284.3

Wind thrust, Hw

MN

2.03

Wind arm lever, bw

120

Sea thrust, Hs

MN

8.07

Sea arm lever, bs

Tabla 3 Thornton Bank type substructure characteristics

It is worth noting that (a) it is relatively straightforward to

generalize expression (3) to more complex loading situations
e.g. Lesny 2010- although the experimental base for adjusting
the parameters in those circumstances is somewhat scarce, (b)
that the shape of (3) above has proven rather resilient and very
similar expressions have been found to fit well other foundation
test results in materials like carbonate sand or even clay (Martin
& Houlsby, 2001), as long as the contact surface remains
drained. Of course the choice of V0 would change according to
the material and foundation shape.

2305

Parameter / load

Unit

Value

Base diameter

23,5

Concrete weight

MN

30

Fill weight

MN

38

Buoyant volume

m3

2965

From that reference state we probe the failure surface

alongside three different incremental loading paths. One will
correspond to a simultaneous and proportional increase of all
ambient actions (the plastic overturn case). The other two
hypothesis would correspond to increases of just one of the

Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

ambient horizontal actions, (sea, wind) while the other remains

constant. These hypotheses would, for instance, naturally follow
from any circumstance in which the estimates of wind and wave
carry different uncertainties. Figure 4 illustrates graphically the
meaning of these load directions in an idealised section of the
failure envelope at constant V.
For this check we use the failure envelope of Gottardi et al
described above. The soil profile below the foundation is
characterised by a friction angle of 33 and submerged weight
of 10 kN/m3. These values might correspond well to the
characteristic values of a medium-dense sand profile, frequently
encountered in North Sea locations. It is assumed that the
foundation base is perfectly rough.

Failure envelopes offer a powerful framework to analyze

shallow foundation capacity problems. They seem particularly
suitable for offshore wind towers, where refined design in the
face of large load uncertainties is likely to be a frequent
situation.
6

Table 4 Example: results

Hypothesis

Hr (MN)

Hr / Hi

H (%)

Sea

14.1

1.4

50

Both

11.6

1.15

15

Wind

10.5

1.04

21

Some relevant results from the computation are presented in

table 4. For each incremental loading path a failure point is
identified in the envelope, with values (Hr, Mr). In the table the
value Hr corresponding to each loading path is reported in the
first column. In the second column this value is normalized by
the reference state horizontal load. This corresponds to the
generalized safety factor defined above, which, only for the
hypothesis in which both loads are simultaneously increasing,
coincides with the plastic overturn safety factor of ROM 0.505. As a reference the value required for that safety factor in
breakwaters is commonly above 1.3 (Puertos del Estado; 2005).
For the other two load hypothesis in which only one
environmental action is increased no similar reference exists to
judge on the computed safety factor. For these cases it is
perhaps more meaningful the number in the third column of
Table 4, where the difference between failure and reference
thrust is expressed as a percent of the reference ambient load
that is increasing. In the case computed, a 21% error in the
reference estimate of wind thrust would result in foundation
failure, whereas it would be necessary a 50% underestimate of
the hydrodynamic thrust to fail the foundation.
The previous computations have always been made under
the hypothesis of increased thrust and constant lever arm. This
can be interpreted as action magnitude uncertainty. Alternative
hypothesis dealing with lever arm uncertainty can be equally set
up with relative ease. Note, finally, that most geotechnical
uncertainty can be lumped in the V0 estimate to achieve a
relatively straightforward approach to reliability evaluation.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The research on direct foundations for offshore wind towers

described in this paper was partly founded by the company
ACCIONA ENERGY within the framework of the CENITAZIMUT project supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science.
7

Figure 4 Incremental load paths in the example

CONCLUSION

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Vesic, A. S. (1975) Bearing capacity of shallow foundations, Ch. 3 in
Winterkorn H.F. & Fang H.Y., Foundation Engineering Handbook,
Van Nostrand Reinhold

2306

Modelling of monopile-footing foundation system for offshore structures

in cohesionless soils
Modlisation dun systme de fondation superficielle isol pour sur les structures maritimes dans
les sols pulvrulents
Arshi H.S., Stone K.J.L.
University of Brighton, UK

Vaziri M.

Ramboll UK Limited, UK

Newson T.A., El-Marassi M.

University of Western Ontario, Canada

Taylor R.N., Goodey R.J.

City University London, UK

ABSTRACT: While monopiles have proven to be an economically sound foundation solution for wind turbines, especially in
relatively shallow water, their installation in deeper water and in hard ground may require a more complex foundation design in order
to satisfy the loading conditions. One approach is that foundation systems are developed which combine several foundation elements
to create a hybrid system. In this way it is possible to develop a foundation system which is more efficient for the combination of
vertical and lateral loads associated with wind turbines while maintaining the efficiency and simplicity of the design. Previous studies
have reported the results of single gravity tests of the hybrid system where the benefits of adding the footing to the pile are illustrated.
This paper presents experimental results on the performance of skirted and unskirted monopile-footings. A simplified design approach
based on conventional lateral pile analysis is presented.
RSUM : Alors que les fondations de type monopile se sont rvles tre une solution conomiquement viable pour les fondations
doliennes, en particulier dans les eaux relativement peu profondes, leur installation dans des eaux plus profondes et dans un sol dur
peut exiger une conception plus complexe afin de satisfaire les conditions de chargement. Une approche possible est que les systmes
de fondations dvelopps combinent plusieurs lments de fondation pour crer un systme hybride. De cette manire, il est possible
de dvelopper un systme de fondation plus efficace vis vis des charges verticales et latrales associes aux oliennes, tout en
maintenant une conception efficace et simple. Des tudes antrieures sous gravit simple ont montr lefficacit dun systme hybride
en combinant une semelle et un pieu . Cet article prsente des rsultats exprimentaux sur la performance de systmes avec et sans
pieu pour des semelles. Une approche de conception simplifie base sur l'analyse classique dun pieu sous charge latrale est
prsente.
KEYWORDS: Hybrid monopile footing, offshore piles, laterally loaded piles, wind turbine foundations
1

INTRODUCTION

Due to the needs of on-going developments in the oil and

energy sector, the design of offshore foundations is constantly
evolving. In the hydrocarbon extraction sector, exploration and
development is moving in to ever deeper water resulting in ever
more challenging geotechnical conditions. Similarly the
expansion of the offshore wind sector involves the development
of deepwater sites, together with requirements for heavier high
capacity turbines. Conventional offshore foundations are not
always economical or practical for this new generation of
turbines, and there remains a requirement to develop foundation
solutions which can better satisfy future developments in the
offshore wind sector.
The foundations of a typical offshore wind turbine are
subjected to combined loading conditions consisting of the selfweight of the structure (V), relatively high horizontal loads (H)
and large bending moments (M). The preferred foundation
system to date has been the monopile, which has the advantage
that it can be employed in a variety of different soil conditions.
However, a disadvantage in the use of monopiles in deep water
sites is that the system can be overly compliant. For sites with
intermediate water depths, it may be possible to stiffen the
lateral response of the monopile at the mudline.

2307

Figure 1. Schematic illustration of the prototype hybrid system.

One such approach to increase the lateral resistance of a

monopile is the hybrid monopile-footing system. As
schematically represented in Figure 1, this foundation system

Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

comprises of a circular footing attached to the monopile at the

mudline. A 2-D analogy of this system is that of a retaining wall
with a stabilising base (Powrie and Daly, 2007). The role of the
footing is to provide a degree of rotational restraint at the pile
head, leading to an improvement in the lateral resistance of the
pile. It has also been shown that the use of a relatively thick pile
cap leads to an increase in the lateral resistance through the
development of passive soil wedges (Mokwa, 1999), in a
similar way to the behaviour of skirted foundations (Bransby
and Randolph, 1998).
Analysis of the hybrid system would involve both lateral pile
analysis and bearing capacity analysis. The lateral response of
piles is well reported in the literature and various methods of
analysis have been proposed by numerous researchers, such as
Matlock and Reese (1960), Broms (1954), Poulos (1971), Reese
et al. (1974), Randolph (1981), Duncan et al (1994) and Zhang
et al. (2005). Where the plate diameter is relatively small, the
system is similar to a single capped pile, for which methods
have been developed for analysing the influence of the pile and
pile cap under axial loading (Poulos and Randolph, 1983), and
the effect of the pile cap on the lateral performance of single
piles has also been investigated by others (Kim et al., 1979),
(Mokwa and Duncan, 2001: 2003), (Maharaj, 2003).
The bearing capacity problem has also been investigated
under different loading conditions relevant to offshore
foundations, see for example references Houlsby and Puzrin
(1999), and Gourvenec and Randolph (2003).
2. EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATIONS
The potential performance of the hybrid system was
investigated in single gravity studies (Stone et al. (2007)) and is
illustrated in Figure 2. These studies suggested that the
additional rotation restraint provided by the footing can result in
a stiffer lateral response of the pile and greater ultimate lateral
load. The degree of restraint at the pile head was dependent on
the size of the footing, the initial contact between the soil and
the footing and the stiffness of the soil beneath the footing.
Observations of heaved and displaced soil in front of the edge
of the footing also suggested that a degree of passive soil
resistance is likely to be generated under the lateral movement
and rotation of the footing.

footing and the pile was also investigated where it was

suggested that the hybrid foundation system tends to be more
effective if vertical movements are allowed at the pile-footing
connection. This movement allows the footing to act
independently from the pile where the positive contact between
the footing and the soil underneath is solely controlled by the
vertical load acting on the footing.
Table 1. Notations for skirted hybrid foundations system

ID
P.W0
P.F80.W1.FR
P.F80.S1.W1.FR
P.F80.S2.W1.FR
P.F80.S3.W1.FR

Footing
size
(mm)
80
80
80
80

Skirt
length
(mm)
-

Dead
load
(N)
0
100
100
100
100

Footing to
pile
connection
Slipping
Slipping
Slipping
Slipping

More recent single gravity tests are presented in Figure 3

where skirts with different lengths have been added to the
footing. The tests were conducted in sand and the results
indicate that the presence of the skirts has a relatively
significant contribution on the lateral load capacity of the
system. The results show that adding the skirts to the footing
and increasing the skirt length tends to increase the lateral load
bearing capacity of the foundation system by about 50% in
comparison to a non-skirted hybrid system. It is also apparent
that footings with very short skirts do not tend to show any
apparent additional advantage to that without the skirt. This
could be due to the fact that the stresses around the skirt induced
by the soil are very small at 1g. Further studies in the centrifuge
are in the taking place to investigate the effect of the skirts and
the results will be reported soon.

Figure 3. Load vs. deflection plot for the hybrid system with skirts.

Figure 2. Lateral load response of the hybrid system (after Stone et al.
2007).

Arshi (2011), and Arshi and Stone (2012) reported the

results of a comprehensive series of single gravity testes carried
out on the foundation system where the elements affecting the
overall performance of the foundation system was investigated
in depth. It was reported that the size for the footing has a direct
effect on the overall lateral load bearing capacity of the
foundation system. Furthermore it was reported that the ratio
between the vertical and horizontal load has a significant effect
on the lateral performance of the foundation system where
larger vertical loads tend to improve the lateral load bearing
capacity of the hybrid system. The connection between the

Stone et al (2011) reported the results of a series of

centrifuge tests in sand. The results of the combined vertical
and lateral loading tests are best represented through plots of
lateral load versus lateral displacement. Figure 4 shows a plot of
the lateral load versus lateral displacement for the monopilefooting (HL 1) and single pile (PL 1) with a vertical load of
600N at 50 g. It is apparent from this plot that the initial lateral
stiffness of the monopile-footing and pile are similar for the first
11.5mm of lateral displacement. However the monopilefooting continues to exhibit a stiffer response than the single
pile as the lateral displacement increases. Further analyses of
these data provided information on the redistribution of bending
moment in the pile due to the plate.

2308

Technical Committee 209 / Comit technique 209

Figure 4. Load deflection graph for centrifuge tests carried out on the
hybrid system (after Stone et al. 2011).

In Figure 5, the bold lines represent the bending moments at

5% and 20% of the maximum deflection for the pile only case
and the dashed lines show the behaviour of the hybrid system.
The results show that adding the footing to the pile reduces the
bending moment at any given deflection, and as a result
increases the moment capacity of the system at any given
applied lateral load. The results indicate about 25%
improvement in the bending moment for at both deflections.

developed by the footing to be generated as a function of the

footing rotation.
The results generated by this approach are illsutetared in
Figure 6 where it is shown how different pile to footing
diamater increses the moment capacityof the piles, where this
variation lies between a fully free and a fully fixed pile.
The dashed lines in Figure 6 show the ultimate moment
capacities of the hybrid system. Although this method
successfully leads to obtaining the ultimate load bearing
capacity of the hybdegree of rigidity (D.O.R 75%, 50% and
25% showing the the ultimate capacity of the system when
%75, 50% and 25% of the ultimate moment at pile head is
applied to the free headed pile) of the system are shown as a
benchmark for comparing how differenet pile to footing
diameters relate to the fully fixed moment. As apparent in
Figure 6, increasng the sie of the footing tends to increse the
lateral load bearing capacity. As the footing size increases, it
gets close to the fully fixed head condrion. This also indicates
that there for a given pile diamater and length, there ought to be
a footing size afterwhcih increseing the footing size further will
not enhance the lateral load bearing capacity of the foundation
system.

Figure 6. Moment vs. rotation plot for the hybrid system with different
pile to footing ratios.

Figure 5. Bending moment distribution along the pile length for the
hybrid system.

3. ANALYSIS
Whilst some advanced numerical modelling of monopiled
footings has been undertaken (El-Marassi et al. 2008; Stone et
al. 2010; Arshi et al. 2011; Arshi and Stone 2012), the method
presented here utilises conventional lateral pile analysis
methodology where the hybrid system is idealised to a lateral
pile with a resisting moment applied at the mudline. The
resisting moment capacity provided by the footings were
estimated analytically using conventional bearing capacity
theory and applied at the mudline acting in the oposite dirtection
to the loading. This approach only considers the ultimate
condition of the system and does not allow the moment

In addition to this, design charts have been developed which

relate the pile embedment length to pile and footing diameters.
Numerous design charts have been developed covering a wide
range of pile diameters, pile lengths, footing diameters and
normalized moment capacities an example of which is shown in
Figure 8 where the L/D ratios vary from 1 to 10 and the footing
to pile diameter ratios varies from 0 to 1. The moment capacity
of the hybrid system has been normalised and is shown against
footing to pile diameter ratio. The lines in between represent
different pile embedment depth where for a given moment
capacity the designer could utilise this graph to choose the
appropriate pile length as well as pile and footing diameters. It
is also notable that for any given value of normalized moment
capacity the designer has the option of choosing a short pile
relatively large footing diameter, or long pile with relatively
small footing diameter. The flexibility in this design approach is
beneficial in particular designing the hybrid system in difficult
soil conditions.

2309

Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

Figure 7. Example of a design chart for the hybrid system developed

using analytical and numerical methods.

4. DISCUSSION & CONCLUSION

It is apparent that the ultimate lateral response of a single
monopile foundation can be enhanced by the presence of a
footing resulting in a greater ultimate lateral capacity. This
improvement was observed at both load versus deflection as
well as the bending moment versus depth plots. Whilst the
effect on the initial lateral stiffness may not be significant, the
lateral stiffness beyond this initial movement was significantly
enhanced through the presence of the footing.
The effect of adding skirts to the hybrid system has been
shown to further increase the lateral performance of the hybrid
system, and centrifuge tests are planned to investigate the
skirted system in more detail.
A simple analytical approach using conventional lateral pile
analysis methods is presented from which preliminary design
charts can be generated. This approach can be developed to
generate realistic design charts where the lateral capacity of the
hybrid system is related to the development of bearing capacity
coupled to the lateral resistance of the pile shaft.

5. REFERENCES
Arshi HS. (2011). Structural behavior and performance of skirted hybrid
monopile-footing foundations for offshore oil and gas facilities.
Proceedings of the Institution of Structural Engineers: Young
Researchers Conference 11. London: IStructE Publications, 8.
Arshi HS, Stone KJL and Newson TA. (2011). Numerical modelling on
the degree of rigidity at pile head for offshore monopile-footing
foundation systems. 9th British Geotechnical Association Annual
Conference, London.
Arshi HS and Stone KJL. (2011). An investigation of a rock socketed
pile with an integral bearing plate founded over weak rock.
Proceedings of the 15th European Conference of Soil Mechanics
and Geotechnical Engineering. Amsterdam: Ios Pr Inc, 705
711.
Arshi HS. (2012). A new design solution for increasing the lateral
resistance of offshore pile foundations for wind turbines located
in deep-water. Proceedings of the Institution of Structural
Engineers: Young Researchers Conference 12. London:
IStructE Publications, 10.
Arshi HS and Stone KJL. (2012). Lateral resistance of hybrid monopilefooting foundations in cohesionless soils for offshore wind
turbines. Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on

Offshore Site Investigation and Geotechnics. London: Society for

Underwater Technology, 519 526.
Bransby MF and Randolph MF. (1998). Combined loading of skirted
foundations. Gotechnique. 48(5), 637655.
Broms BB. (1964). Lateral resistance of piles in cohesionless soils.
ASCE Journal of the Soil Mechanics and Foundation Division.
90(SM3), 123-156.
Duncan JM, Evans LT and Ooi PS. (1994). Lateral load analysis of
single piles and drilled shafts. ASCE Journal of Geotechnical
Engineering. 120(6), 1018-1033.
El-Marassi M, Newson T, El-Naggar H and Stone KJL. (2008).
Numerical modelling of the performance of a hybrid monopiledfooting foundation. Proceedings of the 61st Canadian
Geotechnical Conference, GeoEdmonton 2008. Edmonton,
(Paper No. 480), 97 104.
Gourvenec S and Randolph M. (2003). Effect of strength nonhomogeneity on the shape of failure envelopes for combined
loading of strip and circular foundations on clay. Gotechnique.
53(6), 575586.
Houlsby GT and Puzrin AM. (1999). The bearing capacity of a strip
footing on clay under combined loading. Proc. R. Soc. London
Ser. A. 455, 893916.
Kim JB, Singh LP and Brungraber RJ. (1979). Pile cap soil interaction
from full scale lateral load tests. ASCE Journal of Geotechnical
Engineering. 105(5), 643-653.
Maharaj DK. (2003). Load-deflection response of laterally loaded single
pile by nonlinear finite element analysis. EJEG.
Matlock H and Reese LC. (1960). Generalized solutions for laterally
loaded piles. ASCE Journal of Soil Mechanics and Foundations
Division. 86(SM5), 63-91.
Mokwa RL. (1999). Investigation of the Resistance of Pile Caps to
Lateral Loading. Ph.D Thesis. Virginia Polytechnic Institute,
Blacksburg, Virginia.
Mokwa RL and Duncan JM. (2001). Experimental evaluation of lateralload resistance of pile caps. ASCE Journal of Geotechnical and
Geoenvironmental Engineering. 127(2), 185 - 192.
Mokwa RL and Duncan JM. (2003). Rotational restraint of pile caps
during lateral loading. ASCE Journal of Geotechnical and
Geoenvironmental Engineering. 129(9), 829 - 837.
Poulos HG. (1971). Behaviour of laterally loaded piles: Part I-single
piles. ASCE Journal of the Soil Mechanics and Foundations
Division. 97(SM5), 711-731.
Poulos HG and Randolph MF. (1983). Pile group analysis: a study of
two methods. ASCE Journal of Geotechnical Engineering.
109(3), 355-372.
Powrie W, and Daly MP. (2007). Centrifuge modelling of embedded
retaining wall with stabilising bases. Geotechnique. 57(6), 485497.
Randolph MF. (1981). The response of flexible piles to lateral loading.
Gotechnique. 31(2), 247-259.
Reese LC, Cox WR and Koop FD. (1974). Analysis of laterally loaded
piles in sand. Offshore Technology Conference. Vol. II (Paper
No. 2080), 473-484.
Stone KJL, Newson TA and Sandon J. (2007). An investigation of the
performance of a hybrid monopole-footing foundation for
offshore structures. Proceedings of 6th International on Offshore
Site Investigation and Geotechnics. London: SUT, 391-396.
Stone KJL, Newson TA and El Marassi, M. (2010). An investigation of
a monopiled-footing foundation. International Conference on
Physical Modelling in Geotechnics, ICPMG2010. Rotterdam:
Balkema, 829-833.
Stone KJL, Newson TA, El Marassi M, El Naggar H, Taylor RN, and
Goodey RA (2011). An investigation of the use of bearing plate
to enhance the bearing capacity of monopile foundations.
International Conference on Frontiers in Offshore Geotechnics
II - ISFOG. London: Taylor and Francis Group, 623-628.
Zhang L, Silva F and Grismala R. (2005) Ultimate lateral resistance to
piles in cohesionless soils. Journal of Geotechnical and
Geoenvironmental Engineering. Vol. 131(1), 7883.

2310

Influence of jack-up footprints on mudmat stability How beneficial are 3D effects?

Influence des dpressions laisses par les jack-ups sur la capacit portante des mudmats quels
sont les effets bnfiques dune analyse en 3D?
Ballard J.-C., Charue N.

Fugro GeoConsulting Belgium

ABSTRACT: Jacket platforms are piled into the seabed but need to be supported temporarily by mudmats during installation. They
sometimes need to be located next to seabed features such as pug marks formed by previous deployments of jack-up rigs. These
features may influence the bearing capacity of the mudmats. This is a 3D problem for which simplified approaches are unsatisfactory,
simplified 2D plane strain simulations can lead to over-conservative results. This paper presents a project example in very soft clay
for which the software package Plaxis 3D has been successfully used. The presence of a pug mark was found to degrade significantly
the yield surface in the VHM load space. A comparison between 2D and 3D analyses shows that the beneficial 3D effects are
substantial, especially when the pug mark is located at the corner of the mudmat. The zone of influence of the pug mark is also much
more limited when the problem is modelled in 3D.
RSUM : Les platesformes de type Jacket sont fondes sur pieux mais ncessitent dtre supportes temporairement pendant
linstallation par des mudmats (fondations de type superficiel). Ces jackets sont parfois situes proximit de dpressions laisses par
linstallation antrieure de jack-ups. Ces dpressions peuvent influencer la capacit portante des mudmats. Il sagit dun problme 3D
typique pour lequel aucune solution simplifie nexiste. Une approche 2D (en tat plan de dformation) peut mme mener des
rsultats trop conservatifs. Cet article prsente un exemple dans de largile molle pour lequel la suite de logiciels Plaxis a t utilise
avec succs. Les conclusions sont les suivantes : la prsence des dpressions modifie singulirement la surface de rupture dans
lespace VHM. Une comparaison entre les approches 2D et 3D montre que les avantages faire appel au 3D sont substantiels,
spcialement quand la dpression est situe proximit du coin du mudmat. La zone dinfluence de la dpression est aussi bien plus
limite lorsque le problme est modlis en 3D.
KEYWORDS: Pug mark, mudmat, stability, VHM, 2D, 3D, Finite Element Analysis, soft clay, remoulded, jack-up, mesh
1

INTRODUCTION

Jacket platforms are the most common type of offshore

structure in the offshore hydrocarbons industry (Dean, 2010).
They consist of open-framed steel structures made of tubular leg
chords, horizontal bracing, and diagonal bracing. These
structures are piled into the seabed but need to be supported
temporarily by mudmats during installation. Mudmats are
essentially flat stiffened metal plates attached to legs or the
lower braces. In soft soils, mudmats can cover the entire surface
between the legs to maximise the bearing area. They are
generally subjected to combined Vertical, Horizontal and
Moment (VHM) loads induced by the jacket weight, wind,
waves and currents.
Jacket platforms are not always installed on a virgin seabed
and are sometimes located next to features such as pug marks
formed by previous deployments of jack-up rigs. A jack-up is a
mobile, self-elevating offshore platform consisting of a hull and
three or more retractable legs passing through the hull
(McClelland et al, 1982). A unit moves onto location, sets its
legs onto the seabed, and raises its hull out of the water. The
legs are supported on independent foundations called spudcans.
Penetration and extraction of spudcans in soft grounds create
zones of remoulded soil and seabed depressions (Hossain et al,
2012). These seabed features potentially influence the bearing
capacity of the mudmats and need to be accounted for in the
stability verification.
Mudmats subjected to combined VHM loads and located
next to a jack-up footprint is a 3D problem for which simplified
approaches for analysis do not exist. Simplified 2D plane strain
simulations are generally performed but they can lead to over-

2311

conservative results. This type of problem is better analysed by

means of 3D Finite Element (FE) analyses.
This paper presents a project example in very soft clay for
which the software package Plaxis 3D (Plaxis, 2011) has been
used successfully. The analysis allowed confidence to be
established for the selected location of the mudmat with respect
to a pug mark. In contrast, a simplified 2D analysis suggested
that the proximity of the mudmat to the pug mark was
unacceptable.
It is shown for this particular example how the presence of a
pug mark degrades the yield surface in the VHM load space. 3D
analyses are compared with 2D analyses to quantify the
beneficial 3D effects for different pug mark locations.
2

PROBLEM GEOMETRY AND SOIL CONDITIONS

A 30 m by 30 m square mudmat is considered. The mudmat is

located next to a circular pug mark of 30 m in diameter.
Analyses were performed for 2 positions of the mudmat. The
first position considers a pug mark located along the width of
the mudmat while the second position considers a pug mark
located at the corner of the mudmat, as illustrated on Figure 1.
The distance d between the edges of the mudmat and the pug
mark is varied in the analysis.
Soil conditions in this example consist of very soft clay. The
soft deposit is considered to be 15 m thick and underlain by
stiffer soils, which are not modelled. The intact undrained shear
strength increases linearly with depth according to su = 4 + 0.8z
(in kPa), where z is the depth below ground level in meter. This
gives a strength heterogeneity = 6 where = kB/su0, k is the

Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

shear strength gradient, B the mudmat width and su0 the

undrained shear strength at mudline.
A cylinder of soil with remoulded properties is considered to
model the pug mark. This cylinder extends to the bottom of the
soft layer. A 30 m diameter cylinder corresponds approximately
to a 15 m diameter spudcan. The remoulded zone created by the
penetration and extraction of a spudcan has indeed been
observed to be of the order of 2 times the spudcan diameter
(Hossain, 2012). On removal of the jack-up unit, the spudcans
leave depressions at the site. The depth and configuration of the
depression depends on several factors including soil strength,
spudcan final penetration, amount of soil backfill during
installation, etc. A seabed depression of 2m is considered in this
paper. To keep the model geometry simple, a horizontal
depression with vertical walls is modelled, as illustrated on
Figure 1. A remoulded undrained shear strength profile sur = 2 +
0.4z (in kPa), where z is the depth in meter below original
ground level, is considered within the pug mark area.

Position 2

Figure 2. 3D Finite Element meshes

D =30 m

Position 1

B = 30 m

B = 30 m

d
2m

M
H

Intact soil

Remoulded soil

15 m

Figure 1. Problem geometry: plan view and cross-section

FINITE ELEMENT MODEL

2D plane strain and 3D FE simulations were carried out using

Plaxis (Plaxis, 2011). The 2D analyses only consider a pug
mark along the width of the mudmat while the 3D analyses
consider two positions for the pug mark: along the width and at
the corner.
An example of 3D finite element mesh is shown on Figure 2.
Similar mesh discretization was adopted for the different
analyses. The external boundaries were set sufficiently remote
so as not to intercept the different failure mechanisms.
Preliminary analyses were first performed for the base case
without a pug mark and for which analytical and/or numerical
solutions exist. The aim was to check for any effects due to
mesh size on the accuracy of the solution. A compromise was
found between the accuracy of the solution and computational
time. It is estimated that the over-estimation of the true solution
due to discretization errors was maximum 10% for the selected
mesh, which was judged to be reasonable.

The soil is modelled as an isotropic elasto-perfectly plastic

continuum, with failure described by the Mohr-Coulomb yield
criterion. It is assumed to behave undrained and is
characterized by a cohesion equal to the undrained shear
strength su with u=0. The elastic behaviour was defined by a
Poissons ratio =0.495, and a constant ratio of Youngs
modulus to undrained shear strength E/su=300 for both
undisturbed and remoulded clays.
The strength of the mudmat/clay interface is modelled using
an interface factor , where the maximum shear stress at the
interface max = su. The rough and smooth extremes of
interface strength correspond to = 1 and = 0 respectively.
An intermediate roughness was assumed with = 0.5, which is
a typical assumption for steel/soft clay interface. A no-tension
condition allowing separation of the mudmat from the seabed
was permitted at the mudmat/clay interface.
The jacket mudmat is modelled as a 30 m by 30 m rigid
plain square plate. The seabed is assumed to be perfectly flat
below the mudmat.
4

DESIGN PROCESS

The vertical load V from the mudmat and jacket structure is

generally known and well-defined. It should typically be limited
to a maximum of 50% the uniaxial vertical capacity. Then, for a
given mobilisation ratio of the uniaxial vertical capacity
v = V/Vult, the stability verification consists of ensuring that
there is adequate factor of safety on the live loading M and H.
This can be performed by comparing design load combinations
to the MH failure envelope. The higher the mobilisation of the
uniaxial vertical capacity, the lower the moment and horizontal
capacity, i.e. the MH failure envelope shrinks with increasing v.
M and H loads are applied in the direction of the pug mark
centre, namely perpendicular to the side of the mudmat or along
its diagonal.
The presence of a pug mark with remoulded soil conditions
in the vicinity of a mudmat has two adverse effects. First, it
affects the moment and horizontal capacities for a given v.
Second, it reduces Vult and therefore increases v, reducing
further the moment and horizontal capacities.

2312

Technical Committee 209 / Comit technique 209

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

1.2

5.1 2D Analyses

1.0

1.4
v=0,4 - No pug mark
v=0,4 - Pug mark
v=0,71 - Pug mark
LS:GEO verification

1.2

M/Su0B [-]

1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0

0.1

0.2

0.3
H/Su0B [-]

0.4

0.5

0.6

Figure 3. Influence of pug mark on MH failure envelope

A few comparison runs were performed with Limitstate:Geo

v2 (Limistate, 2009). Limitstate:Geo is designed to analyze the
ultimate limit (or collapse) state for a wide variety of
geotechnical problems. The current version is however limited
to 2D plane strain analyses. The ultimate limit state is
determined using the Discontinuity Layout Optimization (DLO)
algorithm (Smith & Gilbert, 2007). The agreement with the FE
results is found to be excellent.
The effect of the pug mark on the MH failure envelope is
significant. The normalized uniaxial vertical capacity Vult/suoB
is reduced to 5.5 leading to a mobilisation ratio v = 0.71 instead
of 0.4 (i.e. a safety factor of 1.4 instead of 2.5). The moment
capacity is reduced by 55% to 80% depending on the applied
horizontal load.
The inter-distance between the mudmat and the pug mark
was then progressively increased and results are presented on
Figure 4. The maximum moment capacity increases
progressively with the inter-distance towards the capacity
obtained for the case without a pug mark. From an interdistance d/B = 0.2, the difference in mobilisation ratio of the
vertical capacity does not affect the maximum moment capacity
and, at an inter-distance d/B = 0.5, the pug mark has no effect at
all.

M/Su0B [-]

0.8
0.6
0.4
V=0.4Vult - 2D

0.2

V=V0 - 2D
No pugmark

0.0

0.2

0.4
0.6
Inter-distance d/B [-]

0.8

Figure 4. Influence of pugmark / mudmat inter-distance on maximum

moment capacity 2D analyses

5.2 3D Analyses
The accuracy of the 3D FE model was also checked by
computing the uniaxial vertical capacity for a square footing
resting on soft clay, with su constant with depth and = 1, and
comparing with available literature results. A normalized
vertical capacity Vult/suoB = 5.96 was found. This compares
well with the results published by Gourvenec et al. (2006) who
found 6.02. When the interface factor is reduced to = 0.5 and
su increases with depth (as defined in Section 2), the vertical
capacity Vult/suoB is about 9.1, which is slightly lower that the
2D plane strain capacity.
Similarly to the 2D plane strain FE analyses, the MH failure
envelope for the case without a pug mark assumes a vertical
load V so that v = 0.4. As discussed above and shown on
Figure 1, the 3D analyses consider two positions for the pug
mark: along the width and at the corner of the mudmat. The
results are plotted on Figures 5 and 6 for the first and second
positions, respectively, using the following non-dimensional
groups: M/suoB and H/suoB. This case is for an inter-distance
d = 2 m (i.e. d/B = 0.07). The moment capacity is not affected
for small mobilisation ratios of the horizontal capacity.
However, when H/suoB approaches 0.5, the failure mechanism
switches rapidly from a general shear mechanism to a sliding
mechanism.
For the first position (along the width), the effect of the pug
mark on the MH failure envelope is noticeable but not as
significant as for the 2D plane strain simulations. The
normalized uniaxial vertical capacity Vult/suoB is reduced to
only 8.4 leading to a mobilisation ratio v = 0.44 instead of 0.4
(i.e. a safety factor of 2.29). The moment capacity is reduced by
20% to 28% depending on the applied horizontal load. There is
very little difference in the results between a vertical
mobilisation factor of 0.4 and 0.44 (Figure 5).
1.4
v=0,4 - No pug mark - 3D

1.2

v=0,44 - Pug Mark - 3D

v=0,4 - Pug Mark - 3D

1.0

M/Su0B [-]

The accuracy of the 2D FE model was verified by computing

the uniaxial vertical capacity and comparing with results
published in the literature. An interface factor at the
mudmat/soil interface = 1 was assumed for this comparison.
A normalized vertical capacity Vult/suoB = 10.45 was found.
This compares well with the analyses results published by
Salgado (2008) who found 10.42 using ABC program (Martin,
2004). When the interface factor is reduced to = 0.5, the
vertical capacity Vult/suoB reduces to 9.8.
The MH failure envelope for the case without pug mark is
shown on Figure 3 assuming a vertical load V so that v = 0.4,
which is equivalent to a safety factor of 2.5 on the uniaxial
vertical capacity. The results are plotted in a non-dimensional
way: M/suoB versus H/suoB. This case is for an inter-distance
d = 2 m (i.e. d/B = 0.07).

0.8
0.6

0.4
0.2
0.0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

H/Su0B [-]

Figure 5. Influence of pug mark on MH failure envelope Position 1

(along width of mudmat)

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Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

For the second position (at the corner), the normalized

uniaxial vertical capacity is not affected, meaning that the safety
factor for a pure vertical load remains 2.5. The moment capacity
is only reduced by 1 to 3 % (Figure 6) depending on the applied
horizontal load. This is a negligible difference.
1.4
v=0,4 - No pug mark - 3D

1.2

v=0,4 - Pug mark - 3D

M/Su0B [-]

1.0
0.8

0.6

0.4
0.2
0.0

0.1

0.2

0.3
H/Su0B [-]

0.4

0.5

0.6

Figure 6. Influence of pug mark on MH failure envelope Position 2 (at

mudmat corner)

Similarly to the 2D plane strain approach, the inter-distance

between the mudmat and the pug mark was progressively
increased for the position of the pugmark along the width of the
mudmat and the results are presented on Figure 7. The
maximum moment capacity increases progressively with the
inter-distance towards the capacity obtained for the case without
pug mark. From an inter-distance d/B = 0.25, the pug mark has
no effect anymore. This result illustrates the benefit of
considering a more realistic 3D analysis when facing this kind
of problem. The inter-distance required to have no influence of
the pug mark in the 3D model is half the inter-distance required
in the 2D plane strain model.
Finally, Figures 5 and 6 allow the comparison of the effect of
the orientation of the moment and the horizontal loads on the
MH envelope. The moment capacity for the loads in the
direction of the corner is about 5% lower than for the case
where the loads are towards the width of the mudmat. This
geometrical effect is however limited.
1.2
1.0

M/Su0B [-]

0.8
0.6
0.4
V=0.4Vult - 3D

0.2
0.0

No pugmark

55% to 80% depending on the applied horizontal load. In the

more realistic 3D analyses, the moment capacity is only reduced
by 20 to 28%. When the pug mark is located at the corner of the
mudmat, the 3D analyses show very little impact on the mudmat
capacity.
The analyses show also that the distance of influence of the
pug mark on the mudmat stability is 2 times less in 3D
compared to 2D analyses. The maximum moment capacity is
not affected from an inter-distance d/B = 0.25 in 3D analyses
while the distance is d/B = 0.5 in 2D analyses.

0.2

0.4
0.6
Inter-distance d/B [-]

0.8

Figure 7. Influence of pugmark / mudmat inter-distance on maximum

moment capacity 3D analyses

CONCLUSION

The presence of a pug mark has been found to degrade

significantly the yield surface of a square mudmat in the VHM
load space. However, a comparison between simplified 2D
plane strain and 3D analyses has shown that the beneficial 3D
effects are substantial. If the pug mark is located along the
width of the mudmat, the more realistic 3D model shows that
the moment capacity is only reduced by 20 to 28% depending
on the applied horizontal load. The impact of the pug mark is
significantly larger when a more simplified 2D plane strain
approach is followed. Moreover, in the particular example
treated in this paper, it was observed that a pug mark located at
the corner of the mudmat does not influence its stability. The
zone of influence of the pug mark is also much more limited
when the problem is modeled in 3D and the orientation of a
complex VHM loading scheme can be considered in the global
stability. Simplified 2D plane strain simulations can lead to
over-conservative results for this particular problem.
6

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors acknowledge the permission of Fugro

GeoConsulting to publish this work and the guidance and
review provided by Dr Richard Jewell.
7

REFERENCES

Dean E.T.R. 2010. Offshore geotechnical engineering Principles and

practice. Thomas Telford, London.
Gouvernec S., Randolph M.F. and Kingsnorth O. 2006. Undrained
bearing capacity of square and rectangular footings. Int. J.
Geomech. 6, N3, 147-157.
Hossain M.S., Dong D., Gaudin C. and Kong V.W. 2012. Skirted
spudcans and perforation drilling for installation of spudcans close
to existing footprints. Proceedings of the 7th Intern.Conf. Offshore
Site Investigation and Geotechnics, London.
Salgado R. 2008. The Engineering of Foundations. McGraw-Hill, NewYork.
Plaxis 2011. Finite element code for soil and rock analyses, Version
2011. Plaxis BV. Delft, Netherlands.
Limitstate Ltd 2009. Geotechnical software for stability analysis,
Version 2. Limitstate Ltd. Sheffield, UK.
Smitts C. and Gilbert M. 2007. Application of discontinuity layout
optimization to plane plasticity problems. Proc. of the Royal
Society A.
Martin C.M. 2004. User guide for ABC Analysis of bearing capacity.
Department of Engineering Science, Oxford University, Oxford.

5.3 Conservativeness of 2D Analyses

Simplified 2D plane strain and more realistic 3D simulations
give similar results if the pug mark is not considered.
In the case where the pug mark is located along the width of
the mudmat, the MH failure envelope is degraded in both 2D
and 3D analyses. However, the effect is significantly larger in
the 2D analyses for which the moment capacity is reduced by

2314

Design and installation of buried large diameter HDPE pipelines in a coastal area
Project et installation de tuyaux enterrs de grand diamtre en zone ctire
Bellezza I., Mazzier F., Pasqualini E.

Dep. SIMAU Universit Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy

DAlberto D., Caccavo C., Serrani C.

SPS - Societ Progettazione Servizi s.r.l., Ancona, Italy

ABSTRACT: The present paper deals with the main geotechnical aspects of the design and installation of two adjacent HDPE large
diameter pipelines along the Adriatic Sea (Italy) coastline. The pipelines -270 m in length and 2 m in diameter - are conceived as
buried collectors of polluted runoff water, to convey to sanitation prior to discharge into the sea. Considering that pipes are below the
water table uplift analysis is detailed, showing three possible approaches in static conditions, whereas in seismic conditions a method
is proposed that include the build-up of pore-water pressures during earthquake. As far as prediction of vertical deflection is
concerned, the backfill loosening due to sheet piles extraction has been modelled by assuming no compaction (dumped backfill).
Despite this assumption, theoretical short term deflection represents a lower bound of measured deflections.
RSUM : Cet article dcrit les principales problmatiques gotechniques du projet et de linstallation de deux tuyaux enterrs
adjacents de grand diamtre sur le littoral adriatique italien. Les tuyaux longs de 270 m - ont la fonction de collecteurs enterrs pour
leau de ruissellement pollue, pour permettre sa dpuration avant du dchargement dans la mer. En considrant que les tuyaux se
trouvent au-dessous du niveau de la nappe deau on a analys le problme du possible soulvement en conditions statiques utilisant
trois diffrentes mthodes. En conditions sismiques on a propos une mthode qui considre le dveloppement de pressions
interstitielles positives excessives durant le tremblement de terre. Lovalisation du tuyau a t calcule par une mthode de littrature
en considrant un remblai sans compactage pour tenir compte de lextraction des palplanches utilises pendant lexcavation de la
tranche. Les valeurs calcules de lovalisation initiale reprsente un limite inferieur de lovalisation mesure.
Keywords : uplift, pipe of large diameter, deflection
1

INTRODUCTION

Urban and infrastructural development often involves

vulnerable areas such as coastlines. To prevent pollution of the
sea from runoff water of a nearby urban area and crowded roads
a system of buried collectors are to be built along a stretch of
the Italian shoreline of the Adriatic Sea. In such a way, the
collected runoff water will be conveyed to sanitation before
discharging into the sea. A preliminary hydraulic study allowed
to define different drainage basins, and for each basin an
adequate collector is required. This paper deals with the design
and execution of the first part of the system, concerning a
collected water volume of about 1300 m3, for which the
designers opted to realise the collectors by two adjacent buried
pipelines of 2000 mm in internal diameter and 270 m long.
ADRIATIC SEA

RAILWAY

The design and execution of geotechnical works in coastal

area must in general face regulatory requirements,
environmental and aesthetic concerns, public attention.
As far as engineering problems are concerned, the designer
must take into account the objective difficulties connected with
the critical location (e.g., underwater excavation, tidal and storm
waves, risk of uplift). For the specific case, additional
constraints are represented by the closeness of the working area
to an important railway (Figure 1), and consequent limited
accessibility for materials and machinery. Moreover, local
authorities required to minimize the working area, avoiding the
occupancy of the beach for the overall length of the collectors
through the entire duration of the works. To comply with this
requirement, a staged execution was envisaged.
2
2.1

OUTLINE OF THE DESIGN

Pipe material

Corrugated HDPE pipes were selected (Table 1). HDPE offer in

general significant advantages in terms of costs, corrosion
resistance, ease of handling and jointing over more traditional
materials such spheroidal cast iron. The selected HDPE pipes
are manufactured in modules 6.0 m long (less than other
materials, e.g., cast iron) which allowed solving the problem
linked to area accessibility. In particular with the use of 6 m
long modules it is possible to reach the beach area passing
through a narrow railway underpass. For longer pipe modules, a
more expensive marine transportation would be requested.

COLLECTOR

PIEZOMETER

Figure 1. Plan view of the working area

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Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

According to Italian Building Code (NTC, 2008), as well as

Eurocode 7 (2004), for any mass potentially subjected to the
failure mechanism, the following inequality must be satisfied:

Table 1. HDPE Pipe properties

Parameter
Weight for unit length (kN/m)

External diameter (mm)

2240

Internal diameter (mm)

2000

Moment of Inertia (mm4/mm)

45899

Young modulus short term(MPa)

1185

Young modulus long term (MPa)

288

2.2

Vd Gd Rd

Underwater excavation

The soil stratigraphy is essentially composed by a sandy layer

3.5-4.0 m thick overlying a cohesive bed. An open standpipe
piezometer installed close to the working area (Fig.1) indicated
that the groundwater table is located 1.0-1.5 m below the
ground level. Fig.2 shows a typical CPT profile with the
characteristic values of geotechnical parameters obtained by
laboratory and in situ tests.
Considering the large pipe diameter, the bedding layer and a
minimum soil cover to counteract buoyancy (as detailed later),
an excavation depth of at least 4.70 m was necessary. Moreover,
a minimum inclination of 0.5% to the horizontal is required to
ensure gravity flow. This results in an excavation depth ranging
form 4.7 m to 6.0 m from ground surface.
Various techniques were considered for the excavation.
Unsupported trench with inclined sidewalls was excluded due to
excessive breadth to ensure stability and the need for continuous
dewatering by well-points. Other equally suitable technologies,
(e.g., soil freezing), were incompatible with the budget.
The selected solution consisted in a 6.1 m wide trench
supported by strutted sheet piles, embedded in the impervious
clay layer. The total length of the sheet piles varied between 8
m and 10 m as depending on excavation depth. Sheet piling
allowed retaining the vertical trench walls, minimizing seepage
into the trench and protecting the working area from tidal and
storm waves (the top of sheet piles was +1 m above g.l., Fig. 2).
To comply with the requirement of minimizing occupation
of the area, the installation of the collectors (270 m) was
realized in four distinct segments (i.e. the excavation in a zone
starts only after the work in the previous zone is completed).
For the first segment, sheet piles were preliminarily installed to
enclose a rectangular excavation zone, creating a continuous
barrier to groundwater along the entire perimeter. For the
subsequent segments, the presence of the installed pipes
prevented to create rectangular hydraulic barrier by sheet piles
only. Therefore, cast-in-place concrete waterproof screens were
designed around the protruding edge of the pipes to block
seepage due to extraction of sheet piles from the adjacent
completed segment.
2.3

Pipe uplift

During the service phase the pipelines are expected to be only

rarely filled by runoff water but permanently submerged by
groundwater and then subjected the buoyancy. Consequently,
the design shall be checked against failure by uplift.
SHEET PILES
SILTY SAND
= 20.3 kN/m3
=40
k =1*10-3 cm/s
SILTY CLAY
= 20 kN/m3
cu= 80 kN/m2
k =1*10-8 cm/s

10

15

where Vd is the design destabilizing action acting upwards

(obtained by a partial factor 1 = 1.1 in static conditions), Gd is
the design stabilizing permanent action including the weight of
the mass subjected to uplift (obtained by a partial factor2 = 0.9
in static conditions) and Rd is the design soil resistance by
friction along the vertical contours of the assumed block.
Considering the closeness of pipes to the sea (Fig. 1) it can
not be excluded that in the future a portion of the soil above the
pipe can be eroded. To confer protection against erosion a castin-place concrete slab (6.05 m wide and variable thickness) is
realized above the pipes, as illustrated in Figure 3. This solution
allows also to increase the average unit weight of the material
above the pipes and enlarge the size of the block subjected to
uplift. Finally, it represents a protection against accidental
damage due to anthropic activities and the superficial sand layer
enables to continue the recreational use of the beach.
In the application of Eq. (1) different approaches can be
adopted to calculate the term Vd and in Gd. Eurocode 7 indicates
a total stress analysis for uplift problems (EC7, 2004 10.2).
According to this approach, Vd is the upward resultant of pore
water pressure acting on the lower boundary of the assumed
block. Consistently, Gd includes the total weight of the soil
block above the pipes. However, following this approach, the
resultant of pore water pressure acting downwards is multiplied
by a partial safety factor (1 =1.1) different to that applied to the
vertical upward resultant 2 = 0.9). This results in a violation
of the single source principle enunciated by Eurocode 7 (EC7,
2.4.2). According to this principle, when destabilising and
stabilising permanent actions come from a single source, a
single partial factor may be applied to the sum of these actions
or to the sum of their effects. Based on the above
considerations, in the second approach the destabilizing action
is assumed to be the buoyancy force on the two submerged
pipes (i.e. the weight of the water displaced by the pipes Ww).
Consistently, Gd includes the submerged weight of the block
above the pipes. Finally, a third approach can be used in which
the destabilizing action is assumed to be the resultant buoyant
force of the submerged pipes, i.e. the algebraic sum of weight of
displaced water Ww and weight of pipes Wp (WSSC, 2008). This
latter approach implies that the check against failure by uplift is
automatically verified when Ww < Wp .
The three approaches described previously are applied
assuming the simplified sliding surface shown in Fig. 3, which
implies a failure mechanism involving pipes, slab and soil
above and between the pipes as well (hatched zone in Fig.3).
The results were obtained for the worst-case scenario of
complete erosion of the superficial sand layer (h3 = 0 in Fig 3)
and minimum cover thickness above the pipes (h1 + h2 = 0.5 m,
s = 0.6 m). The unit weight of concrete and saturated soil were
23.5 kN/m3 and 20.3 kN/m3 respectively.
The Rd term was calculated as the sum of the friction forces
along the vertical planes on each side of the assumed block (BC,
BC, DE, DE)

20

STRUT
L=8-10 m

(1)

Rd ' Ks

Hexc>4.7 m
qc (MPa)

B = 6.10 m

Figure 2. Simplified sketch of the excavation geometry with

geotechnical soil characterization and a typical cone resistance profile.

2316

tanBC

s2 ' Ks

tank

(s h h R ) s
1

(2)

where BC is the interface friction angle between concrete and

the sandy soil (BC = 30), is the shear resistance angle of the
granular backfill, 3 = 1.25 is the partial safety factor applied to
the shear strength parameters. The angle k after backfilling is
assumed to be 40- 42, but a reduced value of 38 is assumed
in eq. (2) owing to potential loosening induced by sheet pile

Technical Committee 209 / Comit technique 209

extraction. Ks is the lateral earth pressure coefficient assumed

conservatively equal to 0.5 by neglecting the effect of
compaction.
Results of static analysis of uplift failure (Table 3) indicate
that, as expected, the second and third approaches are less
conservative in static conditions; however they appear to better
represent the physical reality (i.e. the destabilizing force on a
fully submerged pipe is independent of the depth below the
water table).
In seismic conditions, Italian Building Code (NTC, 2008
7.11.1) requires that Eq. (1) shall be checked using 1 =2 =1,
which result in uniqueness of the approach in seismic analysis
(i.e. the difference between Gd and Vd is the same using a total
stress analysis or an effective stress analysis).
Using a pseudo-static approach the vertical inertial force FV
acting on pipes, soil, concrete is assumed upwards and
proportional to relevant weights by the seismic coefficient kv
(=0.046) defined in Italian Building Code (NTC, 7.11.3.5.2).
It is well recognized that in the presence of earthquake, a
build-up of pore water pressures can occur with respect to static
conditions. A simplified procedure to account for this
phenomenon is the introduction of the pore-pressure coefficient
ru = u/v0 assumed constant with depth (e.g. Ebeling and
Morrison, 1992; Kramer, 1996). Accordingly, the unit weight of
water and submerged soil are given by:

we w ru ' w ru sat w

(3)

'e ' 1 ru sat w 1 ru

(4)

A
H

Native sand

h3

Concrete slab

B
D

h2
G
G
h1 GRAVELLY SOIL

C Hw

Hexc
De

haunching
h0

bedding

Figure 3. Details of pipe installation

clay

For flexible conduits the vertical deflection y mainly

depends on the actual load acting on the pipe and the stiffness of
the backfill at the side of the pipes whereas the contribute of
pipe stiffness is generally small (i.e. Rogers et al. 1995). In the
specific case, the presence of two pipes as well as of the
concrete slab makes the analysis more complex than the
classical solutions available in the literature.
2.4.1
Load on pipes
According to Young and Trott (1984), the pair of pipes can
be considered as equivalent to a single pipe of overall width D
where D = 2De+d. The load on D is calculated by taking the
lesser of the two values obtained by the complete ditch
condition (P1) and the positive projection condition (P2). This
load is taken as being shared equally by the two pipes.
The load acting on a pipe (stiffer than side fill) in a trench
with a partially submerged homogeneous backfill (see Fig.3) is
given by Bulson (1985):

For ru = 1 soil liquefaction occurs which implies that (a)

upward action acting on pipes is proportional to we (= sat)
instead of w. and (b) the submerged weight of the soil block
2 H w
2H B2 w
B2

P1
(5)

1 exp
1 exp
and soil resistance Rd vanish.
2
2
B
B

In seismic analysis the coefficient ru shall be selected on the

basis on seismic input (magnitude and maximum acceleration),
where is a coefficient ranging from 0.11 to 0.19 depending
as well as soil characteristics. In the analyzed case the presence
on
soil
type, is the total unit weight of backfill. In the analysed
of a coarse backfill (gravel) around the pipes (Fig.3) is expected
case actual backfill unhomogeneity is accounted for by
to strongly limit the build-up of pore water pressure. Hence, the
assuming a weighted average unit weight (av).
seismic analysis of uplift are performed assuming ru = 0 and ru
For a positive projection conduit the P2 value depends on
= 0.1. Results of seismic analysis shown in Table 3 indicate that
the relative settlement between the soil prism above the pipe
also for ru = 0.1 the inequality (2) is satisfied.
and the adjacent soil, which determines positive or negative
arching. In the specific case, the presence of the slab prevents
2.4
Pipe deflection
the occurrence of complete ditch or projection conditions.
Moreover, considering that the ratio H/D is very small, it is
Flexible conduits fail by excessive deflection rather than by
reasonable to neglect arching. Therefore, the value of P2 is
rupture of the pipe wall. It is necessary, therefore, to estimate
assumed to be the weight of overlying prism of width D.
the deflection of this type of conduit and to establish limits of
Obviously, the maximum deflection is expected to occur at
allowable deflection for the proposed installation.
the section with the maximum cover (3.30 m) with the lowest
groundwater level (-1.60 m below g.l.). With reference to
Table 3. Uplift analysis
Figure 3, for h1 = 1 m, s = 0.30 m, h2 =1.7 m, h3 = 0.3 m, Hw
Static conditions
Seismic conditions
Action
=1.7 m av = 20.85 kN/m3 = 0.19, P1 and P2 are calculated as
(kN/m)
ru = 1
appr.1
appr.2
appr.3
ru = 0.1
281 kN/m and 264 kN/m, respectively. Following the
suggestion of Young and Trott (1985), the load acting on a
Vd
174.1
86.6
82.3
86.6
159.9
single pipe (P) is taken as 132 kN/m.
Wpipes
4.0
4.0
4.0
4.0
Wsoil
Wslab

87.6

44.4

44.4

40.0

85.3

49.0

49.0

45.3

11.6

Fv

-8.1

-8.1

Gd

159.2

87.7

84.1

81.2

7.5

Rd

15.6

15.6

15.6

13.4

Rd+Gd

174.8

103.3

99.7

94.6

7.5

2.4.2
Backfill
A large part of ability of flexible pipes to support vertical
load must be derived from the passive pressures induced as the
sides move outward against the soil. Therefore, any attempt to
analyse the behaviour of the flexible conduits must take into
account the soil at the sides as an integral part of the structure,
since such a large proportion of the total supporting strength is
attributable to the side material.
Considering that compactive effort is restricted by the
geometry of the trench and the difficult in compacting
underneath the pipe in the haunch zone (Fig.3), as well as the

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Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

2.4.3
Calculation of pipe deflection
The pipe deflection is predicted by the method of Spangler
(1941) or Iowa formula, although it is well recognized that this
method contains some debatable assumptions.
D KP
y L3
EJ R 0.061E'

(6)

where y = vertical deflection of pipe (m); P = vertical load

on the pipe (MN/m); EJ = flexural pipe stiffness (MNm2/m); R
= mean radius of the pipe (m); DL= time-lag factor (-); K =
bedding constant (K = 0.1 for bedding angle = 60, see Fig.3).
E = horizontal modulus of soil reaction (MPa).
Considering the absence of vehicular loading and the
prevalent recreational use of the site, live loads have been
neglected. In design the sheet pile extraction is accounted for
using the value of E relevant to a dumped backfill (Table 4). In
long term analysis a time lag factor of 1.5 and a reduced pipe
stiffness are considered (see Table 1). With the above
assumptions short term and long-term deflections are calculated
as 10.1 cm and 20.5 cm , respectively.
Numerous authors have reported that pipes have been
distorted by 10-20% and still continue to perform adequately.
Therefore the theoretical deflections have been considered
acceptable, but a monitoring activity was planned during
installation.
3

surface (Hw = 0.66 m) based on measurement in the nearby

piezometer. As shown in Fig. 4, the theoretical deflection
calculated by Spangler method is lower than the actual average
deflection. This can be ascribed to effect of sheet pile extraction
which results in a loosening of backfill and a probable increase
of the load on pipes to due to negative arching.
Table 4. Values of E for a clean coarse-grained soil (Howard, 1977)

Degree of compaction

dumped

slight

moderate

E(MPa)

1.4

6.9

13.8

CONCLUSIONS

In the present paper some aspects of design and installation

of two adjacent large diameter pipelines along the Adriatic Sea
coastline in Italy are described.
Uplift analysis is detailed, showing three possible
approaches which lead to different results in static conditions,
whereas in seismic condition a unified approach is proposed
that account for build-up of pore-water pressures.
As far as prediction of vertical deflection is concerned, in
the analyzed case the backfill loosening due to sheet piles
extraction has been modelled by assuming no compaction
(dumped backfill). Despite this assumption, theoretical short
term deflection represents a lower bound of measured
deflections.
0

10

20

30

40

50

60

4
vertical deflection (cm)

sensitivity of installed flexible pipe to compaction of material

around it, a clean gravelly soil has been selected as structural
backfill (i.e. the part of backfill that extends from the base of the
bedding to a maximum of 30 cm above the pipe, as shown in
Fig.3). This coarse-grained soil is preferred over native silty
sand for easy of compaction, high earth pressure response and
stability when saturated and confined. The same material well
compacted - has been used also as bedding soil (Fig.3).

COMPARISON OF ACTUAL AND THEORETICAL

DEFLECTIONS

sea-side pipe
railw ay-side pipe

predicted by (6)

8
10
12
14

average of measured
deflections

16

The large diameter of pipelines allowed accessibility and

direct measurement of vertical diameter at prescribed positions
during the various stages of installation (structural backfilling,
slab, final backfilling and sheet piles extraction). The trend of
measured vertical deflection versus time is not monotonic,
showing an initial small deflection, followed by a slight
decrease, a sharp increase and a final stabilisation. The observed
trend can be ascribed to the variation of the acting loads
(backfill height and groundwater level) and the different lateral
support offered by the soil before and after the extraction of
sheet piles. Therefore, for the comparison between actual and
theoretical deflections, only the stabilised values are considered
because they better represent the service conditions of the pipes,
with the groundwater level certainly above the crown of the
pipes.
With reference to a pipe stretch 45 m long the vertical
deflections were measured in sections spaced 3 m apart. Final
(stabilized) deflections are shown in Fig. 4. In spite of a quite
uniform cover height the measured deflections vary
considerably along the pipeline with a minimum of 7 cm to a
maximum of 15 cm. This behaviour can be attributed mainly to
inherent differences in compacting the soil beside the pipes and
variable effect of sheet pile extraction. Moreover, variability in
stiffness of native soil can influence the overall response owing
to the closeness of pipes to trench sides.
Considering that measurements refer to a design cover
height ranging from 2.15 m to 2.37 m, the vertical deflection is
calculated by (6) for an average cover height H = 2.26 m. The
load on pipe (P = 104 kN/m) is calculated following the
suggestion of Young and Trott (1984) discussed previously. The
groundwater level was assumed at 1.6 m below the ground

Figure 4. Comparison between measured and predicted shortterm

deflections

REFERENCES

Bulson P.S. (1985) Buried Structures. Static and Dynamic strength.

Chapman & Hall ed.. London.
Ebeling, R.M., Morrison, E.E. (1992). The seismic design of
waterfront retaining structures. Technical report ITL-92-11.
Washington, DC. US Army Corps of Engineers.
EC7 (2004). Eurocode 7: Geotechnical design Part 1: General Rules.
European Committee for Standardization.
Howard A.K. (1977) Modulus of soil reaction values for buried
flexible pipeline. J. of Geotech. Eng. Div. ASCE 103 (1), 33-43.
Kramer, S.L. (1996). Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering. Pearson
Education Inc. New Jersey.
NTC (2008). Norme Tecniche per le Costruzioni. D.M. 14/01/2008. (in
Italian).
Rogers C.D., Fleming P.R., Loeppky M.W. and Faragher E. (1995)
Structural performance of profile-wall drainage pipe stiffness
requirements contrasted with results of Laboratory and Field
Test. Transportation Research Record, 1514, 83-92.
Spangler M. G. (1941) The structural design of flexible pipe culverts.
Bul. 153. Iowa Engineering Experiment Station, Ames, Iowa.
Young O.C., Trott J.J. (1984). Buried rigid pipes: structural design of
pipelines. Elsevier Applied Science Publishers. London-New York.
WSSC (2008) Pipeline Design Manual. Part Three - Common Design
Guidelines. Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission.
www.wsscwater.com/home/jsp/misc/siteMap.faces

2318

Geotechnical Exploration for Wind Energy Projects

Compagnes gotechniques destines aux parcs oliens
Ben-Hassine J.

Renewable Energy Systems Americas Inc., Broomfield, Colorado, USA

Griffiths D.V.

Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado, USA

ABSTRACT: Wind energy projects are often fast-paced and cover large terrains. Such conditions result in increased geotechnical
risks and require specially adapted geotechnical exploration and data analysis techniques that are designed to manage risks at different
stages of project development. Use of geophysical methods, in addition to the traditional subsurface exploration methods, is generally
required to collect design critical data. During the early stages of project development, using quick qualitative geophysical methods
can prove advantageous for finalization of wind farm layout and preliminary foundation design. However, as project plans progress, a
more thorough geotechnical investigation is required. At all stages of a project, an understanding of the available geotechnical tools,
along with their associated risks and cost implications is essential to minimize the likelihood of design changes that result in cost over
runs. This paper presents geotechnical exploration methods used at different stages of project development and discusses key
geotechnical parameters for wind turbine foundation design, available geotechnical tools, and the degree of confidence associated
with these tools. The paper makes an attempt to present an exploration approach that is optimized for efficiency and risk.
RSUM : Les projets d'nergie olienne sont souvent raliss dans un contexte d'excution rapide et couvrent des terrains de
grandes envergures. Ces conditions prsentent des risques gotechniques accrus et ncessitent des compagnes d'exploration
gotechnique et des techniques d'analyse de donnes spcialement bien adaptes pour grer les risques diffrentes tapes du projet.
Le recours des techniques gophysiques en plus des mthodes d'exploration traditionnelle est gnralement requis pour obtenir les
donnes critiques. Durant les premires tapes du projet, le recours des mthodes gophysiques qualitatives et rapides peut s'avrer
plus avantageux pour tablir '' la faisabilit du projet, '' le plan d'implantation du projet et la conception prliminaire des fondations.
Toutefois, dans les tapes plus avances, une tude gotechnique plus pousse doit tre ralise. A toute tape, une connaissance
adquate des mthodes gotechniques disponibles, des risques et cots qui leurs sont associs est essentielle pour minimiser
lventualit de changements la conception rsultant en dpassement de cots. Cet article est un essai de prsenter une approche
d'exploration optimisant l'efficacit et le risque.
KEYWORDS: geotechnical exploration, risk management, wind energy, efficiency.
1

INTRODUCTION

The period leading up to an operational wind energy plant

starts several years before construction and can be divided into
three overlapping phases: project development, engineering
design, and project construction (Figure 1). During the
development phase, various risk types and sources are evaluated
and decisions are made to maintain, modify, or abandon the
project. During the engineering design phase, decisions are
made to refine the design while maintaining acceptable levels of
risk. Any subsequent changes to the design typically result in
additional cost. This paper focuses on geotechnical risks,
particularly how such risks are being addressed currently and
how this process may be improved. The objective is to assess
risks and catch flaws as early as possible in the project
development phase while there are still opportunities to make
changes before significant development funds are spent. As in
all large expenditure projects, early decisions have the greatest
impact on financial performance. The motivation of this paper is
to minimize the cost of civil infrastructure related to wind
energy projects (turbine foundations, access roads and facilities
such as the substation and the operation and maintenance
building) through a rational redistribution of the geotechnical
exploration effort. It has been estimated that civil infrastructure
accounts for 4 to 10% of the total wind energy project cost.
Given the thin profit margins of wind energy projects, a 2%
saving can make the difference between whether a project goes
ahead or is shelved.

2319

Figure 1. Overlapping phases leading up to a wind energy plant.

PROJECT REALISATION PHASES

All three project phases (development, design, and

construction) involve some level of geotechnical risk
assessment and management, with most of this effort currently
focused at the engineering design phase. Current and proposed
activities related to geotechnical risk assessment for each phase
are described below.

Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

1.1

Project Development Phase

During the project development phase, the developer is

usually focused on wind resource assessment, land agreements,
power purchase agreements, and identifying potential investors.
The geotechnical aspect is secondary and is typically limited to
site visits and reporting of surficial characteristics such as
terrain topography, accessibility, proximity to bodies of water,
etc. The initial environmental permitting effort presents an
opportunity to identify geotechnical conditions that carry cost
implications as most environmental permitting efforts include
an evaluation of geo-environmental conditions. However, the
development phase of a wind project rarely includes
geotechnical field investigation activities.
However, the
development phase is the most opportune time to identify
significant geotechnical risks. The findings of a preliminary
geotechnical investigation conducted during the development
phase rarely render the project non-pursuable. However,
preliminary geotechnical investigations are critical to proper
planning and allocation of risks to the appropriate stakeholders.
The achievement of the benefits of this proposed shift can be
formalized through techniques such as geostatistics, Bayesian
updating, statistical inference and neural networks (Christian et
al. 2006 and Lin and Hung 2011). An immediate benefit of a
more holistic development phase exploration is to focus the
detailed exploration effort on the critical issues or portions of
the project area. In addition to desk studies, recommended
development phase exploration techniques include:
Geophysical surveys using seismic methods such as MultiAnalysis of Surface Waves (MASW) at all proposed turbine
locations, possibly excluding locations where rock is at the
surface. An MASW survey provides depth profiles of shear and
compression wave velocities. The information is used to gain an
insight into site stratigraphy and to estimate elastic moduli
needed to verify foundation stiffness requirements. The MASW
survey, conducted at the project development phase, helps to
identify soft locations or locations with potential difficulties as
an aid to micrositing of turbines. This exercise lessens the
likelihood of needing very large foundations or performing
costly ground modifications at soft sites. MASW surveys are
also quick and relatively low cost, making them the ideal
qualitative tool that is suited for the development phase.
Preliminary geotechnical exploration borings using a limited
number of traditional SPT, SCPT, CPT, or DMT borings spread
over different portions of the project area. Exploration pits may
also be used along planned access road alignments. Information
obtained through site visits and review of available published
information and online maps can be used to decide on the
locations of the preliminary borings so that the captured range
of variability is as wide as possible. Information from the
preliminary exploration is used to assess the type and range of
variability of site geomaterials, to identify potential foundation
types and to plan the full investigation. For example, if a
gravity base (shallow) foundation is deemed feasible, an effort
should made at the project development stage to assess the
depth range of the stationary groundwater table in order to
decide if buoyancy will be a design consideration. If soft
materials are encountered requiring consideration of deep
foundations, the depth of borings during the full investigation
can be adjusted.
The preliminary geotechnical exploration should also include
electrical and thermal resistivity testing as this input is critical to
sizing the electrical collection system which is associated with a
significant share of project cost.
1.2

risks identified during the preliminary investigation and should

assess any additional risks that may be uncovered. At a
minimum, standard practice includes at least one exploratory
boring at every turbine location extending to a depth of interest
not less than the largest base dimension of the structure
(DNV/Ris 2002, GL 2010). For a typical shallow foundation
used to support wind turbines, the explored depth is 1 to 1.5
times the foundation diameter. Common current practice is to
perform geophysical testing during the full investigation phase
at a limited subset (approximately 10%) of turbine locations. In
the proposed redistribution of effort, a more extensive
geophysical survey is recommended at the development phase.
A non-exhaustive list of risks that should be assessed as early as
possible during the development and preliminary design phases
(but prior to the final design phase) is shown in Table 1.
Geotechnical exploration activities help in identifying these
risks but are not the sole resource.
Table 1. Non-exhaustive list of potential wind farm geotechnical and
geo-environmental risks (in no particular order).
No.

Engineering Design Phase

During this phase, a full geotechnical investigation must be

carried out to finalize the design. The full geotechnical study is
designed to complete the investigation and to fill the gaps
remaining after the preliminary exploration. The full
investigation should confirm and refine the assessment of the

2320

Risk

Identification tools

High groundwater

Drilling, excavation pits,

monitoring wells and
permeability testing.

Flooding, storm surge, tsunami

Records, maps

Shallow bedrock / blasting

Visual, drilling, MASW

Slope stability & landslides

Visual, geologic study

Mine subsidence

Records, LiDAR, maps

Coal seams

Drilling, records

Karst subsidence, caves & voids

Records, drilling,
LiDAR, maps, type of
underlying rock,
groundwater regime

Shrink/swell (expansive) soils

Laboratory testing

Frost heave

Records, climatic data

10

Permafrost

Records, climatic data

11

Freeze-thaw

Climatic records

12

Collapsible soils

Laboratory testing

13

Excessive consolidation / tilt

Laboratory testing

14

Aggressive environments: high

sulfates, high salinity, corrosion

Laboratory testing

15

Alkali-Silica Reaction (ASR)

Testing, local
information

16

Peat bogs and soft grounds

Visual, drilling, MASW

17

High seismicity / liquefaction

Exploration, design
codes

18

Hurricanes

Records, design codes

19

Volcanic activity

Records, geologic study

20

Scarcity of gravel / road base

Visual, local information

21

Buried pipelines & infrastructure

Records

22

Forest logging roads

Drilling, excavation pits

23

Drifting sands

Visual, local information

24

High soil electrical resistivity

Field and lab testing

25

High soil thermal resistivity

Field and lab testing

Technical Committee 209 / Comit technique 209

1.3

Project Construction Phase

Full Investigation

During the construction phase, geotechnical activity is

typically limited to quality assurance testing which serves to
confirm and ensure that the design assumptions remain valid.
This is the phase where risks missed during the earlier phases
may become apparent with the potential for project cost
overruns.
Rarely would geotechnical input in this phase result in cost
savings. However, value engineering where the balance of plant
(BOP) contractor is provided an opportunity to redesign is
becoming more popular. Value engineering often occurs shortly
before construction or as the BOP contractor is mobilizing to
construct the project. Ironically, the likely reason for value
engineering is the tendency of the original designer to err on the
conservative side because of compressed schedules and/or lack
of substantive geotechnical basis of design at the end of the
development phase, creating opportunities for the BOP
contractor to cut costs at the last minute.
1.4

Summary of Current and Proposed Practice

Table 2 shows a summary of current and proposed practice.

The essence of the proposed redistribution of the geotechnical
exploration effort is to advance the geophysical survey and the
preliminary investigation to the development phase (P1). Details
of the geotechnical activities for the proposed redistribution are
shown in Table 3.
Table 2. Common and proposed geotechnical effort.
Common
Phase

P1

Desk study

P2

Proposed
P3

P1

P3

Geophysical survey

Preliminary investigation

Full investigation

Assurance & validation

P2

X
X

Phases: P1 = Development, P2 = Design, P3 = Construction

Table 3. Wind farm realization phases and proposed geotechnical

activities.
Phase

Proposed minimum geotechnical activities

Desk study:
o Often required for permitting but
can be useful in planning
preliminary investigation
Geophysical Survey
o All turbine locations except
possibly sites where rock is at the
surface

Development

o Useful for micrositing

Preliminary Investigation

o Drilling at a subset of turbine

locations distributed strategically to
capture maximum variability
o Excavation pits along potential
access road alignment
o Electrical and thermal resistivity
testing
o Limited laboratory testing

Design

o Drilling at all turbine locations

o Extensive laboratory testing

o Fill all gaps to form design basis

Construction QA/QC
Construction

o Confirm validity of design

assumptions
o Ensure compliance with design
requirements

SOURCES OF UNCERTAINITY

Wind energy projects differ from most traditional projects in

that they cover large terrains. Wind turbines are typically placed
5 to 10 rotor diameters apart to optimize energy extraction
(Denholm et al. 2009). Nowadays, typical rotor diameter for
large wind turbine generators is around 120 meters, signifying
turbine spacing of 0.5 to 1 kilometer just for energy extraction
efficiency. Therefore, wind turbines are too far apart to
consider any relationship between ground conditions from one
turbine location to another. This is separate from regional or
larger scale characteristics which may be applicable to the
project area or portions of it, such as those related to different
geologic settings or terrains. Turbine structures themselves are
also unique due to the nature of loading they impart to
foundations and supporting soils in terms of type, magnitude
and variation. Thus, in addition to increased uncertainty due to
essentially independent conditions at turbine locations, these
projects also require parameters unique to these structures such
as those needed to ensure adequate foundation stiffness.
Generally, there are three main sources of uncertainty in a
geotechnical design property: i) inherent soil variability, ii)
measurement error, and iii) transformation error (see Baecher
and Christian 2003, Phoon and Kulhawy 1999). Often, a design
parameter is not measured directly in-situ or in a laboratory test
but is calculated based on other measured properties. Two of the
above sources (inherent variability and measurement error) are
associated with the measured property. The third source is
associated with uncertainty in the selected transformation
model, i.e., the empirical or theoretical relationship used to
calculate the design property from the measured properties.
Point estimates, as well as spatial variability of various shear
strength, mechanical and index properties, are available in the
literature (e.g., Lee et al. 1983). This information can be used to
select the test methods that result in lowest variability
depending on the soil type. In this section, uncertainty sources
are discussed in more detail as they relate to wind energy
projects.
2.1

Uncertainty Due to Inherent Soil Variability

Inherent soil variability is related to the natural geologic

processes that produced the soil and should not include the
influence of deterministic trends (e.g., trends due to depth),
mixing of soils from different geologic units, or measurement
errors. In the case of wind projects, inherent variability should
be considered at each individual turbine location.
Another source of uncertainty is related to spatial variability
extending vertically and horizontally to dimensions of
influence. Uncertainty related to spatial variability is affected by
the scale of fluctuation or correlation distance which is an
important statistical parameter loosely defined as the distance
within which the values of a given parameter are significantly
correlated (Fenton and Griffiths 2008). Due to the often layered
nature of soils, the correlation distance is typically shorter in the
vertical direction than in the horizontal direction. Engineering
design practice, including that within the wind energy industry,
considers single (or point) variables to represent properties of an

2321

Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

entire soil mass. Thus, in designing a shallow foundation for a

wind turbine, for example, traditional practice assumes an
infinite horizontal correlation length where a single value is
assumed for the soil in each layer. Furthermore, while focus is
on variation in the vertical direction, geotechnical exploration
rarely goes beyond one boring at the center of the foundation
unless there is strong reason to believe conditions are nonuniform in the lateral directions, such as in cavitose terrain.
Thus, knowledge of the vertical spatial variation is often limited
to the line of the boring. On the other hand, knowledge in the
horizontal direction is limited to the observation and verification
of the exposed foundation bearing surface. This is very limited
information but standard practice. This is also why at least two
forms of exploration should be carried out at each turbine
location: a traditional boring and a seismic survey (MASW).
2.2

Uncertainty Caused by Measurement Error

Measurement uncertainty is related to the equipment being

used, in-situ or laboratory test procedures, and random data
scatter. Naturally, measurement error is different for different
test procedures. Reported measurement error data have been
summarized for various laboratory and field tests by various
investigators (e.g. Phoon and Kulhawy 1999). It is worthwhile
to note that the highest variability attributed to in-situ test
measurement error is that corresponding to the Standard
Penetration Test (SPT). The error introduced by sample size is
sometimes considered as a measurement error. Normally, the
greater the number of data points or sample size, the smaller the
error. However, beyond a rather low number of samples, it is
more important to capture the full range of variability than to
obtain more data points. There are numerous simplified rules to
estimate standard deviation and variability based on the range
and number of samples (Tippett 1925, Withiam et al. 1997,
Whitman 2000 and Foye et al. 2006). For this reason, the effort
to capture the full range of variability as early as possible is
very important to the early assessment of risks.
2.3

Uncertainty Caused by Transformation Error

Transformation or model errors are introduced when test

measurements are used to calculate the desired design properties
using empirical or theoretical relationships. The sources of the
error include the fitting errors in the case of empirical equations
and the simplification/idealization errors in the case of
theoretical relationships. The transformation errors for several
design properties (undrained shear strength, effective stress
friction angle, Youngs modulus, horizontal stress coefficient,
etc.) have been compiled (e.g. Phoon and Kulhawy 1999) for
various laboratory and in-situ test methods. Noteworthy remarks
from these compilations include:
Higher variability (as expressed in higher coefficients of
variation) result for sand properties obtained though
correlations with SPT blow counts, especially if
universal empirical relationships are used; i.e.,
relationship not calibrated to a specific geology. Hence,
local knowledge seems to be important for interpretation
of SPT results.
Higher variability is typically obtained for sand properties
than for clay properties.
3

CONCLUSIONS

Wind energy projects are almost always developed and built

under compressed schedules where project realization phases
overlap. They also cover large terrains that involve wide
variability of geotechnical and geo-environmental conditions.
For these reasons, geotechnical risks must be addressed as early
as possible during the development phase to avoid overlooking
fatal hazards that can shelve or financially devastate the project.
This paper proposes to conduct extensive, low cost and quick

2322

geophysical surveys during the development phase to help with

turbine micrositing and to gain an insight into the variability of
the entire project area. The paper lists potential hazards that
should be assessed and discusses sources of geotechnical
uncertainty and how they relate to wind energy projects.
4

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author would like to acknowledge his employer,

Renewable Energy Systems Americas Inc, for support in the
preparation and presentation of this paper.

REFERENCES

Christian, J.T. and Baecher, G.B. 2006. The meaning(s) of statistical

inference in geotechnical practice, Proceedings of the 2006
GeoCongress, ASCE, Atlanta, GA, 26 Feb. 1 Mar., 2006.
Lin, C.P. and Hung, Y.C. 2011. Parameter estimation and uncertainty
analysis incorporating engineering judgment and Bayesian
inversion, Proceedings of Georisk 2011, ASCE, Atlanta, GA, Jun.
26-28, 2011.
DNV/Ris 2002. Guidelines for the Design of Wind Turbines. 2nd
edition. Copenhagen.
GL (Germanischer Lloyd) 2010. Guidelines for the Certification of
Wind Turbines. Edition 2010.
Denholm P., Hand M., Jackson M. and Ong S. 2009. Land-Use
Requirements of Modern Wind Power Plants in the United States.
National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Technical Report
4NREL/TP-6A2-45834.
Baecher G.B. and Christian J.T. 2003 Reliability and Statistics in
Geotechnical Engineering, John Wiley & Sons, New York.
Phoon K. K., Kulhawy H. 1999a. characterization of geotechnical
variability. Canadian Geotechnical Journal 36, 615-624.Lee I.K.,
White W. and Ingles, O.G. 1983 Geotechnical Engineering,
Pitman, Boston.
Fenton G.A. and Griffiths D.V. 2008. Risk Assessment in Geotechnical
Engineering. John Wiley & Sons, New York.Phoon K.K., Kulhawy H.
1999. Evaluation of Geotechnical Property
Variability. Canadian Geotechnical Journal 36, 625-639.
Tippett, L.H.C. 1925. On the extreme individuals and the range of
samples taken from a normal population. Biometrika 17(3/4), 364387.
Withiam, J.L., et al. 1997. Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD)
for Highway Bridge Substructures, Federal Highway
Administration, Washington, D.C.
Whitman, R.V. 2000. Organizing and evaluating uncertainty in
geotechnical engineering, J. Geotech. Geoenvviron. Eng., ASCE
126(7), 583-593.
Foye, K.C. Salgado, R. and Scott, B. 2006. Assessment of variable
uncertainty for reliability-based design of foundations, J. Geotech.
Geoenviron. Eng., ASCE 132(9), 1197-1207.

Essais cycliques axiaux sur des pieux fors dans des sables denses
Cyclic axial load tests on bored piles in dense sands
Benzaria O.

Fugro GeoConsulting, Nanterre, France IFSTTAR, Paris, France

Puech A.

Fugro GeoConsulting, Nanterre, France

Le Kouby A.

IFSTTAR, Paris, France

RSUM : Dans le cadre du projet national SOLCYP, cinq pieux fors instruments ont t installs dans les sables denses des
Flandres. Deux pieux de 8 mtres de fiche et 420 mm de diamtre ont t soumis des sries dessais de chargements statiques et
cycliques axiaux en compression. Cette communication prsente les rsultats les plus significatifs des essais statiques conventionnels
et des essais cycliques en compression.
ABSTRACT: As part of the national project SOLCYP, five bored piles were installed in dense Flanders sands. Two 8m long, 420mm
diameter instrumented piles were submitted to extensive series of static and cyclic load tests in compression. This paper presents key
results from conventional static tests and cyclic one-way tests in compression.
MOTS-CLS : SOLCYP, pieux fors, sables denses, chargements cycliques.
KEYWORDS : SOLCYP, bored piles, dense sands, cyclic loading.
1

INTRODUCTION

Le projet national SOLCYP (Puech et al., 2012) a pour objectif

principal le dveloppement dune mthodologie pour le
dimensionnement des pieux soumis des chargements
cycliques. Dans ce cadre, des essais sur pieux rels ont t
conduits sur deux sites exprimentaux du Nord de la France: le
site de Merville constitu dargile des Flandres et le site de
Loon-Plage constitu de sables denses. Sur le site de LoonPlage ont t installs cinq pieux fors et deux pieux
mtalliques battus.
Les rsultats obtenus sur les pieux battus et fors de Merville
ont t partiellement publis (Benzaria et al., 2012, 2013 ;
Puech et Benzaria, 2013). Cette communication est centre sur
les rsultats des essais statiques et cycliques en compression
excuts sur les pieux fors sur le site de Loon-Plage.
2

Une srie dessais triaxiaux monotones a donn un angle de

frottement interne cv voisin de 31 en bon accord avec les
valeurs trouves par Kuwano sur le sable de Dunkerque
(Kuwano, 1999 ; Jardine et Standing, 2000)

SABLE DES FLANDRES

Le site exprimental se situe sur la commune de Loon-Plage

(59) prs de Dunkerque dans le Nord de la France. Il se
caractrise par une couverture de remblais rcents (0-0,6m) et
dargile sableuse (0,6-2,2m) sous laquelle on rencontre la
formation de sable des Flandres. La nappe phratique au
moment des essais se situait environ 2m sous le niveau du
terrain naturel.
Une campagne spcifique d'investigations a t ralise au
droit du plot d'essais comportant 4 essais au pizocne (CPTu),
2 essais au pressiomtre Mnard (PMT), 3 carottages continus
et une srie d'essais de laboratoire sur carottes (Figures 1 et 2).
Le sable est un sable siliceux trs fin (D50 voisin de 0,15mm) et
mal gradu (coefficient duniformit CU=0,98). La formation
est latralement homogne et se caractrise par des valeurs de
rsistance au cne qn croissant de 5 40MPa vers 8 m de
profondeur pour se stabiliser ensuite entre 30 et 50MPa jusque
vers 11,5m. Entre 12 et 16,5m se trouve une couche dargile
molle qui fait brutalement chuter les caractristiques
mcaniques. Linterprtation des CPT par la mthode de
Jamiolkowski et al. (2003) (Figure 2) conduit un indice de
densit ID compris entre 0,7 et 0,9 (sable dense trs dense).

Figure 1. Profils stratigraphiques et pressiomtriques Loon-Plage

INSTALLATION ET CHARGEMENT DES PIEUX

Les deux pieux, F4 et F5, sont gomtriquement identiques

(D=420mm, fiche 8m). Ils ont t excuts par lentreprise
Botte Fondations laide dune tarire axe creux visse dans
le sol sans extraction notable de matriau (Figure 3a) puis
extraite sans dvissage tandis que le bton est inject
simultanment par l'axe creux. Les pieux sont quips dun
train dextensomtres amovibles de type LCPC introduits dans

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Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

un tube de rservation positionn entre les armatures (Figure

3b).

Figure 4. Dispositif dessais de chargement utilis Loon-Plage

Figure 2.Profils pntromtriques Loon-Plage : rsistance au cne qc

et indice de densit ID.

La Figure 5 montre la courbe charge-dplacement en tte

obtenue pour lessai statique de rfrence sur le pieu F4, vierge
de tout chargement, ainsi que la courbe de mobilisation de
leffort en pointe et la courbe de fluage (reprsentant la vitesse
de dplacement du pieu lors de chaque palier de chargement).
On note :
- une rupture de type ductile,
- une entre du pieu en grands dplacements pour un
dplacement en tte de lordre de 5% du diamtre. La
charge de rupture Quc conventionnelle pour 10% de
dplacement de la tte (42mm) peut tre estime environ
1 100kN,
- une charge de fluage QF vers 850kN soit QF/Quc # 0,77,
- une mobilisation de leffort de pointe retarde puis quasi
linaire jusqu 8% de dplacement relatif de la tte laissant
prjuger dune croissance de leffort de pointe au-del de la
valeur conventionnelle 0,1D.

Qu = 1100 kN
Z0 = 42 mm

Les pieux ont t tests trois mois environ aprs leur mise en
place. Les programmes de chargement comportaient des essais
statiques de rfrence paliers dune heure selon la norme NF P
94-150, des essais de chargement rapides (rduction des paliers
3mn) et des essais de chargements cycliques axiaux de type
rpt. Une description plus prcise des modes de chargement
est indique dans Benzaria et al. (2012).
La caractrisation complte dun chargement cyclique
suppose la dfinition des paramtres suivants :
Qm: valeur moyenne de la charge sous chargement cyclique,
Qc : demi-amplitude du chargement cyclique,
Qmax: charge maximale (Qmax = Qm + Qc)
N : nombre de cycles (les essais ont t conduits la rupture
ou grand nombre de cycles N>1000)
f : frquence des cycles (en gnral 0,5Hz)
Qu : capacit statique ultime selon le mode considr.
Lessai est dit rpt si Qc< Qm et altern si Qc>Qm.

ESSAIS STATIQUES

Figure 5. Essai statique de rfrence sur le pieu F4. Courbes de chargedplacement en tte, de mobilisation de leffort de pointe et de fluage.

a)

b)

Figure 3.a) ralisation dun pieu for laide dune tarire axe creux
b) schma dinstrumentation dun pieu for laide dextensomtres
amovibles de type LCPC

Le dispositif de chargement des pieux est similaire celui

utilis pour les pieux de Merville et dcrit dans Benzaria et al.
(2012).

2324

Les mesures extensomtriques ont permis de dterminer la

distribution des charges le long du pieu (par lments de 1m)
ainsi que les courbes locales de mobilisation du frottement
latral selon la procdure dcrite dans Benzaria et al. (2012).
Les courbes locales de transfert de charges (dites aussi courbes
t-z) sont donnes sur la Figure 6 pour les seuls niveaux
correspondant au sable des Flandres. La mobilisation du
frottement est trs progressive : le dplacement local la

Technical Committee 209 / Comit technique 209

rupture est de lordre de 3 5% du diamtre du pieu. Le

caractre ductile de la rupture est confirm. Les frottements sont
modestes (f < 45kPa).

CC1
CC3
CC2

Figure 7. Courbes charges-dplacements en tte obtenues lors des essais

de chargements raliss sur le pieu F5.

Figure 6. Courbes de mobilisation des frottements locaux obtenues lors

de lessai statique de rfrence sur le pieu F4.

Il est noter que la vitesse dvolution des dplacements en

tte pour un nombre de cycles donn augmente avec le taux de
chargement. Cependant pour chacun des essais cette vitesse
dcrot avec le nombre de cycles (Figure 8). Cette observation
peut paratre contradictoire avec le constat de rupture.

ESSAIS CYCLIQUES

5.1

Essais cycliques sur pieu vierge

CC1

La Figure 7 reprsente la squence dessais de chargements

raliss sur le pieu F5 vierge de tout chargement. Leurs
caractristiques sont donnes dans le Tableau 1

CC3
CC2

Tableau 1 : Caractristiques des chargements appliqus au pieu F5

C : cyclique
Quc : 1100 kN (pieu F1)
Test
F5-

Type

Installation

Date

f
(Hz)

Qm /
Quc

Qc /
Quc

25/11/11

CC1

08/03/12

0,5

0,36

0,27

14

CC2

08/03/12

0,5

0,27

0,09

5000

CC3

08/03/12

0,5

0,36

0,18

280

Figure 8. Courbes dplacement en tte en fonction du nombre de cycles

obtenues lors des essais de chargements raliss sur le pieu F5.

Lessai CC1 a t ralis avec un taux de chargement

relativement modeste (Qmax/Quc = 0,63). Il a t arrt
prmaturment en raison de linstabilit dun pieu de raction
mais il est manifeste que la rupture tait imminente aprs
seulement 14 cycles. La rupture est dfinie pour un dplacement
cyclique permanent de la tte du pieu de 3% du diamtre soit
12mm.
Lessai CC2, enchan avec un taux nettement plus faible
(Qmax/Quc = 0,35), a pu tre conduit 5000 cycles mais pour un
dplacement additionnel permanent de plus de 16mm.
Lessai CC3 (Qmax/Quc = 0,54) a provoqu un dplacement
supplmentaire de 6mm pour seulement 280 cycles.

Une observation fine des phnomnes gnrs par les

chargements cycliques sur un pieu dans un sable permet de
mieux comprendre cet apparent paradoxe. Les cycles
provoquent une succession de petits glissements relatifs sol-pieu
dont le cumul dtermine le dplacement global. La vitesse de
dplacement est fonction de lamplitude et du niveau de
chargement mais ces paramtres conditionnent galement
lvolution du frottement qui peut se dtriorer (cycles svres)
ou samliorer (petits cycles). Sur un pieu sollicit en traction,
la vitesse initiale se modifie pour conduire vers la rupture de
plus en plus rapide ou vers la stabilisation (Tsuha et al., 2012).
La rupture peut tre indiffremment dfinie de manire
conventionnelle (par exemple 0,1D) ou en terme de
dplacement acceptable. Sur un pieu en compression, le
dplacement saccompagne dune mobilisation progressive de
leffort de pointe de sorte que dans tous les cas le pieu tend vers
la stabilisation. Il en rsulte que le critre de rupture doit tre
dfini en terme de dplacement acceptable et non de manire
conventionnelle. Le critre peut tre alors atteint aussi bien en
phase de vitesse de dplacement croissante que dcroissante.
Dans le premier cas, le nombre de cycles amenant la rupture
est faible. Dans le deuxime cas il peut tre trs lev. On peut
alors introduire la notion de zones instables et mtastables (e.g.
Puech et al, 2013).

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Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

Effet de lhistoire des chargements

5.2

La Figure 9 montre lhistoire des chargements du pieu F4,

dtaille dans le Tableau 2.
Lessai CC1 a t excut aprs que le pieu ait t amen
la rupture (essai S1). Malgr son faible taux de chargement
(Qmax/Quc = 0,31) le critre de rupture est atteint avant 2000
cycles. La capacit post cyclique (essai R1) ne semble toutefois
pas affecte par cette srie de cycles de faible amplitude.
Tableau 2 : Caractristiques des chargements appliqus au pieu F4
S : statique conventionnel
R : statique rapide C : cyclique
Test
F4-

Type

Installation

Date
2012

f
(Hz)

Qm /
Quc

Qc /
Quc

25/11/11

CS1

01/03/12

CC1

02/03/12

CR1

02/03/12

CC2

CC3

0,5

0,18

0,13

1819

02/03/12

0,5

0,36

0,18

200

02/03/12

0,5

0,36

0,27

200

CC4

02/03/12

0,5

0,47

0,25

100

CC5

02/03/12

0,5

0,45

0,36

200

CR2

02/03/12

CR3

27/03/12

CR3
CR1

CR2
CC2 5

CC1

Figure 9. Courbes charge-dplacement en tte obtenues lors des essais

de chargements raliss sur le pieu F4.

REMERCIEMENTS

Les rsultats prsents dans cette communication ont t acquis

dans le cadre du Projet National Franais SOLCYP. SOLCYP
est un projet de recherche sur le comportement des pieux
soumis des sollicitations cycliques, regroupant 12 entreprises
et bureaux dtudes du gnie civil et 6 organismes universitaires
et de recherche. Il est pilot par lIREX et financ par les
partenaires, lAgence Nationale de la Recherche, le Ministre de
lEcologie, du Dveloppement Durable et de lEnergie et la
Fdration Nationale des Travaux Publics. Les auteurs
remercient les partenaires du projet davoir autoris la
publication de ces donnes.

Une srie de quatre essais damplitudes et taux moyens

croissants (CC2 CC5) est ensuite enchane, provoquant des
dplacements significatifs (environ 25mm pour seulement 700
cycles cumuls). Lessai statique rapide R2 indique que la
rigidit du pieu a fortement augment. Lessai statique R3
confirme ce rsultat et montre que la capacit post cyclique du
pieu est maintenant de 1480 kN soit un accroissement de 27%
par rapport lessai S1 sur le pieu vierge.

CS1

Sous chargement statique la rupture est ductile et la

mobilisation du frottement ncessite des dplacements globaux
et locaux importants entre 3 et 5% du diamtre du pieu.
Le comportement cyclique est trs fortement dpendant de
lhistoire des chargements. Dune manire gnrale, les pieux
fors apparaissent trs sensibles aux chargements rpts. Des
dplacements importants peuvent tre gnrs avant de pouvoir
bnficier dune capacit en pointe suffisante pour stabiliser le
pieu. La rupture doit donc tre dfinie par un critre en
dplacement et non de manire conventionnelle.
Une interprtation plus approfondie des rsultats reste
proposer aprs traitement complet des autres donnes recueillies
(essais alterns et essais en traction) et en liaison avec le
comportement mcanique du sable des Flandres.

CONCLUSIONS

On a prsent les rsultats des essais statiques et cycliques en

compression effectus sur les pieux fors la tarire creuse
installs sur le site de Loon-Plage constitu de sable dense des
Flandres.

2326

REFERENCES

AFNOR.1999. NF P 94-150-2. Norme Franaise. Sols: Reconnaissance

et Essais Essai statique de pieu sous effort axial Partie 1: en
compression et Partie 2: en traction.
Benzaria O., Puech A., and Le Kouby A. 2012. Cyclic axial load-tests
on driven piles in overconsolidated clay, Offshore Site Investigation
and Geotechnics, SUT, London
Benzaria A., Puech A. et Le Kouby A. 2013. Essais cycliques axiaux
sur des pieux fors dans largile des Flandres. Proceedings 18th
ICSMGE, Paris
Jamiolkowski, M.B., Lo Presti, D.C.F. & Manassero, M. 2003.
Evaluation of Relative Density and Shear Strength of Sands from
CPT and DMT. Soil Behavior and Soft Ground Construction,
ASCE, GSP No. 119, 201-238.
Jardine, R.J., Standing, J.R.: OTO 2000. 008 - Pile Load Testing
Performed for HSE Cyclic Loading Study at Dunkirk, France;
Volume 1".
Kuwano R. 1999, "The stiffness and yielding anisotropy of sand." PhD
thesis, University of London (Imperial College).
Puech A., Canou J., Bernardini C., Pecker A., Jardine R., and Holeyman
A. 2012. SOLCYP: a four year JIP on the behavior of piles under
cyclic loading. Offshore Site Investigation and Geotechnics, SUT,
London
Puech A. et Benzaria O. 2013. Effet du mode de mise en place sur la
rponse statique et cyclique de pieux dans largile surconsolide
des Flandres. Proceedings 18th ICSMGE, Paris
Puech A., Benzaria O., Thorel L., Garnier J., Foray P. et Jardine R.
2013. Diagrammes de stabilit cyclique de pieux dans les sables.
Proceedings 18th ICSMGE, Paris
Tsuha C.H.C., Foray P.Y., Jardine R.J., Yang Z.X., Silva M., Rimoy S.
2012. Behaviour of displacement piles in sand under cyclic axial
loading. Soils and Foundations 52(3), June 2012, 393410,

Essais cycliques axiaux sur des pieux fors dans largile surconsolide
des Flandres
Cyclic axial load tests on bored piles in overconsolidated Flanders clay
Benzaria O.

Fugro GeoConsulting, Nanterre, France - IFSTTAR, Paris, France

Puech A.

Fugro GeoConsulting, Nanterre, France

Le Kouby A.

IFSTTAR, Paris, France

RSUM : Dans le cadre du projet national SOLCYP, quatre pieux fors instruments ont t installs dans largile fortement
surconsolide des Flandres. Ces pieux de 13 mtres de fiche et 420mm de diamtre ont t soumis des sries dessais de
chargements statiques et cycliques axiaux. Cette communication prsente les principaux rsultats des essais statiques conventionnels
et des essais cycliques en compression rpts et alterns.
ABSTRACT: As part of the national project SOLCYP, four bored piles were installed in the high OCR Flanders clay. The 13m long,
420mm diameter instrumented piles were submitted to extensive series of static and cyclic load tests. This paper presents key results
from conventional static tests and cyclic one-way and two-way tests in compression.

MOTS-CLES: SOLCYP, pieux fors, argile surconsolide, chargements cycliques.

KEYWORDS : SOLCYP, bored piles, overconsolidated clay, cyclic loading
1

INTRODUCTION

Le projet national SOLCYP (Puech et al., 2012) a pour objectif

principal le dveloppement dune mthodologie pour le
dimensionnement des pieux soumis des chargements
cycliques. Dans ce cadre, des essais sur pieux rels ont t
conduits sur deux sites exprimentaux du Nord de la France: le
site de Merville constitu dargile des Flandres et le site de
Loon-Plage constitu de sable dense. Sur le site de Merville ont
t installs quatre pieux mtalliques battus, quatre pieux fors
et deux pieux visss mouls.
Un prcdent article (Benzaria et al., 2012) tait consacr
la description du contexte exprimental et la prsentation des
rsultats obtenus sur les pieux battus. Cette communication
prsente les rsultats des essais statiques et cycliques excuts
sur les pieux fors.
2

chimique et de vieillissement ont fortement conditionn son

degr de surconsolidation (OCR) apparent (Josseaume, 1998)
Largile des Flandres prsente des caractristiques voisines
de celles des argiles de Londres et de Boom (Borel et
Reiffsteck, 2005) :
- faible teneur en eau (de lordre de 30%)
- forte plasticit (IP voisin de 50)
- forte fissuration notamment au-del de 5m de profondeur

ARGILE DES FLANDRES

Le site exprimental se situe sur la commune de Merville (59)

dans le Nord de la France. Il se caractrise par une couverture
de limons sableux argileux de 3,5m d'paisseur dans lequel
fluctue la nappe phratique (-2m environ lors des essais) sous
laquelle on rencontre la formation d'argile des Flandres,
particulirement homogne sur toute la zone, et d'une puissance
de 40m environ.
L'argile des Flandres, gologiquement comparable l'argile
de Londres et l'argile de Boom, sest dpose il y a 50
millions dannes (Eocne) dans un golfe marin qui couvrait
toute la zone Nord de la France, de la Belgique et du Sud Est de
lAngleterre. Elle a t recouverte par des formations tertiaires
dont la sdimentation sest poursuivie jusquau Pleistocne
suprieur. Le niveau du sol se situait alors probablement 200m
au-dessus du niveau actuel. Les formations sus-jacentes se sont
rodes. Le processus drosion a t suivi au Quaternaire par le
dpt dalluvions du Flandrien. Le matriau a t soumis a des
cycles de chargement/dchargement et des processus
priglaciaires qui associs des phnomnes de cimentation

Figure 1. Profils de rsistance au cne qt et OCR sur le site de Merville

Une campagne spcifique d'investigations a t ralise au

droit du plot d'essais comportant des essais au piezocne
(CPTU), des essais au pressiomtre Mnard (PMT), des
carottages continus et une srie d'essais de laboratoire sur
carottes.

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Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

LOCR a t estim partir du CPT et de la relation de

Mayne (1991) : OCR = k. (qt-v0)/v0 avec k=0,5. Le facteur k
est fonction du type de matriau. La valeur de 0,5 a t retenue
car elle donne des valeurs dOCR compatibles avec lpaisseur
de surcharge suppose et le gradient de qn = qt-v0 dans largile
profonde (au-del de 8m). A noter que pour largile de Londres,
Powell et al., 1989 suggrent des valeurs de k suprieures 1.

b)
a)
Figure 3. Pieux fors a) tarire axe creux. b) schma dinstrumentation
laide dextensomtres amovibles de type LCPC.

Figure 2. Conditions de sol au niveau du plot dessais de Merville

Les essais triaxiaux de type UU (non consolid, non drain)

ou CIU (consolid isotropiquement, non drain) montrent des
ruptures prmatures de type fragile, caractristiques de ce type
dargile plastique fissure et fortement surconsolide. La
rupture se caractrise par la formation de plans de cisaillement
contenant des particules rorientes, comme not par Bond et
Jardine (1991). Les valeurs de la rsistance au cisaillement non
drane Cu sont corrles la rsistance au cne par un facteur
Nkt lv, [Nkt= (qt vo) /Cu =20], compatible avec la nature du
matriau. Les valeurs de pression limite pressiomtrique nette
sont assez bien relies Cu par la relation dAmar et Jezequel
(1998) : Cu = pl*/12+30, avec Cu en kPa et pl* en MPa
INSTALLATION ET CHARGEMENT DES PIEUX

f : frquence des cycles (en gnral 0,5Hz)

Qu : capacit statique ultime selon le mode considr.
Lessai est dit rpt si Qc< Qm et altern si Qc>Qm.
4

Les quatre pieux sont gomtriquement identiques (D=420mm,

fiche 13m). Ils ont t excuts laide dune tarire axe
creux visse dans le sol sans extraction notable de matriau
(Figure 3a) puis extraite sans dvissage tandis que le bton est
inject simultanment par l'axe creux. La partie basse est munie
d'un manchon tlescopique. Les pieux sont quips dun train
dextensomtres amovibles de type LCPC introduits dans un
tube de rservation positionn entre les armatures (Figure 3b).
Les pieux ont t tests deux mois aprs leur mise en place.
Les programmes de chargement comportaient des essais
statiques de rfrence paliers dune heure selon la norme NF P
94-150 (1999), des essais de chargement rapides (rduction des
paliers 3mn) et des essais de chargement cycliques axiaux de
type rpt ou altern. Une description plus prcise des
dispositifs (Figure 4) et modes de chargement est indique dans
(Benzaria et al., 2012).
La caractrisation complte dun chargement cyclique
suppose la dfinition des paramtres suivants :
Qm: valeur moyenne de la charge sous chargement cyclique,
Qc : demi-amplitude du chargement cyclique,
Qmax: charge maximale (Qmax = Qm + Qc)
N : nombre de cycles (les essais ont t conduits la rupture
ou grand nombre de cycles N>1000)

ESSAIS STATIQUES

La Figure 5 montre la courbe charge-dplacement en tte

obtenue pour lessai statique de rfrence sur le pieu F1, vierge
de tout chargement, ainsi que la courbe de fluage reprsentant la
vitesse de dplacement du pieu lors de chaque palier de
chargement.

Qu = 900 kN
Z0 = 42 mm

Figure 4 : Dispositif de chargement des pieux en compression.

Figure 5. Courbe charge-dplacement en tte et courbe de fluage

obtenues pour lessai statique de rfrence sur le pieu F1.

2328

Technical Committee 209 / Comit technique 209

On note :
- une rupture de type ductile (contrairement aux observations
de Benzaria et al., 2012 sur le pieu battu) ;
- une entre du pieu en grands dplacements pour un
dplacement en tte de lordre de 3% du diamtre. La charge
de rupture Quc conventionnelle pour 10% de dplacement de
la tte peut tre extrapole avec confiance 900kN ;
- une charge de fluage QF nette vers 670kN soit QF/Quc # 0,75.

CC1 3

CR1

CC4 10

CR2

Figure 8. Courbes charge-dplacement en tte obtenues lors dessais de

chargements statiques et cycliques sur le pieu F2.

On observe que :
le taux de chargement maximal contrle la rponse du pieu ;
lorsque ce taux demeure infrieur un seuil critique, les
dplacements restent non significatifs y compris pour de
grands nombres de cycles (N>1000). Les boucles
dhystrsis sont fermes (Figure 9) ;
- lorsque le seuil critique est franchi, le pieu cumule
rapidement des dplacements le conduisant vers la rupture
Les essais CC3, CC8, CC9 et CC10 ont dpass 12mm
(3%D) de dplacement cyclique permanent considr
comme critre de rupture (Figure 8) ;
- le seuil critique est trs voisin de Qmax/Quc =0,9
- les chargements cycliques, y compris lorsquils conduisent
la rupture, nont pas significativement affect la capacit
statique du pieu.
-

Figure 6. Distributions des charges obtenues pour lessai statique de

rfrence sur le pieu F1.

Tableau 1 : Caractristiques des chargements appliqus au pieu F2

C : cyclique
R : statique rapide
Q uc = 900kN (pieu F1)

Figure 7. Courbes locales de mobilisation du frottement latral obtenues

pour lessai statique de rfrence sur le pieu F1.

Les mesures extensomtriques ont permis de dterminer la

distribution des charges le long du pieu (Figure 6) ainsi que les
courbes locales de mobilisation du frottement latral selon la
procdure dcrite dans Benzaria et al. (2012). Les courbes
locales de transfert de charges (dites aussi courbes t-z) sont
donnes sur la Figure 7. La mobilisation du frottement est trs
rapide (entre 1 et 2%) du diamtre du pieu. Le caractre ductile
de la rupture est confirm. Les frottements sont modestes
(f <50kPa) et trs infrieurs ceux observs sur les pieux
mtalliques battus installs sur ce mme site.
5
5.1

ESSAIS CYCLIQUES
Essais cycliques rpts

La Figure 8 reprsente la squence dessais de chargements

raliss sur le pieu F2. Leurs caractristiques sont donnes dans
la Tableau 1.

2329

Qm /
Quc

Qc /
Quc

0,5

0,50

0,25

3408

17/05/2011

0,5

0,58

0,25

4834

17/05/2011

0,5

0,58

0,33

2021

CR1

17/05/2011

CC4

17/05/2011

0,5

0,25

0,20

1013

CC5

17/05/2011

0,5

0,40

0,20

1000

CC6

17/05/2011

0,5

0,40

0,30

1088

CC7

17/05/2011

0,5

0,50

0,30

602

CC8

17/05/2011

0,5

0,50

0,40

81

CC9

17/05/2011

0,1

0,50

0,40

24

CC10

17/05/2011

0,5

0,50

0,40

85

CR2

17/05/2011

Type
Test
F2Installation

Date
16/03/2011

CC1

16/05/2011

CC2

CC3

f
(Hz)

Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

La comparaison des essais CC9 et CC10 effectus mmes

taux de chargement met en outre en vidence un effet de
frquence dans le domaine proche de la rupture : la rupture est
acclre lorsque la frquence diminue.

Lanalyse complte des rsultats et la dfinition de critres

de rupture prcis devrait permettre de proposer ultrieurement
des diagrammes de stabilit cyclique au sens de Poulos (1988)
ou Karlsrud et al. (1986)
6

CC9

CC10

CC6

Figure 9. Courbes charge-dplacement en tte obtenues dessais de

chargements raliss sur le pieu F2.

5.2

Essais cycliques alterns

Compression

Neuf essais cycliques alterns ont t effectus sur le pieu F3.

Les caractristiques de ces essais sont telles que Qm/Quc< 0,2 et
0,2<Qc/Quc<0,5. Pour des raisons de montage hydraulique (deux
vrins en opposition de phase), il na pas t possible
dappliquer une charge maximale Qmax suprieure 0,7 Quc.
Tous les essais effectus dans ces conditions sont du type
stable avec des boucles dhystrsis fermes comme illustr sur
la Figure 10.

Traction
5.3

On a prsent des rsultats dessais statiques et cycliques en

compression pure et alterne effectus sur des pieux fors la
tarire creuse installs sur le site de Merville constitu dargile
surconsolide des Flandres.
Sous chargement statique la rupture nest pas fragile
contrairement aux observations faites sur les pieux battus. Les
frottements mobiliss sont nettement infrieurs (Benzaria et al.,
2012).
Il semble exister sous chargement cyclique une zone tendue
lintrieur de laquelle la stabilit est assure pour un grand
nombre de cycles. Le seuil critique, au moins pour les essais
rpts, semble voisin de Qmax/Quc =0.9. Les chargements
cycliques, y compris lorsquils conduisent la rupture,
naffectent pas significativement la capacit statique du pieu.
Un article cette mme confrence (Puech et Benzaria,
2013) analyse le comportement statique des deux types de pieux
battus et fors en liaison avec la nature et le comportement
mcanique de largile des Flandres.
7

Notion de stabilit cyclique

Lensemble des rsultats obtenus en compression pure et en

compression alterne (mais galement en traction pure et en
traction alterne) suggrent que pour le type de matriau et de
pieu considr il existe deux zones de fonctionnement bien
diffrencies :
- une zone dans laquelle les chargements cycliques mme en
grand nombre (N>1000) ont peu deffet sur le
comportement du pieu : accumulation non significative des
dplacements permanents, rigidit cyclique constante ;
- une zone dans laquelle le pieu volue trs rapidement vers
la rupture.
La zone de stabilit cyclique est tendue mais pourrait tre
affecte par le caractre rpt ou altern des chargements.

REMERCIEMENTS

Les rsultats prsents dans cette communication ont t acquis

dans le cadre du Projet National Franais SOLCYP. SOLCYP
est un projet de recherche sur le comportement des pieux
soumis des sollicitations cycliques, regroupant 12 entreprises
et bureaux dtudes du gnie civil et 6 organismes universitaires
et de recherche. Il est pilot par lIREX et financ par les
partenaires, lAgence Nationale de la Recherche, le Ministre de
lEcologie, du Dveloppement Durable et de lEnergie et la
Fdration Nationale des Travaux Publics. Les auteurs
remercient les partenaires du projet davoir autoris la
publication de ces donnes.
8

Figure 10, Courbe charge-dplacement en tte obtenue lors de lessai de

chargement CC9 ralis sur le pieu F3.

CONCLUSIONS

REFERENCES

AFNOR.1999. NF P 94-150-2. Norme Franaise. Sols: Reconnaissance

et Essais Essai statique de pieu sous effort axial Partie 1: en
compression et Partie 2: en traction.
Benzaria O., Puech A and Le Kouby A. 2012. Cyclic axial load-tests on
driven and bored piles in overconsolidated clay, Offshore Site
Investigation and Geotechnics, SUT, London.
Bond A.J. and Jardine R.J. 1991. Effects of installing displacement piles
in a high OCR clay. Gotechnique, 41(3) 341-363.
Borel S. and Reiffsteck P. 2006. Caractrisation de la dformabilit des
sols au moyen dessais en place. Gotechnique et Risques Naturels,
LCPC, GT81.
Josseaume H. 1998. Proprits mcaniques de largile des Flandres
Dunkerque et Calais. Revue Franaise de Gotechnique, N84.
Karlsrud, K., Nadim F. and T. Haugen (1986). Piles in clay under cyclic
loading: Field tests and computational modeling. Proc., 3rd int.
Conf. on Nun. Meth. In offshore Piling, 165-190, Nantes, France,
May 1986.
Mayne P.W. 1986. CPT indexing of in situ OCR in clays. Proceedings
ASCE Spec. Conf. In situ 86, Blacksburg, Virginia.
Powell J.J.M., Quaterman R.S.T. and Lunne T. 1989. Interpretation and
use of piezocone test in UK. Proc. Geotechnology Conference:
penetration testing in UK, Birmingham, Thomas Telford, London
Puech A., Canou J., Bernardini C., Pecker A., Jardine R., and Holeyman
A. 2012. SOLCYP: a four year JIP on the behavior of piles under
cyclic loading. Offshore Site Investigation and Geotechnics, SUT,
London.
Puech A. et Benzaria O. 2013. Effet du mode de mise en place sur la
rponse statique de pieux dans largile surconsolide des Flandres.
Proceedings 18th ICSMGE, Paris.

2330

Fondations superficielles glissantes pour loffshore profond Mthodologie

de dimensionnement
Deep Offshore Sliding Footings Design Methodology
Bretelle S.

GHD, Perth, Australie

Wallerand R.

Subsea7, Paris, France

RSUM : Les caractristiques gotechniques des sols rencontrs en offshore profond conduisent de manire rcurrente des
fondations de trs grandes dimensions. Ceci induit des difficults dinstallation qui stimulent la recherche de solutions audacieuses
pour les fondations dont le dimensionnement intgre des sollicitations horizontales transitoires. Les efforts horizontaux rsultent de
conditions transitoires pour les pipelines (arrt et redmarrage de lexploitation induisant des changements de temprature dans les
pipelines). Ceux-ci induisent un glissement de la fondation. Ces efforts horizontaux tant variables dans le temps, le sol est soumis
des sollicitations cycliques. Cet article dtaille les diffrentes tapes proposes pour le dimensionnement des fondations glissantes,
destines au support des structures lies aux pipelines, en prenant en compte les effets de la dgradation cyclique sur la capacit
portante, et lvaluation des tassements.
ABSTRACT: Due to the geotechnical characteristics of offshore deep-water soils, footing size can become very large. This may
induce installation challenges, which in turn stimulates smart design solutions allowing for horizontal displacement of the footing.
Horizontal loads results from flow lines expansion during start-up and shut-down of the production, as large temperature changes will
induce dilatation. If horizontal loads are above the horizontal capacity of the footing, the foundation will slide. Horizontal loads
varying with time, soil cyclic loadings are induced. This paper presents the different steps of the design for the proposed concept,
allowing the footing to slide. This design includes cyclic soil degradation effects on bearing capacity and settlements.
MOTS-CLS: Offshore, fondation, glissante, pipeline, cyclique, dgradation, tassement.
KEYWORDS: Offshore, footing, sliding, pipeline, cyclic, degradation, settlement.
1

INTRODUCTION

Les caractristiques gotechniques des argiles molles

rencontres en offshore profond conduisent de manire
rcurrente des fondations de trs grandes dimensions. Ceci
induit des difficults dinstallation qui stimulent la recherche de
solutions audacieuses pour les fondations dont le
dimensionnement intgre des sollicitations horizontales
transitoires.
Les efforts horizontaux rsultent des sollicitations
horizontales transitoires. C'est le cas notamment des structures
intermdiaires ou des structures fin de ligne, qui permettent la
connexion entre les pipelines et les diffrents lments de
l'architecture du champ (puits, risers, manifolds). Les efforts
appliqus ces structures sont transmis au sol par
l'intermdiaire de fondations superficielles faites de tles
d'acier. Les efforts verticaux proviennent du poids propre de la
structure, de la section de conduite qu'elle supporte, des
diffrents connecteurs et vannes associes. Les efforts
horizontaux sont eux provoqus par la dilatation ou la
contraction de la conduite (arrt et redmarrage de l'exploitation
induisant des changements de temprature et de pression dans
les pipelines). Ceux-ci induisent un glissement de la fondation
(le coefficient de scurit au glissement est infrieur 1). Ces
efforts horizontaux tant variables dans le temps, le sol est
soumis des sollicitations cycliques.
Lvaluation des effets rsultants de la dgradation cyclique
des proprits des sols (ici la rsistance au cisaillement)
permettra dassurer que la fondation reste stable sous efforts
verticaux et moments.
Lvaluation des tassements est ncessaire. Le cisaillement
cyclique (environ 2000 cycles sur la dure de vie de louvrage)

2331

est source de tassements spcifiques, qui sont dus aux

dplacements rpts de la fondation.
Cet article dtaille les diffrentes tapes proposes pour le
dimensionnement des fondations glissantes, destines au
support des structures lies aux pipelines, et poses sur des
argiles molles.
2

COMPARAISON PIPELINES-FONDATIONS

Le tableau 1 rappelle les concepts dinteraction sol-pipeline et

sol-fondation. Il permet dillustrer les diffrences entre les
comportements admis pour les pipelines et ceux gnralement
requis pour les fondations superficielles (White - Cathie 2010).
Les grandes familles de diffrences qui sont dcrites cidessous
affectent
directement
la
perception
du
dimensionnement, qui intgre naturellement les dplacements
pour les pipelines, et qui par contre recommande des
coefficients de scurit importants sur la capacit portante
(incluant les efforts horizontaux) des fondations pour se
prmunir des dplacements.
Pour ce qui concerne les pipelines, il peut savrer
conomiquement impossible dempcher le pipeline de se
dplacer, en lenfouissant par exemple, sur des dizaines de
kilomtres, et des profondeurs deau de plus de 1000m. Par
contre, des modles dinteraction sol-pipeline intgrant le
dplacement permettent doptimiser les dimensions des
pipelines (les paisseurs des tubes en particulier).
Pour ce qui concerne les fondations, mme lies aux
pipelines, il reste dusage de les dimensionner sans autoriser
leur dplacement.
Ce choix conduit des fondations de trs grandes
dimensions, en particulier sur les argiles marines en grande

Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

profondeur. Il pose aussi des problmes structuraux au niveau

de la connexion du pipeline et de la fondation.
Tableau 1. Comparaison des comportements admis pour les
pipelines et pour les fondations.
Paramtre
Gomtrie
de linterface solfondation
Critre de
dimensionnement
en service

Pipeline
Incertaine, la
pntration dpend des
mthodes dinstallation, de
la forme du fond marin

Connue,
contrle
Fixe,
dplacements
minimes de la
fondation
Similaire
ltat initial
Les charges ne
sont pas affectes
par le sol de
fondation

Dplacement autoris,
lois de comportement
spcifiques

Sol

Perturb pendant
linstallation et les cycles

Charges

La rponse du pipeline
est affecte par linteraction
avec le sol

Mthodes de
dimensionnement

Fondation

Non disponible (ou

encore contestes), les
hypothses de sol
enveloppes (hautes ou
basses) doivent tre
considres

Lapproche traditionnelle de dimensionnement de

fondations superficielles consiste simplifier le chargement (M,
N, T) en un chargement (N, T) appliqu sur une surface rduite.
Cette approche conduit des surdimensionnements quand ils
sont compars des calculs par lments finis tridimensionnels.
Lapproche propose dans lAPI-ISO permet lutilisation
denveloppes de rupture 3D, utilisant les valeurs de :
Nult charge verticale de rupture sous chargement
vertical seul (M=0 et T=0) ;
Tult charge horizontale de rupture sous chargement
horizontal seul (M=0 et N=0) ;
Mult moment de renversement ultime en condition de
renversement seul (T=0 et V=0).
La surface limite dans lespace (N/Nult, M/Mult, T/Tult) est
alors dfinie par des calculs spcifiques 3D ou disponibles dans
certaines rfrences pour des formes de fondation types. Un
exemple est propos sur la figure 2.

Disponibles,
les hypothses de
sol basses sont
conservatives pour
la stabilit

3 DIMENSIONNEMENT SOUS CHARGES

PERMANENTES
La premire tape traite du dimensionnement sous charges
permanentes qui requiert un coefficient de scurit suprieur 1
avec la prise en compte concomitante des efforts verticaux et
moments (Cathie 2008).

Figure 2 : Enveloppe de rupture (Gourvenec 2007)

4 DIMENSIONNEMENT SOUS CHARGES

HORIZONTALES

effort vertical N

Les efforts horizontaux rsultent de conditions transitoires pour

les pipelines (arrt et redmarrage de lexploitation induisant
des changements de temprature dans les pipelines).
Un coefficient de scurit suffisant doit tre obtenu pour
que la fondation soit stable (pas de rupture sous charges
verticales et moments), tout en autorisant son dplacement
horizontal.
Lvaluation prsente dans cet article se limite au cas des
argiles molles trouves dans les grands fonds.

effort horizontal

4.1

Moment M

Figure 1 : Mcanismes de rupture

La stabilit au sens usuel du terme doit tre assure. Les

charges permanentes sont essentiellement lies au poids de la
structure.
La problmatique du dimensionnement des fondations
superficielles connait de nombreux dveloppements rcents et il
existe une normalisation (ISO 19901-4 2011) affrente. Celle-ci
permet la prise en compte de manire concomitante des efforts
verticaux N, horizontaux T ainsi que des moments M.
On rappelle en prambule les principes du dimensionnement
intgrant ces efforts M, N, T, sous la forme denveloppes 3D
(Randolph 2005).
Les mcanismes de rupture sont rappels sur la figure 1.

2332

Vrifications de stabilit

Lvaluation des effets rsultants de la dgradation cyclique des

proprits des sols (ici la rsistance au cisaillement) se
dcompose en trois tapes :
Une valuation des contraintes de cisaillement est
effectue sous la fondation le long de surfaces de
rupture ;
leffet des cycles est intgr en utilisant des rsultats
usuels dessais de laboratoire caractrisant la
dgradation cyclique ;
une vrification de la stabilit de la fondation est
effectue le long des surfaces de rupture prcdentes,
avec les caractristiques rduites dtermines
prcdemment.
4.1.1 valuation des contraintes de cisaillement
Il est suggr dutiliser un programme de calcul aux lments
finis pour obtenir les contraintes de cisaillement sous la
fondation.
Il nest pas requis dutiliser un modle autorisant des grands
dplacements (2 3 mtres sont observs pour les pipelines), ni

Technical Committee 209 / Comit technique 209

de reprsenter fidlement les cycles (les structures concernes

subissent 1000 5000 cycles), ce qui ncessiterait des temps de
calculs importants et des outils complexes.
La modlisation propose ici applique un effort vertical
reprsentatif du poids de la structure, et un effort horizontal
la rupture , cest--dire saturant les contraintes de cisaillement
linterface sol fondation.
La figure 3 prsente un modle type de calcul.

Le coefficient de scurit obtenu est alors reprsentatif de la

stabilit de la fondation aprs un grand nombre de cycles.
4.2

Calculs des tassements

Lvaluation des tassements (lastique, consolidation, fluage)

est ncessaire. Le cisaillement cyclique (environ 2000 cycles
sur la dure de vie de louvrage) est source de tassements
additionnels, qui sont dus aux dplacements rpts de la
fondation. Les tassements additionnels suivants sont
considrs :
Tassements induits par le chargement cyclique de
largile profonde (donnes de triaxiaux DSS publies),
Dgradation de la couche en contact avec la fondation
du fait du glissement rpt,
Erosion par les bords de la fondation (cause potentielle
de rduction de la surface effective sous la fondation).
4.2.1 Tassements lastiques, consolidation, fluage
Les tassements lastiques de consolidation et de fluage peuvent
tre dtermins partir des mthodes usuelles analytiques, ou
partir du modle lments finis dcrit plus haut (avec des
modles de type Soft Soil pour Plaxis).

Figure 3 : Modle de calcul

Ce calcul permet de dterminer ltendue des zones

sollicites sous la fondation et les contraintes de cisaillement
appliques au sol de fondation.
A partir de ce calcul, on dtermine le taux de cisaillement
moyen ( diffrentes profondeurs sous la fondation (en
gnral de 0 B, o B est la largeur de la fondation).
4.1.2 Dgradation cyclique
La dgradation cyclique est dtermine partir dessais de
laboratoire cycliques, qui permettent dobtenir des enveloppes
de dgradation en fonction du nombre de cycles.

Figure 4 : Dgradation cyclique (Argile de Drammen, OCR=1,

daprs Andersen 2004)

On lit sur laxe horizontal le rapport /su et sur laxe

vertical le ratio cy/su. Le nombre de cycles correspond aux
diffrentes courbes sur labaque.
Les notations suivantes sont utilises :
0 = cisaillement moyen sans cycles
cy = cisaillement dgrad, aprs N cycles
su = rsistance au cisaillement moyen
4.1.3 Vrification de la stabilit aprs dgradation cyclique
Le calcul prsent en 4.1.1 peut tre repris en modifiant les
valeurs de Su pour tenir compte de la dgradation cyclique.

4.2.2 Rduction cyclique du module dlasticit

Pour les tassements cycliques, il faudra tenir compte :
Des dformations dues aux cycles ;
Du dveloppement de surpressions interstitielles d aux
cycles.
Dans les deux cas, on utilisera les rsultats des calculs
dcrits plus haut, et les enveloppes obtenues par essais de
laboratoire.
Les notations suivantes sont utilises (diffrentes de celles
du chapitre prcdent) :
av = cisaillement moyen sans efforts horizontaux
cy = cisaillement moyen avec efforts horizontaux
su = rsistance au cisaillement moyen
La figure 5 prsente des rsultats types pour la
dtermination des dformations () dues au cisaillement
cyclique.

Figure 5 : Dformations moyennes de cisaillement cyclique (Argile

de Drammen, OCR=1, daprs Andersen 2004)

La dformation ci-dessus est multiplie par lpaisseur de la

couche concerne pour obtenir le tassement supplmentaire.
La figure 6 prsente laugmentation de pression interstitielle
en fonction du nombre de cycles.
La dformation supplmentaire est alors obtenue par :
= (u / v)*v / M
Avec
u / v : lu sur la figure 6
v : contrainte effective verticale
M : module de dformation

2333

Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

Figure 6 : augmentation de pression interstitielle due au

cisaillement de 1000 cycles (Argile de Drammen, OCR=1, daprs
Andersen 2004)

4.2.3 Dgradation de la couche de contact

La couche de contact (les 20 30 cm dargile directement en
contact avec la face infrieure de la fondation) subit de faon
rpte un tat de rupture, sous leffet du glissement.
Cet tat de rupture reste en gnral confin au niveau de
cette couche dinterface, car une couche de meilleures
caractristiques (croute) est souvent prsente entre 0 et 2 m de
profondeur. La croute agit comme une barrire de protection qui
limite le transfert des ruptures par cisaillement vers les couches
infrieures.
Il est trs difficile, voire impossible de modliser le
processus cyclique dans cette couche suprieure, du fait des
redistributions de contraintes entre les bords et le centre de la
fondation et bien entendu du fait des sollicitations cycliques.
Il est donc propos de retenir une approche simplifie qui
considre les diffrents aspects de la dgradation.
Le modle lments finis dcrit plus haut permet de
considrer le moment maximum qui sollicite la fondation,
associ au poids de la fondation et leffort horizontal qui
sature le frottement au niveau de linterface. Ce calcul peut tre
men avec les caractristiques intactes dans la couche de
contact, puis avec les caractristiques remanies dans cette
mme couche.
La comparaison directe des rsultats permet destimer un
tassement et une rotation supplmentaire considrer dans le
dimensionnement.
4.2.4 Erosion par les bords
La concentration de contraintes est un phnomne bien connu
qui dans ce cas particulier peut crer des tassements
supplmentaires par rosion prs des angles.
Les skis ont depuis longtemps apport une rponse
approprie en relevant les bords pour limiter leffet de langle.
Les fondations glissantes devront comporter un dispositif
similaire pour viter de racler progressivement toute une bande
de sol.
Lestimation par le calcul de ce phnomne reste
dvelopper, par contre, les consquences peuvent tre values
en retirant arbitrairement les lments de sol de linterface sous
une partie de la fondation. On pourra enlever les lments sur
une bande correspondant au mouvement calcul des pipelines
qui se connectent sur la fondation, puisque ce mode de
comportement est disponible dans les modles de pipelines.
Une autre mthode, moins pnalisante consiste reprendre
les rsultats du calcul avec les moments prsents au paragraphe
prcdent 4.2.3, pour dterminer les contraintes dans la couche
dinterface.
En comparant ces contraintes la contrainte ultime (Nc*Su)
ou en utilisant les zones plastifies du modle lments finis,
ltendue de la zone remanie (sa largeur sous la fondation) peut
tre estime. On peut alors reprendre le calcul prcdent en
enlevant une zone plus limite. La figure 7 illustre un exemple
de calcul.

Figure 7 : Exemple de calcul avec dgradation sous les bords

(cercles).

CONCLUSION

Cet article a dtaill les diffrentes tapes proposes pour le

dimensionnement des fondations glissantes, destines au
support des structures lies aux pipelines, dans des conditions
gotechniques dargiles grands fonds.
Le tassement long terme et sous un nombre de cycle
reprsentatif de la vie de la structure sera obtenu par cumul des
diffrentes valeurs de tassements calcules suivant la dmarche
propose. La stabilit de la structure sera ainsi assure, et son
fonctionnement ne sera pas altr par les tassements ou
rotations dus au chargement cyclique.
6

REMERCIEMENTS

Je tiens remercier mon mari et mon fils pour leur patience

pendant la priode de rdaction de cet article, ainsi que pour
leur relecture.
Bien entendu, cet article naurait pas vu le jour sans mon
exprience en France, Terrasol pour la maitrise des
fondamentaux gotechniques, chez Saipem, pour louverture
Internationale et offshore, chez Cathie Associates pour la
pratique continue des projets lies aux grands fonds et enfin en
Australie, o GHD me donne lopportunit de travailler sur des
grands projets dinfrastructure.
7

REFERENCES

Andersen 2004 Cyclic clay data for foundation design of structures

subjected to wave loading International Conf. on Cyclic behaviour
of Soils and Liquefaction Phenomena Keynote lecture CBS04,
Bochum, Germany.
Cathie et Al. 2005 Pipeline Geotechnics State of the Art.
Cathie et Al 2008 Design of sliding foundations for subsea structures.
Gourvenec, S. (2007), Shape Effects on Capacity of Rectangular
Footings Under Combined Load, Gotechnique, 57(8), pp. 637
646.
ISO 19901-4 2003 modified 2011 API RP2GEO Geotechnical and
foundation design considerations.
Randolph et Al - 2005 Challenges of offshore geotechnical engineering.
White, D., Cathie, D.N. 2011, 'Geotechnics for subsea pipelines',
Frontiers in Offshore Geotechnics II, The Netherlands, CD, pp. 87123.

2334

Proposition dune loi t-z cyclique au moyen dexprimentations en centrifugeuse

Proposal of cyclic t-z law by means of centrifuge experiments
Burlon S., Thorel L.
Universit Paris-Est, IFSTTAR, Dpartement GERS, Paris, France
Mroueh H.
LGCgE, Lille, France

RSUM : Cet article propose une extension de la loi t-z de Frank et Zhao (1982) pour le calcul des dplacements dun pieu soumis
des charges axiales cycliques. Les potentialits de cette nouvelle loi sont prsentes et une comparaison est effectue entre des
rsultats exprimentaux issus dessais en centrifugeuse pour quatre pieux soumis des charges cycliques et des rsultats numriques
obtenus au moyen de cette nouvelle loi. Pour chaque cas, le dplacement de la tte de pieu en fonction du nombre de cycles de
chargement est analys. Une discussion est mene pour mieux cerner linfluence de chaque paramtre de la nouvelle loi t-z cyclique
dveloppe et envisager les dveloppements futurs mettre en uvre.
ABSTRACT: This paper includes an extension of the t-z law proposed by Frank and Zhao (1982) for the displacements calculation of
a pile subjected to cyclic axial loads. The potential of this new law are presented and a comparison is made between experimental
results obtained from centrifuge tests for four piles subjected to cyclic loads and numerical results obtained by this new law. For each
case, the displacement of the pile head according to the number of load cycles is analyzed. A discussion is conducted to better
understand the influence of each parameter of the new cyclic t-z law and to consider future developments to implement.
MOTS-CLS : Fondation profonde, charge axiale, sollicitations cycliques, centrifugeuse, loi t-z.
KEYWORDS: Deep foundations, axial load, cyclic load, centrifuge tests t-z curve.
1

INTRODUCTION

Le comportement des pieux soumis des charges axiales

monotones peut tre apprhend par des calculs mettant en
uvre des lois dinteraction locale de type t-z. Ces lois
permettent, pour chaque section dun pieu, dassocier le
dplacement relatif de linterface sol-pieu la contrainte de
cisaillement mobilise. Cette approche de calcul du
comportement des pieux est gnralement mise en uvre,
comme le recommande lEurocode7 Partie 1 (Eurocode 7
2005), lorsque les exigences de la structure porte en termes de
dplacement sont essentielles. En France, ces lois sont trs
largement utilises et sappuient essentiellement sur les
propositions de Frank et Zhao (1982) la fois pour les sols fins
et les sols grenus. Elles sont toutefois limites au cas de charges
axiales monotones ne dpassant la charge de fluage du pieu et
ne permettent pas de rendre compte des phnomnes observs
dans le cas o le pieu est soumis des charges cycliques
(fondations doliennes, de structures ptrolires, etc.).
Toutefois, des lois t-z cycliques, dveloppes notamment pour
lingnierie ptrolire, existent pour rendre compte des effets de
tels chargements (Chin et Poulos 1992 et Randolph 1986).
Sur la base de ces lois, cet article propose une extension de
la loi t-z formule par Frank et Zhao. Les aptitudes de cette
nouvelle loi, pour rendre compte des phnomnes de
durcissement ou de radoucissement cyclique ou de rochet et de
relaxation (Lematre et Chaboche 2009), sont prsentes
lchelle locale. Une comparaison entre des rsultats
exprimentaux issus dessais sur modles rduits centrifugs
pour quatre pieux soumis des charges cycliques et des
rsultats numriques obtenus au moyen de cette nouvelle loi est
ensuite propose. Cette comparaison concerne lvolution du
dplacement en tte de pieu en fonction du nombre de cycles.
Une discussion des rsultats est ensuite prsente de manire
mieux cerner linfluence de chaque paramtre de la nouvelle t-z
cyclique dveloppe et esquisser les dveloppements futurs
mener.

MISE AU POINT DUNE LOI T-Z CYCLIQUE

2.1

Principes

Dans sa version la plus gnrale, la loi t-z cyclique entre le

frottement qs et le dplacement tangentiel ut est traduite par
lquation 1. Les neuf paramtres de cette loi sont prsents
dans le tableau 1.

(1)

Les paramtres auxiliaires A et R sont dfinis de la manire

suivante :
le paramtre A contrle laugmentation de la raideur de
linterface sol-pieu lors des dchargements. Cette
augmentation est dautant plus importante que le
dchargement est ralis un niveau de chargement lev ;
le paramtre R gre laugmentation de la raideur de
linterface sol-pieu chaque inversion de cycle. Il comprend
les paramtres et dfinis dans le tableau 1.
Lors du premier cycle de chargement, la relation entre le
frottement qs et le dplacement relatif ut peut tre simplifie :
u
t

q s q s 0 1 e

ut

ut e

(2)

Le second terme comprenant les paramtres , et traduit

le durcissement monotone. Il est maximal lorsque le

2335

Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

dplacement relatif ut atteint la valeur . En labsence de

durcissement, la relation se simplifie sous la forme suivante :
u
t

q s q s 0 1 e

60

50

(3)

40

Tableau 1. Dfinition des paramtres de la loi t-z cyclique

i
qs ;i
ut ;i

uts

Paramtres gnraux
nombre dinversion de cycle de chargement (i 1)
frottement mobilis linversion de charge (qs ;i = 0 pour i = 1)
dplacement relatif de linterface sol-pieu au cycle i (ut ;i = 0
pour i = 1)

t ;i

ut ;i 1

somme des valeurs absolues des dplacements

relatifs
Paramtres auxiliaires

A abs

q s ;i ( 1)

R e

n cyl 1

s0

s0

q s 1 e u ts

qs 1 e

ncyl 1

1 e

u ts

ncyl 1

qs [kPa]

On peut remarquer que le paramtre correspond au

dplacement relatif de linterface sol-pieu permettant de
mobiliser environ 63 % du frottement maximal en labsence de
durcissement. Pour des chargements monotones, les paramtres
qs0 et peuvent tre dtermins respectivement selon la norme
franaise dapplication de lEurocode 7 (AFNOR 2012) relative
aux fondations profondes et selon les lois de Frank et Zhao
(1982) (Figure 1). Les autres paramtres sont caler sur des
essais cycliques de chargements de pieu. Actuellement, ils ne
peuvent pas tre dduits partir de proprits usuelles du sol
comme le module pressiomtrique, la pression limite ou la
rsistance de cne.

30

20
Frank et Zhao - Sols fins
t-z cyclique - Sols fins

10

Frank et Zhao - Sols pulvrulents

t-z cyclique - Sols pulvrulents

0
0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.2

1.4

Dplacement l'interface sol-pieu [cm]

Figure 1. Comparaison entre la loi de Frank et Zhao et la loi t-z cyclique

pour une sollicitation monotone.

2.2

Potentialits de la loi t-z cyclique

La loi t-z cyclique a t labore de manire rendre compte les

principaux phnomnes cycliques observs lors dessais de
cisaillement cyclique en laboratoire :
le durcissement ou le radoucissement cyclique pour des
essais de cisaillement en dplacement symtrique (Figure
2a) ;
la relaxation ou non pour des essais de cisaillement en
dplacement non symtrique (Figures 2b et 2c) ;
le rochet plus ou moins important pour des essais de
cisaillement en contrainte non symtrique.

150
100

Mobilisation du frottement sous chargement monotone 2 paramtres

qs0
frottement mobilisable sous chargement monotone pour de
[kPa]
grands dplacements
paramtre de mobilisation du frottement (plus ce paramtre

est faible, plus le dplacement pour mobiliser un frottement

[cm]
important est faible et plus linterface sol-pieu est rigide)
Radoucissement/durcissement monotone 3 paramtres

paramtre fixant le dplacement pour laquelle le

[cm]
durcissement est maximal

paramtre contrlant lamplitude du durcissement

[kPa]

paramtre de calage gal 2

Phnomnes cycliques 4 paramtres
qs
amplitude de radoucissement ou de durcissement cyclique
[kPa]

paramtre contrlant la vitesse de radoucissement ou de

[cm]
durcissement cyclique
paramtre contrlant ladaptation, laccommodation et le

rochet ou la relaxation
paramtre contrlant la vitesse dadaptation,

daccommodation et de rochet ou de relaxation

qs [kPa]

50
0
-50
-100
-150
-1.5

-1

-0.5

0.5

1.5

ut [cm]
(a)

150
100

qs [kPa]

50
0
-50
-100
-150
0

0.5

1.5
ut [cm]
(b)

2336

2.5

Technical Committee 209 / Comit technique 209

reconstitus par pluviation de sable sec dans un conteneur

double (Figure 4).
Les exprimentations ralises comprennent deux sries
dessais monotones permettant de dterminer la rsistance
ultime du pieu en compression (Qp) et en traction (Qs). Quatre
essais cycliques ont ensuite t raliss : la charge atteint
dabord la valeur Vm puis oscille entre Vmax = Vm + Vc et Vmin =
Vm - Vc (Tableau 2).

150
100

qs [kPa]

50
0
-50

Tableau 2. Programme de chargement des essais cycliques

-100

Vm/Qp Vc/Qp

-150
0

0.5

1.5

2.5

ut [cm]
(c)

Figures 2. Modlisation dessai de cisaillement suivant diffrentes

conditions (a : dplacement symtrique, b : dplacement non symtrique
relaxation, c : dplacement non symtrique relaxation nulle)

2.3

Comportement de la base du pieu

La loi utilise pour modliser lenfoncement de la base dun

pieu up a t dveloppe sur le mme modle que la loi
prcdente. Elle est formule directement en termes deffort
axial mobilisable sous la base du pieu et comprend neuf
paramtres dans sa version la plus volue. Pour des
chargements monotones, les paramtres Qp0 et sont toujours
cals respectivement selon la norme franaise dapplication de
lEurocode 7 relative aux fondations profondes (AFNOR 2012)
et selon les lois de Frank et Zhao (1982).
Un paramtre complmentaire pr (variant entre 0 et 1) a t
introduit de manire prendre en compte le fait que la pointe
dun pieu sollicite axialement peut se trouver au-dessus de sa
position dorigine. Plus il est faible, moins leffort mobilis sous
la pointe du pieu, tant que ce dernier est au-dessus de sa
position initiale, est important (Figure 3).

Essai 1 (traction cyclique)

-0,33

Essai 2 (traction cyclique)

-0,133 0,133

Essai 3 (cyclique altern compression dominante)

0,3

0,4

Essai 4 (cyclique altern)

0,133

4
4.1

ANALYSE DES RSULTATS OBTENUS

Prsentation des rsultats

Les paramtres de calcul (Tableau 3) sont cals sur les deux

essais monotones en traction (Figure 4) et en compression
(Figure 5) en supposant le module de Young du pieu gal 10
GPa et sur lessai cyclique 3 qui prsente le comportement a
priori le plus complexe modliser.
Tableau 3. Proprits des paramtres de la loi t-z pour le frottement
axial et pour la rsistance de pointe
Frottement axial
qs0
102 kPa

1 cm

30 kPa

1,8 cm

2
qs
- 83 kPa

25 cm

20

0,05

1800
1600
1400

Qp [kN]

1200
1000

4.2

800
600
400
200
0
-3

-2

-1

up [cm]

Figure 3. Modlisation de la mobilisation de leffort de pointe

PRSENTATION DES ESSAIS EN CENTRIFUGEUSE

Le modle rduit considr, lchelle du 1/23me, est soumis

une acclration centrifuge de 23g. Les proprits du sable
sont les suivantes (Jardine et al. 2009, Andria-Ntoanina et al.
2010) : dmin = 1395-1408 kg/m3, dmax = 1755 kg/m3, s = 2650
kg/m3, d10=0,15 mm, d50=0,207-0,210 mm, d60=0,23 mm et
CU=1,49-1,43. Le pieu modle a les caractristiques suivantes :
forme cylindrique pointe plate, diamtre de 18 mm,
longueur de 590 mm, fiche de 560 mm, barreau daluminium de
masse totale 0,405 kg, rugosit ltat neuf dfinie par
Rt=112 m, Ra=25,9 m soit Rt/d50=0,54 et Ra/d50=0,13,
rugosit ltat us (aprs 10 essais) dfinie par Rt=90 m,
Ra=23,9 m soit Rt/d50=0,44, Ra/d50=0,12. Les massifs sont

0,05

Rsistance de pointe
Qp0
1615 kN

0,1 cm

___

___

___
Qp
300 kN

5 cm

0,1
pr
0,05

Analyse des rsultats

La figure 6 propose, pour les quatre essais, la comparaison entre

les rsultats exprimentaux et les rsultats numriques.
Exprimentalement, la rupture du pieu est obtenue pour les
essais 2, 3 et 4 avec un dfaut de rsistance la traction du sol.
Pour lessai 1, alors que leffort de traction appliqu est plus
important de tous les essais raliss, la rupture na pas t
atteinte pour le nombre de cycles effectus. Il est nanmoins
trs probable que le nombre de cycles effectus est insuffisant.
Pour lessai 3, la rupture en compression peut tre observe
puisque lenfoncement du pieu est suprieur 10 % de son
diamtre. Les efforts de traction atteints traduisant la rupture du
pieu pour les essais 2, 3 et 4 sont trs diffrents : 1204,6 kN,
843,22 kN et 317 kN. Ce rsultat montre que le frottement
mobilisable le long du ft du pieu, aprs un grand nombre de
cycles de chargement, varie en fonction du chargement
appliqu. Dans ltat actuel, la loi t-z propose nest pas en
mesure de rendre compte ce phnomne car les paramtres qs
et uts ne traduisent pas suffisamment les effets des cycles sur la
rsistance de linterface.
Les rsultats obtenus indiquent toutefois que le modle
dvelopp rend compte de manire plutt satisfaisante des
dplacements du pieu lors des premiers cycles de chargement.
Pour des nombres de cycles levs, les tendances restent plutt
bien apprhendes mme si les amplitudes de dplacement ne
sont pas correctes.

2337

Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

10

Soulvement [mm]
-20

-40

-60

-80

Mesures - Essai-1

-100

-2500

-20

-2000

-50

w [mm]

Charge [kN]

-1500

-80

Calcul

-1000

Calcul - Essai-1

-110

Essai-1
Essai-2

-500

-B/10

-140

Essai-3

200

400

Figure 4. Modlisation de lessai de traction

-40

w [mm]

Charge [kN]

1000

-20

3000
2500
2000

-B/10
-60

Calcul

1500
1000
500
0

Essai-1
Essai-2

-80

Essai-3

-100

Mesures - Essai-2

20

40

60

80

75

150

225
Cycles
Essai-2

100

Tassement [mm]

300

375

450

200

Figure 5. Modlisation de lessai de compression

Mesures - Essai-3

150

CONCLUSION

100
w [mm]

Une loi dinteraction t-z cyclique a t dveloppe pour le

calcul des pieux sous charge axiale. Des tentatives de validation
ont t effectues en confrontant des rsultats numriques
obtenus avec cette loi et des exprimentations en centrifugeuse
pour des chargements cycliques en traction et en compression
alterns ou non. Des amliorations significatives restent
apporter. Les premiers rsultats sont encourageants car ils
traduisent au moins dans leurs grandes lignes les principaux
comportements du pieu.

50
Calcul - Essai-3

0
-50

+/- B/10

-100
0

REMERCIEMENTS

200

400

600
800
Cycles
Essai 3

1000

1200

1400

10

Les rsultats prsents dans cette communication ont t acquis

dans le cadre du Projet ANR et du Projet National Franais
SOLCYP (SOLlicitations Cycliques sur les Pieux).

0
-10
Calcul - Essai-4

-20

REFERENCES

Eurocode 7 Part 1. (2004) Calcul Gotechnique Partie 1: Rgles

Gnrales. Comit Europen de Normalisation, Bruxelles.
Frank, R. et Zhao, S. (1982). Estimation par les paramtres
pressiomtriques de l'enfoncement sous charge axiale de pieux
fors dans des sols fins. Bulletin Liaison Laboratoire Ponts
Chausses 119 17-24.
Chin J. T. and Poulos H. G. (1992) Cyclic axial loading analyses: a
comparative study. Computers and Geotechnics, 13, 137-158.
Randolph M.F. (1986) RATZ: Load transfer analysis of axially loaded
piles, Report Geo: 86033, Department of Civil Engineering, The
University of Western Australia.
Lemaitre, J. et Chaboche, J.L. (2009). Mcanique des Matriaux Solides
(d. 2me). Paris: Dunod.
AFNOR. (2012) Dimensionnement des fondations profondes. Norme
NF P 94-292, Paris.
Jardine R.J., Zhu B.T., Foray P. & Dalton, C.P. (2009). Experimental
arrangements for the investigation of soil stresses developed around
a displacement pile. Soil and Foundations 49(5): 661-673.
Andria-Ntoanina I., Canou J. et Dupla J.-C. (2010) Caractrisation
mcanique du sable de Fontainebleau NE34 lappareil triaxial
sous cisaillement monotone. Rapport SOLCYP, 23p.

w [mm]

800

Calcul - Essai-2

3500

600

4000

Cycles
Essai-1

Mesures - Essai-4

-30

-B/10

-40
-50
0

200

400

600

800

1000

Cycles
Essai-4

Figures 6. Modlisation des quatre essais cycliques (w : dplacement

axial du pieu > 0 : tassement < 0 : soulvement)

2338

Deformation behavior of single pile in silt under long-term cyclic axial loading
Comportement dun pieu isol sous chargement axial cyclique de longue dure dans un limon
Chen R.P., Ren Y., Zhu B. , Chen Y.M.

MOE Key Laboratory of Soft Soils and Geoenvironmental Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China

ABSTRACT: Evaluating the response of piles to cyclic loading is a crucial part in the design of piled-embankment over soft ground.
In this paper, a series of large-scale model tests were performed to investigate the response of pile in silt under cyclic axial loading.
Heavily instrumented piles were used in the tests. The study is focused on the accumulation of permanent dispalecemtn of the piles
under long-term cyclic loading. Piles were tested at differernt cyclic loading levels and subjected up to 50,000 cycles of loading in
each test. The accumulated settlement was found to be strongly dependent on the characteristics of the applied cyclic loads. The piles
were found not to produce any increase in accumulated settlement if the cyclic loading amplitude is less than a certain threshold
value. A simple method is proposed to predict the accumulated settlement of single pile due to very large number of loading cycles.
The idea of a cyclic deformation diagram for analyzing the influence of charcteristics of cyclic loads on the deformation behavior was
also developed.
RSUM : L'valuation de la rponse des pieux vis--vis dun chargement cyclique est un lment essentiel dans la conception des
remblais sur sols mous. Dans cet article, une srie d'essais sur maquette grande chelle a t ralise pour tudier la rponse de pieux
sous chargement axial cyclique dans le limon. L'tude est centre sur l'accumulation des dplacements permanents des pieux sous
chargement cyclique de longue dure. Les pieux ont t tests diffrents niveaux de charge cyclique et soumis 50000 cycles pour
chaque test. Les tassements accumuls sont fortement dpendants des charges cycliques appliques. Aucune augmentation de
tassements nest constate si l'amplitude de chargement cyclique est infrieure un certain seuil. Une mthode simple est propose
pour prdire le tassement cumul dun pieu isol en fonction dun trs grand nombre de cycles de chargement. L'ide d'un diagramme
de dformation cyclique pour analyser l'influence des caractristiques des charges cycliques sur le comportement en dformation a
galement t dveloppe.
EYWORDS: Pile; model test; accumulated settlement; cyclic loading
1

INTRODUCTION

Piles are commonly used to support high-speed railway

embankment in soft ground, which are exposed not only to the
heavy loads from superstructure self-weight, but also to the
long-term one-way cyclic loads induced by high-speed trains
throughout their service life. However, available design
experiences on the long-term response of the pile in silt to
cyclic axial loading are very limited, due to the fact that the
existing data obtained from laboratory tests and field
measurement are insufficient. This results in uncertainty in the
design and always leads to an over-conservative design of the
pile foundation.
The response of pile subjected to cyclic loading is very
complex and model test is the most effective and reliable way to
study it and its influencing factors. Laboratory and field tests
(Chan and Hanna 1980; Lee and Poulos 1991; Karlsrud et al.
1993) have shown that there are two main effects of cyclic axial
loading on piles: (1). a reduction in load capactiy and pile-soil
system stiffness; (2). an increase in settlement of piles. Poulos
(1989) reviewed several cyclic loading tests performed in sand
and stated that the accumulation of permanent displacement
with increasing load cycles was expected to dominate under
one-way cyclic loading, particularly if strain-softening
behavior can occur at the pile-soil interface. The accumulation
of the permanent displacement principally depends on the cyclic
load level. Briaud and Felio (1986) analyzed the published data
and concluded that a load threshold exists above which failure
occurs by plunging due to cyclic loading and the value of this
threshold is 80% of the ultimate pile capacity on average.

In previous studies, most of the piles were loaded less than

500 cycles of loading. There have been few researches on the
response of pile to long-term cyclic loading at present.
This paper describes the results of a series of large-scale
model tests on single stiff piles in saturated silt to study the
accumulation of permanent displacement of the piles. The tests
have been performed using heavily instrumented model piles. A
simple method for predicting the accumulation of permanent
displacement of pile to long-term cyclic axial loading is
proposed. The idea of a cyclic deformation diagram for
analyzing the influence of charcteristics of cyclic loads on the
deformation behavior was also developed.
2

DESCRIPTIONS OF EXPERIMENTS

2.1 Test site and soil characteristics

The present large-scale model tests were carried out in a big soil
tank at Zhejiang University (Fig 1). This soil tank has an
dimension of 155m in plan view and a depth of 6m.
The soil used in the tests is low cohesive silt. Grading tests
showed that the soil contains 10% sand, 85% silt and 5% clay.
The characteristics of the soil are summarized in Table 1.
Laboratory tests show that the prepared soil had an average
water content of 28.5% and an effective internal friction angle
of 30o.

2339

Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

PU

0.8
0.6

CLR=

0.4

PC

0.2

PS

0
SLR=0.2

CLR=PC/PU
SLR=PS/PU

Figure 3. The characteristics of cyclic loading

Figure 1. The big soil tank at Zhejiang University

In this study, the cyclic load frequency of 3Hz was used for
the tests and the sampling frequency was of 50 Hz.

Table 1. Main soil properties

Property

Value

D50 particle size (mm)

0.032

Specific gravity, GS

2.69

Plastic limit, WL

22.6

Liquid limit, IL

31.7

Plasticity index, PI

9.1

TEST RESULTS

3.1 Accumulated settlement

2.2 Model pile

The used instrumented model pile was closed-ended steel tube
pile with an outer diameter (d) of 168 mm, a wall thickness of 7
mm. The pile had a cone-shaped tip end with a cone angle of
60o. The model pile was designed to be assembled from four
segments to give a full length of 4.2 m. The instrumentation
consisted of axial load cells (ALC), total pressure transducers
(TPT) and pore pressure transducers (PPT).

The overall pattern of accumulated settlement of the pile with

SLR of 0.3 is presented in Fig. 4 by normalizing the
accumulated permanent displacement s by the pile diameter d.
The values of the CLR in this series ranged from 0.1 to 0.6. It
can be found that the ways in which displacement developed is
highly dependent on the amplitudes of cyclic load which can be
represented by the cyclic load ratio (CLR).
In the test with the smallest CLR of 0.1, extreme small
permanent displacement, of approximately 0.04%d was
produced in the first three cycles and remained nearly constant
from cycle No. 3 to 50,000. For the CLRs ranging from 0.2 to
0.5, the permanent accumulated displacement increased
gradually with the increasing number of cycles and also with
the increasing magnitude of cyclic load. For the tests with the
CLR of 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5, the permanent displacements at the
end of the tests were 0.15%d, 0.35%d, 0.56%d and 1.26%d,
respectively. The permanent displacement increased rapidly at
initial stage and had the highest rate of displacement increase in
the first few cycles, and then it kept increasing continuously
with a decreased rate of displacement increase and seemed to
increase without a final and constant value. For the test with
very large cyclic load, such as CLR=0.6, the pile head moved
downward in a very unstable way marked by a quick plunging
during the test and the pile failed with a total accumulated
displacement of 10%d in 2,147 cycles.
0.06 SLR=0.3

CLR=0.1

Figure 2. Schematic diagram of the model pile (Unit: mm)

SLR Ps / Pu

(1)

CLR Pc / Pu

(2)

in which Pu refers to the static ultimate capacity of the pile in

compression, and Ps is the minimum in a load cycle and Pc is
the cyclic load amplitude. In present study, Ps and Pc simulated
the self-weight from the superstructure and the cyclic load
induced by the high-speed trains, respectively. A visual
interpretation of the load ratios is given in Fig. 3.

0.02

0.00
0
10

10

10

10

10

10

(a). CLR=0.1

3.0 SLR=0.3
2.5
2.0

s / d (%)

The characteristics of the applied cyclic load are uniquely

defined using two independent parameters:

s / d (%)

0.04

2.3 Characteristics of cyclic loading

CLR=0.1
CLR=0.2
CLR=0.3
CLR=0.4
CLR=0.5
CLR=0.6

s=10%d after
2174 cycles

1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
0
10

10

10

10

10

10

(b). CLR=0.1~0.6
Figure 4. Normalized permanent displacement (s/d) with number of
cycles (SLR=0.3)

2340

Technical Committee 209 / Comit technique 209

s / s s

The aforementioned patterns of behavior shown in Fig. 4 can

The results, plotted in Fig. 5, show that the trend in the data
also be found in other tests with SLR of different values. The
follows the exponential behavior which appears as straight lines
accumulated displacement for each test fell qualitatively into
in double logarithmic axes. This suggests that the permanent
any of the three distinct patterns shown in Fig. 4:
displacement due to cyclic loading can be predicted by the
(1) no accumulated displacement, as exhibited during the test
following power model:
with CLR of 0.1;
(2) continuing displacement, as exhibited during the tests
s ( N )
(4)
AN b
with CLR ranging from 0.2 to 0.5;
ss
(3) failure, as exhibited during the test with CLR of 0.6.
For the first case, the pile-soil system seems not to be
where A and b are two parameters. It is observed in Fig. 5 that
influenced by the cyclic loading and is in elastic range; only
all slopes are almost equal. This suggests that b is independent
small accumulated displacement was produced during the first
of the load characteristics within the observed range. It is
few cycles. For the second case, the pile-soil system was
introduced into (4) to represent the influence of load
influenced to some degree and partially entered plastic range;
characteristics on parameter in the following form:
the pile head showed continuing downward movement without
any apparent limit and the accumulation of displacement
A a ( SLR 1)m (CLR )n
(5)
depended on both of cyclic load level and number of load cycles,
and high cyclic load level and large number of cycles produced
where a , m and n are three calibration parameters. Clearly,
larger permanent displacement. For the last case, the cyclic
when CLR 0 , then A 0 and no accumulated displacement
loading had brought severe damage to the pile-soil system and
will occur under static load. Also, when SLR 0 then
the pile fully entered the plastic range; the pile head moved
A a (CLR )n indicates that the accumulated displacement
continuously downward at a rapid rate up to the end of the test
depends only on CLR. Thus, substituting (5) into (4) gives the
and a plunging failure might occur in some cases.
following model for accumulated permanent displacement:
Thus, to divide the accumulated displacement responses for
the tests with a given SLR two critical values of CLR are
s ( N )
defined here, named minimum cyclic load ratio (MCLR) and
(6)
a ( SLR 1) m (CLR ) n N b
failure cyclic load ratio (FCLR), respectively. For CLR smaller
ss
than the MCLR, the pile was in elastic range; for CLR greater
than the FCLR, the damage to the pile-soil system was severe
The expression in Equation (6) was fitted to the data in Fig.
and the always caused failure.
5 to empirically determine values of these parameters and backThe MCLR was found to be of 0.1 in all the tests and shown
calculated parameters a , m , n and b for the tests are 0.054,
to be unaffected by the SLR, and it can be inferred that if the
0.68, 1.24 and 0.23. The predicted results are shown by the
applied cyclic loads remained less than 10% of the ultimate pile
dotted lines in Fig. 5 and it appears that the influences of the
static capacity, the response of the pile can be considered to be
load characteristics on permanent displacement are reflected
total elastic and the permanent displacement was negligible
well in the prediction. The closeness of the fit up to 5 104
after first several cycles.
cycles indicates that, in the absence of further experimental data,
The FCLR was found to be of 0.5 for the tests with SLR
it might be reasonable to extrapolate beyond N 5 104 . Further
ranging from 0.2 to 0.4. However, in the case of the test with
data are, of course, required to confirm this hypothesis.
SLR of 0.1, the pile produced large permanent displacement
with CLR of 0.4, and it showed the tendency that lesser cyclic
1
SLR=0.3
loads were required to cause large permanent displacement for
Experimental:
CLR=0.2
the pile with very small SLR. Briaud and Felio (1986) reviewed
CLR=0.3
the previous cyclic load tests and concluded that a threshold of
CLR=0.4
peak load ratio (CLR+SLR) existed above which large
0.1
permanent displacement occurred and the value of that
threshold was about 0.8 on average. However, the tests results
suggest that the large permanent displacement depended more
on the magnitude of the cyclic load rather than the peak cyclic
load. It can be inferred from the results that large permanent
0.01
displacement occurred if the magnitude of the applied cyclic
0
1
2
3
4
10
10
10
10
10
load exceeds the 50% of the ultimate pile static capacity.
N
Figure 5. Measured and predicted accumulated displacement
The dotted lines are obtained using Equation (6)

3.2 Prediction method

To investigate the evolution of the permanent displacement in
the tests in which the permanent displacement are identified as
continuing displacement, the results are replotted on double
logarithmic scales and the evolution of the permanent
displacement is evaluated in terms of the dimensionless ratio
s ( N ) s N s 0

ss
ss

(3)

which expresses the magnitude of the permanent displacement

s ( N ) caused by cyclic loading in terms of the displacement ss
that would occur in a static load test when the load is equivalent
to the maximum cyclic load (as defined by ( SLR CLR) Pu ).
The s0 and sN refer to the permanent displacement in first and
Nth cycle, respectively.

CYCLIC DEFORMATION DIAGRAM

Poulos (1988) proposed the idea of cyclic stability diagram to

investigate the capacity degradation caused by cyclic loading. In
this study, similar concept is used and the idea of a diagram
named cyclic deformation diagram is developed. The cyclic
defromation diagram for the model piles is shown in Fig. 6. In
the diagram, the aforementioned three types of displacement
response are represented by different symbols. Therefore, three
main regions can be identified on the diagram shown in Fig. 6:
(1) A stable (elastic) region I in which the cyclic loading
has no influence on the pile responses and the displacement
response is the type of no accumulated displacement.

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Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

(2) A serviceability region II in which the cyclic loading

has some influence on the pile response and the displacement
response can be identified as continuing displacement.
(3) A unstable region III in which cyclic loading causes
severe damage for the pile to produce very large permanent
displacement and in some cases a plunging failure occurs.

Cyclic load ratio (CLR)

1.0

0.8
0.6

Proposed lower boundary of unstable zone

Proposed upper boundary of stable zone
Test results - no accumulated displacement
Test results - continuing displacement
Test results - failure
McAnoy et al. (1982) - continuing settlement
McAnoy et al. (1982) - failure at N=564
Stevens (1978) - no settlement
Stevens (1978) - continuing settlement
Stevens (1978) - plunging failure
Karlsrud et al. (1986) - failure after 100 cycles

zone I: Stable
zone II: Serviceability
zone III: Unstable
III

0.4
0.2

II

0.0
0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

Static load ratio (SLR)

Figure 6. Cyclic deformation diagram for pile in silt (N=50,000)

The upper boundary to the cyclic permanent displacement is

the straight line (CS: SLR+CLR=1) that represent the
combinations of SLR and CLR necessary to cause a failure of
pile without cyclic effects being considered. The other two lines
plotted in this diagram represent the approximate boundaries
between the stable region, the serviceability region and the
unstable region. These lines are defined by the following
relations:
Upper boundary of stable zone (line AB and BC):
0 SLR 0.4
CLR 0.5

1.2CLR SLR 1 0.4 SLR 1.0

(7)

Lower boundary of unstable zone (line DC):

5CLR SLR 1,

0 SLR 1

(8)

Fig. 6 also plots the other test results of field or model tests
on axial cyclically loaded pile. It can be seen that these
proposed lines are consistent with the experimental data and
thus it is indicated that the proposed three regions are capable of
reasonably identifying the deformation behavior of pile under
various load combinations. A diagram such as shown in Fig. 6
represents the permanent displacement of a pile for a specified
number of cycles, N. As N increases, the stable region will
remain unchanged and the unstable region may increase as the
permanent displacement increases.
In the pile design, it is very convenient to determine the
deformation behavior of the pile to cyclic loading using this
diagram. The most conservative design is to have the cyclic
loads in the stable region which means that pile will not be
affected by cyclic loading and issues of the permanent
displacement can be totally ignored. If the designed cyclic load
is in the serviceability region, the permanent displacement
accumulates in stable way and depends on both of the number
of cycles and the load characteristics; and it can be predicted
using the proposed simple method mentioned above. For a safe
design, it should avoid the cyclic load to be in the unstable
region in which cyclic loading will result in very large
permanent displacement and even a plunging failure.

CONCLUSION

A series of tests were conducted on large-scale model piles

subjected to long-term cyclic axial loading. The deformation
behavior of the piles in silt to cyclic loading was investigated.
The evolution of permanent displacement highly depends on
the magnitude of cyclic load. In general, the accumulation of
permanent displacement increases with increasing cyclic load
amplitude and increasing number of cycles. However, the pile
behaves in an elastic manner and does not accumulate any
deformation after the first few cycles of loading if the
magnitude of cyclic load is less than 10% of the ultimate pile
capacity. Very large permanent displacement, even plunging
failure, occurs when magnitude of cyclic load exceeds 50% of
the ultimate pile capacity. This suggests that the magnitude of
the cyclic load be kept below 50% of the ultimate capacity to
avoid large permanent displacement in the design.
These results provide a better understanding of the
deformation behavior of pile in silt to long-term cyclic axial
loading, and can be used to optimize the designs of pile
foundations that resist cyclic loads in service.
6

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The work was supported by the National Natural Science

Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51225804 and U1234204).
7

REFERENCES

ASTM 2010. D2487-10. Standard Practice for Classification of Soils for

Engineering Purposes (Unified Soil Classification System). ASTM
International.
Briaud J.L and Felio G.Y. 1986. Cyclic axial loads on piles: Analysis of
existing data. Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 23, 362-371.
Chan S.F. and Hanna T.H. 1980. Repeated loading on single piles in
sand. Journal of Geotechnical Engineering Division, 106, 171-188.
Karlsrud K., Nadim F. and Haugen T. 1986. Piles in clay under cyclic
axial loading-field tests and computational modeling. Proc., 3rd Int.
Conf., Numerical Methods in Offshore Piling, Nantes, France, 165190.
Karlsrud K., Nowacki F. and Kalsnes B. 1993. Response in soft clay
and silt deposits to static and cyclic loading based on recent
instrumented pile load test. Proc. SUT Int. Conf, Kluwer, Dordrecht,
549-584.
Lee C.Y. and Poulos H.G. 1991. Tests on model instrumented grouted
piles in offshore calcareous soil. Journal of Geotechnical
Engineering, 117, 1738-1753.
McAnoy R.P.L., Cashman A.C. and Purvis D. 1982. Cyclic tensile
testing of a pile in glacial till. Proc., 2nd Conf., Numerical Methods
in Offshore Piling, Austin, Tex., 257-292.
ORiordan N., Ross A. and Allwright R. 2003. Long-term settlement of
piles under repetitive loading from trains. Transportation
geotechnics, Thomas Telford, London, 67-74.
Poulos H. G. (1988). Cyclic stability diagram for axially loaded piles.
Journal of Geotechnical Engineering, 114, 877-895.
Poulos H.G. 1989. Cyclic axial loading analysis of piles in sand. Journal
of Geotechnical Engineering, 115, 836-852.
Stevens J.B. 1978. Prediction of pile response to vibratory loads. Proc.,
10th OTC Conf., Houston, Tex., Vol. 3, 2213-2223.

2342

Time-Varying Dynamic Properties of Offshore Wind Turbines Evaluated by Modal

Testing
tude exprimentale de lvolution temporelle des proprits dynamiques doliennes maritimes
Damgaard M., Andersen J.K.F.
Vestas Turbines R&D, Denmark

Ibsen L.B., Andersen L.V.

Department of Civil Engineering, Aalborg University, Denmark

ABSTRACT: Modal frequencies and damping ratios of civil engineering structures are often used as damage-sensitive features, since
changes in the dynamic characteristics of the structures may indicate structural damage. For offshore wind turbine structures, the
modal parameters are influenced by environmental impacts that change boundary conditions, irreversible soil deformations and
inherent structural properties. The excitation frequencies related to the environmental loads and the passage of blades past the tower
are so low that a proper estimate of the modal parameters are needed in order to avoid strong resonance of the wind turbine structure.
In this paper, free vibration tests and a numerical Winkler type approach are used to evaluate the dynamic properties of a total of 30
offshore wind turbines located in the North Sea. Analyses indicate time-varying eigenfrequencies and damping ratios of the lowest
structural eigenmode. Isolating the oscillation oil damper performance, moveable seabed conditions may lead to the observed time
dependency.
RSUM: Les frquences modales et les taux d'amortissement des structures de gnie civil sont souvent utiliss comme indicateur de
dommages car lvolution de la rponse dynamique des structures peut indiquer des dgts structuraux. Pour des structures comme les
oliennes maritimes, les paramtres modaux sont influencs par la dformation irrversible des sols, les proprits structurelles
inhrentes et les conditions environnementales qui peuvent changer les conditions aux limites. Les frquences dexcitations lies aux
charges environnementales et aux passages des palles sont si basses quune estimation correcte des paramtres modaux est ncessaire
pour viter une forte rsonance de la structure de l'olienne. Dans cet article, des tests vibratoires et une approche numrique du type
Winkler sont utiliss afin dvaluer les proprits dynamiques de 30 oliennes maritimes situes en mer du Nord. Les analyses
rvlent le changement des frquences propres et des taux d'amortissement de la plus basse frquence propre structurelle en fonction
du temps. En isolant la performance de l'amortisseur oscillant huile, les changements de conditions du fond marin peuvent
dmontrer une dpendance temporelle.
KEYWORDS: Free vibration; modal; offshore wind turbine; p-y curve; scour; winkler approach.
1

INTRODUCTION

Recently, offshore wind turbine towers and blades have

increased significantly in height and length, respectively, with
only a small increase in weight. Therefore, the dynamic
response of the wind turbine structure occurs in a frequency
range close to the excitation frequencies related to
environmental and structural harmonic loads. In this context,
sufficient geometrical and material damping in the structure and
soil are required to counteract large amplitudes of vibration.
Especially for wind parks characterised by a large degree of
wind-wave misalignment, a proper estimate of the inherent
damping is needed due to low aerodynamic forces out of the
rotor plane.
The aim of this paper is to investigate the time-varying
eigenfrequency f1 and inherent modal damping 1 of the lowest
eigenmode (1) for offshore wind turbines installed on a
monopile foundation. Experimental modal analysis of offshore
wind turbines have been studied by several researchers. Based
on free vibration tests, Tarp-Johansen et al. 2009 and Damgaard
et al. 2011 have used rotor-stop tests to determine each
damping contributor to the measured inherent modal damping
1 of an offshore wind turbine. Versteijlen et al. 2011 and
Devriendt et al. 2012 used the same modal approach to obtain
reliable damping estimates. In addition, Versteijlen et al. 2011
considered operational modal analysis in order to include the
aerodynamic effects on the structure. The theory has been
widely used for civil engineering structures like bridges and
buildings. However, in the last years the application of

operational modal analysis on wind turbines has been published

in many excellent papers, see for instance Hansen et al. 2006
and Tcherniak et al. 2010. A thorough data processing of more
than 650 free vibration tests on 30 offshore wind turbine
structures are presented in the paper. The variation in the
dynamic properties is supported by a numerical Winkler
approach that estimates the modal parameters for different
environmental conditions.
2

STRUCTURE AND SITE CONDITIONS

A total of 30 Vestas V90-3MW turbines located in the North

Sea are considered. Each tower is installed on a monopile
connected by a grouted transition piece to the tower base. The
tower height is approximately 60 m, the monopile diameter 4.3
m and the water depth 8 m w.r.t. LAT. For each turbine an
oscillation damper is placed in the top of the tower. It consists
of a pendulum partly immersed in highly viscous oil, capable of
oscillating in the horizontal directions. The soil consists mainly
of cohesionless soil in the top layers with friction angles k
higher than 30 followed by cohesive soils with undrained shear
strength cu higher than 90 kPa.
3

MODAL PARAMETER ESTIMATION

By use of two accelerometers placed in the nacelle, the modal

parameters of each wind turbine are experimentally estimated

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Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

from the acceleration decay when the turbine generator shuts

down and the blades pitch out of the wind, see Figure 1. Hence,
assuming that the wind turbine structure behaves as a singledegree-of-freedom (SDOF) system, the eigenfrequency f1 and
modal damping 1 are determined by least-squares fitting of a
linear function to the zero crossings and to the natural logarithm
of the rate of decay of the vibration, respectively. It should be
noticed that a wind turbine structure has two closely spaced
modes occurring at nearly identical frequencies (Damgaard et
al. 2012), where vibrational energy is transferred from the
highest to the lowest damped mode. Hence, for the damping
estimation of each free vibration test it is ensured that the
acceleration of the structure only takes place in the fore-aft
direction y.

Figure 1. Raw output acceleration signal during a rotor-stop.

insignificant at frequencies below 1 Hz. From the continuum

mechanics it is known that material damping is related to the
relative motion of material points, and the energy dissipation is
frequency-dependent. For a given frequency and deformation
level, the soil material damping can be approximated to an
equivalent viscosity. Based on a static deformation analysis,
using the Winkler approach, the following procedure is used to
determine the soil damping ratio soil of the lowest eigenmode
(1):
A 10-minutes time-domain simulation of the wind turbine
structure is conducted for a power production situation with
a normal turbulence model (IEC 2005) using the aeroelastic
code FLEX (ye 1996). A correct estimate of the structural
eigenfrequency f1 in the FLEX model is ensured by
extending the tower until the eigenfrequency f1 of the
Winkler model is reached.
Based on the maximum overturning moment at the
tower/foundation interface from the FLEX simulation and
including wave loads, the horizontal pile deformation in
each nodal point below the seabed is evaluated.
Assuming a load-displacement cycle after the generator
shuts down, as indicated in Figure 3a, the irreversible soil
deformations are a measure of energy dissipation. Hence, the
energy dissipation in Figure 3a can be transformed to an
equivalent viscous damping model as shown in Figure 3b.
Using the theory of linear structural dynamics, the soil
damping soil of the lowest eigenmode (1): is determined from
the global damping matrix C, the angular eigenfrequency 1,
the eigenmode (1) and the modal mass M1 given by

soil

3.1 Winkler Approach

Offshore wind turbines supported by pile foundations are
subjected to lateral cyclic loads. The load-deflection behaviour
is often evaluated by a Beam on Nonlinear Winkler Foundation
(BNWF) model due to its computationally efficiency and
practical versatility. The tower and pile are modelled as
Bernoulli-Euler beams and the soil-structure interaction is
incorporated via so-called p-y curves suggested by DNV 2011,
see Fig. 2. The soil consists of a series of independent soil
layers with smooth horizontal boundaries, i.e. no shearing can
be transmitted across the boundaries. Rather than modelling the
soil as a number of discrete springs connected to the element
nodes, this paper uses a consistent approach, where the soil is
modelled as a continuous spring over each element. The nodal
forces are then obtained via numerical integration. The reader is
referred to Damgaard et al. 2011 for more information about the
computational model.

(1)T C (1)
21M 1

(1)

The virgin curve in Figure 3a is determined by the p-y curve

formulation given by DNV 2011. The unloading phase is
determined by the initial stiffness E*py. Assuming separation
between the pile and the soil, a shear drag pdrag is introduced.
For cohesionless soils, the shear drag depends on the vertical
effective stress v (Ovesen et al. 2006) given by pdrag=0.6D v,
whereas for cohesive soils the undrained shear strength cu must
be considered, i.e. pdrag=0.7Dcu.

Figure 3. Hysteresis Loop Method (Nielsen 2004): (a) Loaddisplacement curve after the wind turbine generator shuts down, (b)
Hysteresis loop implied by viscous damping in a harmonic motion with
the amplitude A and the angular eigenfrequency 1.

Figure 2. Beam on nonlinear Winkler foundation (BNWF) model.

3.1.1 Soil Damping Estimation

In general, attenuation of wave propagation in the soil is
determined from geometric damping, i.e. the radiation of waves
into the subsoil, and material damping caused by the slippage of
soil grains with respect to each other. However, extensive
studies of wind turbines on a homogeneous or layered ground
made by Andersen 2008 show that geometric dissipation is

INTERPRETATION OF RESULTS

Experimental modal testing of 30 offshore wind turbines in the

period 2006-2011 is presented in Figure 4a and Figure 4b in
terms of the modal damping 1 and the eigenperiod T1 of the
lowest eigenmode (1), respectively. Using a lognormal
probability distribution, the 5% quantile of the modal damping
1 and the eigenperiod T1 are estimated to 0.11 and 2.94 s,
respectively. This corresponds to an eigenfrequency f1 of 0.34
Hz. As indicated in Figure 4a and Figure 4b, the scatter of the
estimated parameters is high. Increasing the R-square value
from 0.95 to 0.99, meaning that the fit of the acceleration
amplitude peaks and zero crossings explains 99% of the total
variation in the data about the average, seems to reduce the
scatter to a certain extent, see Figure 4c and Figure 4d. Overall,

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Technical Committee 209 / Comit technique 209

a tendency of decreasing modal damping and eigenfrequency is

observed for increasing acceleration level. High structural
accelerations induce irreversible soil deformations and thereby
soil damping activation. However, the oil damper performance
is characterised by optimal damping for low levels of
accelerations, which may explain the observed behaviour. In
addition, distinct non-linear soil behaviour occurs for high
accelerations, which reduces the secant stiffness Es and thereby
the eigenfrequency f1.
An almost identical mean value and standard deviation of
the modal parameters have been observed for each wind turbine.
Hence, the variation of the modal parameters in Figure 4c and
Figure 4d might be caused by the following conditions:

and tidal variation together with the modal parameters for a

selected turbine. One one-year measurements of the tidal levels
at the wind park show only a maximum difference between
highest and lowest astronomical tide of 2 m. It might then be
assumed that the tidal variation at the wind park has negligible
impact on the magnitude of the modal parameters. The same
conclusion can be drawn regarding the variation in the wind
speed and temperature during the tests. The aerodynamic
damping is very low, when the blades pitch out of the wind, and
a temperature change from -73 to 93 only changes the
Youngs modulus of elasticity Esteel with 5% (Nielsen 2004).
Based on a Winkler model this corresponds to a change in the
eigenfrequency f1 of only 0.5%. In conclusion, assuming that
the tower damper contributes with the same damping value in
Figure 5b, the time-dependent modal parameters might be
caused by erosion of soil particles near the monopile
foundation.

Figure 4. Free vibration tests for a total of 30 offshore wind turbines: (a)
Damping histogram, (b) Eigenperiod histogram, (c) Damping vs.
acceleration level, (d) Eigenfrequency vs. acceleration level.

Tower damper performance

Tidal variation
Wind variation
Temperature dependent modal parameters
Moveable seabed and scour around the foundation
Figure 6. Scour and backfilling analysis based on a Beam on Nonlinear
Winkler Foundation model: (a) Eigenfrequency f1 as a function of scour
depth and backfilling height, (b) Soil damping soil as a function of scour
depth and backfilling height.

1.1

Figure 5. Selected turbine investigation: (a) Tidal and wind variation as

a function of time, (b) Modal parameters as a function of time. Data are
collected with same acceleration level and slope of generator speed.

It has been observed that the mass pendulum of the tower

damper in some tests moves exactly with a phase identical to
the phase of the wind turbine, resulting in almost no additional
damping. To eliminate the variation of the tower damper
performance, data for each turbine is investigated for the same
slope of generator speed when the blades pitch out of the wind
and for the same acceleration level. As an example, Figure 5
shows the comparison of the measured 10-minutes wind speed

Scour and Backfilling

When a pile is installed in a loose sedimentary bed, a scour hole

will form around the pile. The phenomenon is of high
importance, since the structural eigenfrequency and soil
damping contribution will change and in worst case lead to
fatigue damage and, eventually, failure. Based on experimental
tests, Sumer et al. 1992 stated that the mean value of the
equilibrium scour depth for a vertical cylinder in steady current
is given by 1.3D, where D is the diameter of the cylinder.
However, for combined current and wave conditions the scour
depth is difficult to determine, since wave action tends to reduce
the scour depth (Hgedal and Hald 2005).
As no scour protection is present for the investigated wind
turbine structures in this paper, the variation of the
eigenfrequency f1 and soil damping soil, caused by sediment
transportation at seabed, is estimated using a Winkler approach.
Different scour depths and backfill heights are considered for a
wind speed of 13 m/s with maximum depth and height equal to
1.3D, respectively. The vertical effective stress p0 is reduced
linearly with depth to a depth equal to 3D below the base of the
current scour hole. As expected, Figure 6a shows a decreasing
eigenfrequency f1 for increasing scour depth. Assuming
cohesionless backfill material with a friction angle k of 28,

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Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

the eigenfrequency f1 tends to increase for increasing backfill

height. The material soil damping soil highly depends on the
pile deflection and the initial stiffness E*py for each soil layer,
see Figure 3. However, the pile deflection at the base of the
scour hole only increases to a certain scour depth, and the initial
stiffness E*py depends on the strength of each soil layer and the
scour depth. Hence, for increasing scour depth the pile
deflection and initial soil stiffness might increase or decrease
relative to each other. This may in turn explain the observed
behaviour of the soil damping soil in Figure 6b.
Over a period of time the relative density Id of the backfill
material might be increased due to the presence of waves
inducing depth compaction (Srensen et al. 2010). Hansson et
al. 2005 have reported friction angles above 40 for
Frederikshavn sand. Figure 7 shows the eigenfrequency f1 and
soil damping soil as a function of the strength of the backfill
material after the scour hole is replaced by the backfill material.
In conclusion, the Winkler approach shows a variation of
the eigenfrequency f1 caused by sediment transportation at the
seabed level of 8%. The model indicates a soil damping soil in
the range of 0.05-0.08 logarithmic decrement. Hence,
comparing these results with the experimental findings in Figure
5, the time-varying modal parameters of the investigated
offshore wind turbines might be caused by sediment
transportation at seabed.
2

CONCLUSION

Wind energy is a rapidly growing interdisciplinary field that

involves many different disciplines within civil engineering.
The dynamic behaviour of the wind turbine structure is
determined by a complex interaction of components and subsystems. A full understanding of the structural modal
parameters is crucial in order to assess the fatigue damage
accumulation during the lifetime of the wind turbine structure.
Experimental and numerical investigations of the dynamic
properties of offshore wind turbine structures installed on a
monopile foundation have been presented in this paper. Based
on a total of 665 free vibration tests, time-varying modal
parameters are observed, which is supported by a Winkler
approach. Several interesting observations can be made:

Figure 7. Strength of backfilled material based on a Beam on Nonlinear

Winkler Foundation model: (a) Eigenfrequency f1 as a function of the
friction angle k of the backfill material, (b) Soil damping soil as a
function of the friction angle k of the backfill material.

Experimental testing indicates a high variation in the

eigenfrequency f1 and the modal damping 1. A 5% quantile
of 0.11 logarithmic decrement is observed, which corresponds
very well with the findings for each considered turbine.
Eliminating the tower damper performance tends to reduce
the large variation of the modal parameters. However,
distinctly time-varying eigenfrequencies f1 and modal
damping values 1 are still obtained.
A Beam on a Winkler foundation model indicates that the
observed time-dependencies might be caused by sediment
transportation at seabed. Scour development and backfilling
change the eigenfrequency f1 with 8%, and the soil damping
soil varies in the range 0.05-0.08.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors are grateful for the financial support from the
research project Cost Effective Monopile Design.
4

REFERENCES

Andersen L.V. 2008. Assessment of Lumped-Parameter Models for Rigid

Footings. Computers and Structures. 88, 1333-1347.
Damgaard M, Ibsen L.B, Andersen L.V. and Andersen J.K.F. 2012.
Natural Frequency and Damping Estimation of an Offshore Wind
Turbine Structure. Proc. of the 20th Int. Offshore and Polar
Engineering Conf., Rhodos, Greece. 300-307.
Damgaard M, Ibsen L.B, Andersen L.V., Andersen J.K.F. and Andersen
P. 2012. Damping Estimation of Prototype Bucket Foundation for
Offshore Wind Turbines Identified by Full Scale Testing. Proc. of
the 5th Int. Operational Modal Analysis Conf. (IOMAC), Guimares,
Portugal, 300-307.
Devriendt C., Jordaens P.J., De Sitter G. and Guillaume P. 2012.
Damping Estimation of an Offshore Wind Turbine on a Monopile
Foundation. Proc. of the EWEA 2012 Conf., Copenhagen.
DNV 2011. Design of Offshore Wind Turbine Structures. Det Norske
Veritas AS.
Hansen M.H., Thomsen K., Fuglsang P., and Knudsen T. 2006. Two
Methods for Estimating Aeroelastic Damping of Operational Wind
Turbine Modes from Experiments. Wind Energy. 9, 179191.
Hansson M., Hjort T.H. and Thaarup M. 2005. Data Report 0408
Fredrikshavn Sand. Technical Report, Aalborg University.
Hgedal M. and Hald T. 2005. Scour Assessment and Design for Scour
for Monopile Foundations for Offshore Wind Turbines. Copenhagen
Offshore Wind, Copenhagen.
IEC 2005. International Standard. Wind Turbines Part 1: Design
Requirements. European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization, Brussels.
Nielsen S.R.K. 2004. Linear Vibration Theory. Aalborg Tekniske
Universitetsforlag, Denmark.
Ovesen N.K., Fuglsang L. and Bagge G. 2006. Lrebog i Geoteknik.
Polyteknisk Forlag, Denmark.
Sumer B.M., Fredse J., and Christiansen N. 1992. Scour Around a
Vertical Pile in Waves. Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal and
Ocean Engineering, ASCE. 117, 15-31.
Srensen S.P.H., Ibsen, L.B. and Frigaard P. 2010. Experimental
Evaluation of Backfill in Scour Holes around Offshore Monopiles.
Proc. of the 2nd Int. Symposium on Frontiers in Offshore
Geotechnics, Perth, Australia.
Tarp-Johansen N.J., Andersen L., Christensen E.D., Mrch C., Kallese
B. and Frandsen S. 2009. Comparing Sources of Damping of CrossWind Motion. The European Offshore Wind Conference &
Exhibition, Stockholm.
Tcherniak D., Chauhan S., Rosseth M., Font I., Basurko J. and Salgado
O. 2010. Output-Only Modal Analysis on Operating Wind
Turbines: Application to Simulated Data. European Wind Energy
Conf., Warsaw, Poland.
Versteijlen W.G., Metrikine A.V., Hoving J.S., Smid E. and De Vries
W.E. 2011. Estimation of the Vibration Decrement of an Offshore
Wind Turbine Support Structure Caused by its Interaction with Soil.
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ye S. 1996. FLEX 5 User Manual. Lyngby.

2346

Numerical investigation of dynamic embedment of offshore pipelines

tude numrique de lancrage dynamique de conduites enterres maritimes
Dutta S., Hawlader B.
Memorial University, St. Johns, Canada.
Phillips R.

C-CORE, St. Johns, Canada.

ABSTRACT: Pipelines are one of the key components of offshore oil and gas development programs. Deep water pipelines are often
laid on the seabed and penetrate into soil a fraction of their diameter. High operating temperature and pressure generate axial stress
that could buckle the pipeline laterally. The embedment and formation of soil berm have a significant effect on lateral resistance. The
embedment of a pipeline depends on stress concentration at the touchdown point (TDP) and dynamic laying effects. In this study,
large deformation finite element modelling of dynamic penetration of offshore pipeline is presented. The Coupled Eulerain
Lagrangian (CEL) technique is used to develop finite element model. The pipe is first penetrated into the seabed followed by a small
amplitude cyclic lateral motion. Results from the finite element models are compared with centrifuge test results. High plastic shear
strain is obtained around the pipeline during cyclic loading which causes significant pipe embedment. The shape of soil berm is
different from that of monotonic pipe penetration.
RSUM : Les conduites enterres sont un des lments cls des programmes de dveloppement de ptrole et de gaz. Des conduites
enterres en eau profonde sont souvent mises sur le plancher ocanique et pntrent dans le sol sur une fraction de leur diamtre. La
temprature et la pression de fonctionnement leves gnrent une contrainte axiale qui peuvent dformer la conduite latralement.
L'ancrage et le sol encaissant ont un effet significatif sur la rsistance latrale. L'enfouissement d'une conduite dpend des
concentrations de contraintes et des effets dynamiques de la pose. Dans cette tude, une modlisation par lments finis en grande
dformation de la pntration dynamique de la conduite est prsente. Une technique de type Eulrien Lagrangien (CEL) est utilise
pour dvelopper le modle lments finis. Le tuyau est d'abord mis en place dans le fond marin puis subit un mouvement cyclique de
faible amplitude latrale. Les rsultats des modles lments finis sont compars avec les rsultats dessais en centrifugeuses.
Dimportantes valeurs de la dformation plastique sont obtenues autour de la canalisation lors du chargement cyclique ce qui
ncessite un ancrage suffisant de la conduite. La forme du sol encaissant est diffrente de celle du tuyau mis en place statiquement.
KEYWORDS: pipelines, dynamic embedment, clay, large deformation analysis.
1

INTRODUCTION

As-laid pipelines are commonly used in deepwater. During

installation the as-laid pipeline could be penetrated a fraction of
its diameter into the seabed (Bruton et al. 2006), and a soil berm
could be formed. The soil around the pipelines provides not
only the thermal insulation and hydrodynamic stability to the
pipe but also resistance to pipeline walking and lateral buckling
during high operating temperature and pressure. Accurate
assessment of as-laid pipe embedment is extremely difficult.
Depending upon sea state, vessel conditions, pipe stiffness and
soil conditions, the pipeline might experience both in-plane and
out-of-plane cyclic motion during installation (Westgate et al.
2010, 2012), which causes dynamic embedment of the pipeline.
The penetration of a pipeline under static load can be
obtained using bearing capacity theory, analytical solution or
finite element techniques. In the current engineering practice,
two additional factors are used to estimate the embedment of
pipelines: (a) additional vertical force near the TDP (the point
where the pipe first touches the soil) due to catenary effects and
(b) dynamic lay effects. A number of methods have been
proposed in the past to estimate these factors (Carneiro et al.
2010, Oliphant and Yun 2011). For example, Randolph and
White (2008) proposed an empirical equation to calculate the
touchdown lay factor (flay) using pipe submerged weight,
bending rigidity, horizontal component of effective tension, lay
angle, water depth and seabed stiffness. The embedment factor
for dynamic lay effects (fdyn) varies between 2 and 10 (Lund
2000, Bruton et al. 2006). This wide range of variation in this
factor makes the assessment of pipe embedment very difficult.

During installation, both vertical and lateral pipe motions

can soften the seabed soil near the pipe. Soil
softening/remolding together with water entrainment can reduce
the undrained shear strength of soil. Field observation
(Westgate et al. 2010) and physical modeling using
geotechnical centrifuge (Cheuk and White 2011) show that the
horizontal cyclic motion, although small amplitude, has a
significant effect on pipe embedment.
The main purpose of this study is to conduct large
deformation finite element (FE) analysis for dynamic events
during the installation of pipeline. Coupled Eulerian Lagrangian
(CEL) technique is adopted in the analysis using ABAQUS FE
software. Four FE models are developed for two different soils:
kaolin and high plasticity clays (plasticity index for kaolin is 34
and for high plastic clay is 100-130, Cheuk and White 2011).
The results are compared with the centrifuge test results
available in the literature.
2

PROBLEM DEFINITION.

The problem considered in the present finite element (FE)

modelling is shown in Fig.1. During laying, offshore pipelines
usually penetrate vertically into the seabed due to its self-weight
and catenary effect near the touchdown zone (TDZ). The vessel
movement from wave loading could cause small amplitude
cyclic motions in the x-direction. As the pipeline is under a
vertical load (p0), the lateral movement in the x-direction could
cause additional vertical penetration as shown by Stage-II and
III in Fig. 1.

2347

Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

p0
Stage-II
Berm
w

(HP-06 & HP-07) are in high plasticity clay. Table 1 shows the
parameters used in the FE analyses. The vertical load p for
initial static penetration and during cyclic motion are also
shown in Table 2.

Stage-I
Pipe
x

Stage:-III
x

Table 1. Parameters for finite element modelling.

sum

Pipe
Pipe diameter, D (mm)
Lateral displacement during cyclic motion

su0 = sum+kz

Soil Properties

Kaolin
Clay

High
Plasticity
Clay

Undrained modulus of elasticity, Eu

Poissons ratio, u

500su
0.495

Undrained shear strength at mudline, sum (kPa)

Gradient of shear strength increase, k (kPa/m)
Submerged unit weight of soil, (kN/m3)
Remoulded soil sensitivity, St
Accumulate absolute plastic shear strain
for 95% degradation of soil strength, 95

0.75
1.6
6.0
4.0

500su
0.495
0.40
2.5
3.0
1.7

10

10

Figure 1. Problem statement.

FINITE ELEMENT MODELLING.

ABAQUS 6.10 EF-1 is used in the present finite element

analysis. As the embedment of pipe in the seabed is large
deformation problem, the conventional finite element
techniques in Lagrangian approach cannot simulate the
complete process realistically as numerical difficulties are
generally encountered for such large displacements. Therefore,
in this study the Coupled Eulerian Lagrangian (CEL) technique
currently available in ABAQUS FE software is used. In CEL,
the soil flows through the fixed mesh without having any
numerical issues. The FE modeling using CEL for pipe
embedment into the seabed is presented by the authors
previously (Dutta et al. 2012 a&b). A soil domain of 8m3m
0.04m (length height thickness) is used in this study. The
soil is modelled as Eulerain elements and the pipe is modelled
as Lagrangian elements. The 1.5 m void space above the soil is
required to accommodate the displaced soil mass (Eulerian
materials) during pipe displacement. Zero velocity boundary
conditions are applied at all faces of the Eulerian domain to
make sure that Eulerain materials are within the domain and
cannot move outside. However, at the seabed-void interface, no
boundary condition is provided so that the soil can flow to the
void. That means, the bottom of the model is restrained from
any vertical movement, while all the vertical faces are restrained
from any lateral movement. The pipe is modeled as a rigid
body. During penetration, especially in cyclic loading, the
remolding of soil near the pipe could cause significant reduction
in undrained shear strength. Smooth pipe/soil interface
condition is used for the present analysis. Mesh sensitivity
analysis is also performed and an optimum mesh size of
0.04m0.04m is used (Dutta et al. 2012 a).
The loading is performed in three different stages. First, the
geostatic conditions are applied to bring the seabed to in-situ
condition. Second, the pipe is penetrated applying a vertical
load (p) which is the combined effect of submerged unit weight
of the pipe and laying effects. In the third step, 40 cycles of
small amplitude (0.05D) lateral displacement are applied using
displacement boundary conditions under the constant vertical
load p0. Plastic shear strain develops near the pipe during
penetration. In the present FE analyses the degradation of
undrained shear strength as a function of plastic shear strain is
adopted using the following model (Einav and Randolph 2005
Wang et al. 2009 and Zhou and Randolph 2009).
su=[rem+(1-rem)exp(-3/95)]su0

(1)

is the soil sensitivity, is the

where rem 1 S t , St
accumulated equivalent plastic shear strain, su0 is the intact
undrained shear strength of soil and 95 is the accumulated
plastic shear strain at 95% undrained shear strength degradation.
The variation of su0 with depth is shown in Fig. 1 and the vonMises yield criteria is adopted.
In this study four cases are simulated and the results are
compared with centrifuge test results of Cheuk and White
(2008). Two tests (KC-04 & KC-05) are in kaolin clay and two

800
0.05D

Table 2. Centrifuge test conditions (Cheuk and White 2011).

KC-04 KC-05 HP-06 HP-07
Pipe vertical load, p (kN/m)
1.17
2.23
1.47
2.61
Initial static embedment, win/D
0.08
0.12
0.10
0.22
2.17
1.43
2.52
Pipe vertical load at cyclic motion, 1.13
p0 (kN/m)

RESULTS.

The pipe was initially penetrated under a static vertical load p.

The initial static embedment (win) for this load is shown in Table
2. After initial penetration a small amplitude cyclic lateral load
is applied (e.g. Fig. 2 for KC-05, u = pipe lateral displacement)
to simulate the first 40 cycles (Stage-I) of centrifuge tests. The
normalized lateral resistance for KC-05, where su0(i) in the
horizontal axis is the intact undrained shear strength at pipe
invert, is shown in Fig. 3(a) and comapred with centrifuge test
results Fig.3(b). The lateral resistance is slightly higher than that
obtained in centrifuge test. This might be due to the limitation
of the soil shear strength degradation model (Eq. 1). It is very
difficult to measure and model the behaviour of soil near the
pipeline under cyclic loading. However, using this simplified
model (Eq. 1) in ABAQUS CEL the lateral resistance during
cyclic movement is reasonably simulated.
Figures 4(a),4(b) and
4(c) show the lateral
resistance for other three
simulations. As shown,
the shape of the lateral
resistance plot is different,
which mainly depends on
soil shear strength profile,
shear
strength
degradation, sensitivity of
w/D
soil, and applied vertical
load. The depth of the
invert
of
the
pipe
normalized
by
pipe
diameter (D) with number
of load cycle is shown in
Fig. 5 for comparison the
Figure 2. Pipe embedment during lateral centrifuge test. the present
motions
FE model reasonably
simulates the embedment
of the pipe with the soil parameters listed in Table 1. Figure 5(a)
shows that the depth of embedment does not increase

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Technical Committee 209 / Comit technique 209

significantly after 20-30 load cycles for kaolin clay. However,

the pattern is somehow different for high plastic clay as shown
in Fig. 5(b) where the pipes continue to penetrate even after 2030 load cycles.
-2

-1

H/su0(i) D
0
0

(a)

KC-05 (CEL)

(b)

KC-05(Centrifuge)

0.1

Stage-I

0.2

w/D
0.3

(e.g. Oliphant and Yun 2011) a combined empirical factor

(=flayfdyn) is also used that accounts for both laying and
dynamic effects. Table 3 shows the calculated values of fdyn for
the four tests simulated in this study. Analyzing field data of a
200 km offshore pipeline in shallow to deep water, Oliphant and
Yun (2011) showed that an average value of fdyn of
approximately 7 could be used for estimation of pipeline
embedment. Lund (2000) suggested that the value of fdyn in the
field varies between 2 and 10.
EQUIVALENT PLASTIC STRAIN AND BERM SHAPE.

During penetration the soil around the pipeline is softened as a

function of plastic shear strain as shown in Eq. 1. The
equivalent plastic shear strain at the end of penetration for two

0.4

0.5

-1

0.1
w/D

0.2

0.3

0.4

-2

-1

H/su0(i) D
0
0

(b)

-2

HP-06 (CEL)

0.1

0.2

w/D

0.3

-1
(c)

H/su0(i) D
0
0

0.1

40

0.4
0.5
0.6

0
0.1
0.2
0.3
w/D
0.4

(b)

10

No of Cycles
15
20
25

30

35

40

HP-06 (Cheuk and White 2008)

HP-07 (Cheuk and White 2008)
HP-06 (Present study)
HP-07 (Present study)

0.5
0.6
0.7

0.2

0.8

0.3

Figure 5.Pipeline embedment with horizontal cyclic motions (a) Kaolin

clay (b) High plasticity clay.

0.4
0.5

0.7

0.9

Figure 4. FE results (a) KC-04 (b) HP-06 and (d) HP-07.

35

0.3

HP-07 (CEL)

0.8
0.5

30

w/D

0.6
0.4

No of Cycles
15
20
25

KC-04(Cheuk and White 2008)

KC-05 (Cheuk and White 2008)
KC-04 (Present study)
KC-05 (Present study)

0.2

From field experience in

deepwater pipeline projects in
West Africa, Casola et al.
(2011) suggested that the
embedment of pipelines is more
than D/3 and the lateral cyclic
load has little effect on pipe
embedment. Their observed
behaviour might be applicable if
su0 and the gradient (k) of su0 is
high as they found in these
projects. However, for the cases
analyzed in the present study,
the cyclic loading has a
significant effect even after
embedment of D/3 as shown in
Fig. 5(b).

KC-04 (CEL)

(a)

10

0.1

0.6

-2

(a)

Figure 3.Test KC-05 (a) present study (b) centrifuge test.

H/su0(i) D
0
0

DYNAMIC EMBEDMENT

In the current engineering practice the effects of laying and

dynamic embedment are assessed separately. The lay effect on
vertical load (p) is obtained by multiplying the submerged unit
weight of the pipe by an empirical lay factor (flay). The
monotonic embedment (wmon) for this load p is calculated using
the bearing capacity theory. The effect of small amplitude cyclic
lateral motion is incorporated using another empirical factor
known as dynamic embedment factor (fdyn). Finally, the total
embedment (wf) is calculated as wf = fdyn wmon. In some projects

cases (KC-04 and KC-05) are shown in Figs. 6(a) & 6(b). A
significant plastic strain (>500%) is developed near the pipe.
The white broken lines in Figs. 6(a) & 6(b) show the boundary
above which the equivalent plastic shear strain is greater than
95 (=10). That means 95% degradation of undrained shear
strength occurred in the soil above this line (see Eq. 1). In other
words, the undrained shear strength of the soil in the zone above
this line is almost near the remoulded undrained shear strength.
In order to show the effects of lateral cyclic loading on
penetration, an analysis is performed for monotonic penetration
as shown in Fig. 6(c). The geometry and soil property used in
this analysis is same as KC-05 in Fig. 6(b), except the pipe
moved monotonically downward to the depth of final
embedment in KC-05 using a displacement boundary condition.
The shear strain and berm formation for monotonic penetration
is shown in Fig. 6(c). the equivalent plastic shear strain near the
pipe in monotonic loading is significantly lower (Fig. 6c) than
that obtain in lateral cyclic loading (Figs. 6a&b). The maximum
plastic shear strain developed near the pipe in cyclic loading is
almost 5 times higher than that of monotonic loading. Also the
maximum equivalent plastic shear strain is less than 95, which
means that the shear strenth reduction due to softening is less

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Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

than 95%. The softening has a significant effect on the shape of

the berm and soil movement around the pipe. the highly
softened displaced soil mass formed flat berms on the top of the
seabed extended over a large distance in cyclic loading. In
addition, the soil is in contact with the pipe almost up to the top
of the berm. However, for monotonic loading the displaced soil
mass formed a berm mainly near the pipe and the berm height is
more than that of in cyclic loading. That means, the soil
deformation in monotonic and cyclic loading is significantly
different.
In a parametric study Dutta et al. (2012 b) showed that the
effect of softening on the vertical penetration resistance in
monotonic loading is not very significant, which is because of
less plastic strain developed near the pipe. However, for cyclic
loading huge plastic strain is developed in a zone near the pipe
which causes significant reduction in undrained shear strength.
That means, the zone of considerable softening is higher in
cyclic loading. As in offshore the small amplitude lateral cyclic
loading near the touchdown zone is commonly encountered
from the motion of the vessel, the analyses for cyclic motion
with strain softening behaviour of soil will provide more
accurate results.
Table 3. Dynamic embedment factor, fdyn.
KC-04
Initial static embedment (win/D)
0.08
Final embedment (w/D)
0.34
fdyn
4.25

KC-05 HP-06 HP-07

0.12
0.10
0.22
0.50
0.48
0.77
4.16
4.8
3.5

(a)KC-04

(b)KC-05

(c) Monotonic loading

Figure 6. Equivalent plastic strain.

CONCLUSION

Large deformation finite element analyses are conducted to

assess the embedment of as-laid offshore pipelines in clay. The
effects of small amplitude cyclic lateral loading are
investigated. The following conclusions can be drawn from this
study.
The Coupled Eulerian Lagrangian (CEL) method currently
available in ABAQUS FE software can simulate the pipeline
embedment.
The plastic shear strain near the pipeline in cyclic loading is
significantly higher than that of in monotonic loading.

The shape of the berm depends on type of loading; spread

over a large area in cyclic and mounted near the pipe in
monotonic loading.
The softening of soil in a zone near the pipe is significantly
higher in cyclic loading compared to monotonic loading.
Forty cycles of small amplitude lateral loading increased the
embedment by a factor of 4-5 of initial static embedment. The
embedment is higher in initial loading cycles.
8

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The work has been funded by C-CORE, MITACS and NSERC

Discovery grant which is greatly acknowledged.
9

REFERENCES

Bruton, D., White, D., Cheuk, C. And Bolton, M. (2006). Pipe/soil

interaction behaviour during lateral buckling, including large
amplitude cyclic displacement tests by the Safebuck JIP. Proc.
Offshore Technology Conference, Houston, Texas, USA. OTC
17944.
Carneiro, D. Gouveia, J. and Parrilha, R. 2010. Feedback analysis of
pipeline embedment over as-laid survey results. Proc. Int. Conf. on
Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering, Shanghai, China.
OMAE2010-20410.
Casola, F., El-chayeb, A., Greco, S. and Carlucci, A. 2011.
Characterization of pipe soil interaction and influence on HP/HT
pipeline design. Proc. Int. Conf. on Offshore and Polar
Engineering Conference, Hawaii,USA,pg:111-121.
Cheuk, Y.C. and White, J.D. 2008. Centrifuge modelling of pipe
penetration due to dynamic lay effects. Proc. Int. Conf. on Offshore
Mechanics and Arctic Engineering, Estoril, Portugal. OMAE200857923.
Cheuk, Y.C. and White, J.D. 2011. Modelling the dynamic embedment
of seabed pipelines. Gotechnique 61 (1), 39-57.
Dutta, S., Hawlader, B. and Phillips, R. 2012a. Finite element modeling
of vertical penetration of offshore pipelines using Coupled Eulerian
Lagrangian approach. Proc. Int. Conf. on Offshore and Polar
Engineering Conference, Rhodes,Greece,pg:343-348.
Dutta, S., Hawlader, B. and Phillips, R. 2012b. Strain softening and rate
effects on soil shear strength in modeling of vertical penetration of
offshore pipelines. Proc. Int. Pipeline Conference,Alberta, Canada.
IPC2012-90233.
Einav, I. and Randolph, F.M. 2005. Combining upper bound and strain
path methods for evaluating penetration resistance. Int. J. Numer.
Meth. Engng., 63:1991-2016.
Lund, K.H. 2000. Effect of increase in pipeline soil penetration from
installation. Proc. Int. Conf. on Offshore Mechanics and Arctic
Engineering, New orleans, USA. OMAE2000-PIPE5047.
Oliphant, J. and Yun, J.G. 2011. Pipeline embedment prediction using
as-laid data. Proc. Int. Conf. on Offshore Mechanics and Arctic
Engineering, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. OMAE2011-50095.
Randolph F.M. and White J.D. 2008. Pipeline embedment in deep
water: Processes and quantitative assesment. Proc. Offshore
Technology Conference, Houston, Texas, USA. OTC 19128.
Wang, D., White, J.D. and Randolph, F.M. 2009. Numerical simulations
of dynamic embedment during pipe laying on soft clay. Proc. Int.
Conf. on Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering, Hawaii,
USA. OMAE2009-79199.
Westgate, J.Z., White, J.D. and Randolph, F.M. 2010. Pipeline laying
and embedment in soft fine-grained soils: Field observations and
numerical simulations. Proc. Offshore Technology Conference,
Houston, Texas, USA. OTC 20407.
Westgate, J.Z., White, J.D. and Randolph, F.M. 2012. Modelling the
embedment process during offshore pipe laying on fine-grained
soils. Canadian Geotechncial Journal (accepted).
Zhou, H. and Randolph, M. F. (2009). Numerical investigations into
cycling of full-flow penetrometers in soft clay. Gotechnique, 59
(10), 801-812.

2350

Post Cyclic Behaviour of Singapore Marine Clay

Le comportement post-cyclique de largile marine de Singapour
Ho J., Goh S.H., Lee F.H.

National University of Singapore

ABSTRACT: In this paper, the post-cyclic behaviour of remoulded Singapore Marine Clay is examined. Cyclic triaxial tests,
followed by monotonic loading to failure, were performed on normally consolidated specimens (38mm diameter by 76mm height)
within a cyclic strain range of approximately 0.7% to 1.4%. Results herein reveal that the effective stress paths under post-cyclic
monotonic loading may take on different forms depending on the mean effective stress state of the specimen at the end of the cyclic
loading phase. By normalizing the mean effective stress (p) against the effective consolidation pressure (p c) of the specimen, the
effective stress paths during the post-cyclic monotonic loading may be approximately grouped into three different regimes, according
to the normalized mean stress (p/pc). Within each normalized mean stress regime, the monotonic soil response is independent of the
effective consolidation pressure, the cyclic strain amplitude and number of cycles applied during cyclic loading. The results suggest
that the normalized mean stress after cyclic loading may be an important parameter in determining the subsequent stress path under
undrained monotonic loading to failure.
RSUM : Dans ce papier, le comportement post-cyclique de largile marine remanie de Singapour est tudi. Des essais triaxiaux
cycliques suivis de chargement monotone jusqu la rupture ont t effectus pour des dformations cycliques comprises entre 0,7%
et 1,4% sur des chantillons normalement consolids. Les rsultats dmontrent que les chemins de contrainte durant le chargement
monotone post-cyclique peuvent tre de formes diffrentes et dpendent de ltat de contrainte moyenne effective de lchantillon la
fin de la phase du chargement cyclique. En normalisant la contrainte moyenne effective (p) par la contrainte de consolidation (pc),
les chemins de contrainte pendant le chargement monotone post-cyclique peuvent tre regroups en trois diffrents groupes selon la
contrainte moyenne normalise (p/pc). Dans tous les cas, la rponse monotone du sol est indpendante de la contrainte effective de
consolidation, de lamplitude de la dformation cyclique et du nombre de cycles appliqu pendant le chargement cyclique. Les
rsultats suggrent que la contrainte moyenne normalise aprs le chargement cyclique pourrait tre un paramtre important pour
dterminer, sous chargement monotone non-drain, les chemins de contrainte jusqu la rupture .
KEYWORDS: Post-cyclic clay behaviour, Mean effective stress, Cyclic stress reversal
1

INTRODUCTION

Previous studies have shown that, during undrained

compression loading, the effective stress path of a normally
consolidated clay after cyclic loading is similar to the effective
stress path of an overconsolidated clay (Hyde and Ward 1985,
Matsui et al. 1992, Yasuhara et al. 1992). Researchers have
adopted different frameworks in the analysis of the post-cyclic
undrained shear strength of clays. One common approach is to
estimate the undrained shear strength based on the maximum
shear strain during the applied cyclic loading (Thiers and Seed
1969, Sangrey and France 1980). Another method of analysis is
to relate the post-cyclic undrained shear strength with the
apparent overconsolidation ratio induced by the cyclic loading
(Matsui et al. 1992, Yasuhara et al. 1992). Apart from the postcyclic undrained shear strength, this induced apparent
overconsolidation ratio from cyclic loading was also used to
determine how the subsequent monotonic effective stress path
approaches the critical state line (Yasuhara et al. 1992).
However, one possible limitation in past studies is the
relatively fast rates of cyclic loading used, which typically
ranges from 0.5Hz to 1 Hz. At such loading rates, it is uncertain
if excess pore pressure in the clay specimens will be able to
dissipate. For this reason, the reliability of pore pressure
measurements during cyclic loading phase may be doubtful.
Fast loading rates on normally consolidated clays during
undrained triaxial tests prevents equilibration of excess pore
pressure within test specimens, which results in a higher pore
pressure within the middle one-third portion of the specimen

(Wood 1982). This can lead to errors in effective stress

calculations. Few attempts had been made to overcome the issue
of unequalized pore pressures during cyclic loading. For
example, Matsui et al (1992) the specimen to stand in an
undrained state for 1 hour after cyclic loading and prior to postcyclic monotonic loading to allow for equalization of pore
pressures. On the other hand, Diaz-Rodriguez et al (2000) used
a longer equalization period of 12 hours. Another approach is to
allow drainage before post-cyclic loading to allow for pore
pressures accumulated during cyclic loading to be dissipated
(Yasuhara et al. 1992). The drawback of this approach is that it
alters the pore pressures within specimens, leading to
discontinuities in effective stress paths between the cyclic
loading and post-cyclic loading phases. Intuitively, the effective
stress response of a clay undergoing cyclic loading should be
indicative of its post-cyclic behavior if post-cyclic monotonic
loading is conducted immediately after cyclic loading. Due to
possible errors effective stress measurements and discontinuities
between cyclic and post-cyclic effective stress paths, a direct
comparison between the cyclic and post-cyclic behavior of clays
has hitherto not been possible. This objective of the study
reported herein is to re-visit the issue of post-cyclic behaviour
of soft clay, while ensuring adequate equilibration of excess
pore pressure.
2 CYCLIC AND POST CYCLIC TESTING PROGRAM
A series of two way strain-controlled undrained cyclic triaxial
tests were performed on remoulded specimens (38mm diameter
by 76mm height) of normally consolidated Singapore Upper

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Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

Marine Clay, the standard properties of which have been

reported by Tan (1983). After cyclic loading, the specimens
were immediately subjected to standard consolidated undrained
triaxial monotonic loading to failure. According to Ho et al.
(2012), when undrained cyclic triaxial tests on clays are
conducted at a sufficiently slow rate for pore pressure
equilibration, intrinsic strain rate effects on pore pressure
measurements, effective stress paths and stress-strain
relationships are negligible. Since the focus of this study is not
on strain rate effects, all tests were conducted at relatively slow
rates. Both mid-plane and base pore pressure transducers were
used and pore pressure equilibration is considered to be
achieved when both transducers produce similar excess pore
pressure measurements. All cyclic and post-cyclic triaxial tests
were performed using the GDS Enterprise Level Dynamic
Triaxial Testing System. Table 1 shows the experimental
matrix. Experimental data presented in this study was recorded
at 2-second intervals.
Table 1. Experimental Matrix.
No
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24

Effective
Consolidation
Pressure, pc
(kPa)

Cyclic Amplitude
Amplitude
(mm)

Strain
(%)

50

1.4

100

No. of
Cycles

0
5
10
15
20
100
0
2
3
4
5
6
20
30
100
0
2
3
4
5
6
10
30
100

10

1.4

200

Period
(min)

14

1.4

60

pressure generated during cyclic loading, the mean effective

stress generally decreases during the reloading phase of each
cycle. However, after a certain number of load cycles, the mean
effective stress is observed to increase at the later part of the
loading, just before the maximum deviator stress is reach, as
illustrated in Figure 2. The turning point marking this change in
mean effective stress is hereby termed as stress reversal point.
These stress reversal points correspond to a decrease in shearinduced excess pore water pressure, which would seem to imply
dilative behavior. As the stress reversal points appear after the
normalized mean effective stress decreases beyond a certain
value, post-cyclic monotonic tests are conducted after different
number of load cycles to investigate the factors governing the
onset of this stress reversal behaviour.
Post-cyclic Loading

3.2

Normalized stress plots and stress-strain relationships during the

post-cyclic monotonic tests are summarized in Figure 3, for the
tests listed in Table 1. From Figure 3, the form of the effective
stress paths under post-cyclic monotonic loading depends on the
normalized mean effective stress state of the specimen at the
start of the post-cyclic loading phase. These post-cyclic
effective stress paths may be approximately grouped into three
different regimes, according to the normalized mean effective
stress.
When the normalized mean effective stress state of the clay
specimen at the start of post-cyclic monotonic loading is greater
than 0.6, stress reversal is generally absent and post-cyclic
shearing shows either a decrease or no change in mean effective
stress. This is akin to that of lightly over-consolidated and
normally consolidated clays which tend to increase in density
when sheared.
On the other hand, when the normalized mean effective
stress state of the clay specimen at the start of post-cyclic
monotonic loading falls below 0.5, stress reversal becomes
evident and the effective stress path becomes similar to that of
heavily over-consolidated clays.
Within the range of 0.5 to 0.6, the effective stress path is
approximately vertical indicating that this is a boundary zone
between occurrence or otherwise, of stress reversal.
Unlike the effective stress paths, the normalized stress-strain
relationships are relatively similar. The post-cyclic undrained
strength is almost equal to that without cyclic loading. This
means that the undrained shear strength of Singapore Upper
Marine Clay is not significantly influenced by cyclic loading.
This observation agrees with the findings of Yasuhara et al.
(1992).
Effect of Cyclic Strain Amplitude

3.3

In this section, the results of four additional tests conducted at a

lower strain amplitude are presented; the aim being to
investigate whether strain amplitude has any effect on the stress
reversal. Table 2 summarizes the four additional tests
conducted.
Table 2. Additional Cyclic and Post-cyclic Tests.

EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

No

3.1

Cyclic Loading

Normalized stress plots and stress-strain relationships during the

cyclic tests are summarized in Figure 1. The stress path
parameters, i.e. deviator stress (q) and mean effective stress
(p), are normalized against the effective consolidation pressure
(pc) for easy comparison between specimens subjected to
different consolidation pressures. Post-cyclic effective stress
paths are included in Figure 1. The critical state line is also
plotted based on data from monotonic triaxial compression tests
where the effective angle of friction for Singapore Upper
Marine Clay is found to be 25.4 degrees. The initial yield locus
and the state boundary surface are assumed to be elliptical.
For Singapore Upper Marine Clay specimens subjected to
the same effective confining pressure, the stress paths and
stress-strain relationships shown on Figure 1 for different
number of applied cycles are similar, reflecting consistency
among the specimens. Due to positive excess pore water

1
2
3
4

Effective
Consolidation
Pressure, pc
(kPa)
100

Cyclic Amplitude
Amplitude
(mm)
0.5

Strain
(%)

0.7

Period
(min)

No. of
Cycles

14

10
15
20
110

Figure 4 presents the normalized stress plots and stress-strain

relationships obtained from the additional tests. As the applied
cyclic strain amplitude for these four tests has reduced by half
to 0.7%, the number of load cycles required to reach the same
mean effective stress state as previous tests with strain
amplitude of 1.4% has increased proportionally. However, as
Figure 4 shows, the post-cyclic effective stress paths of these
four tests can still be categorized under the three normalized
mean effective stress regimes previously discussed. The
boundaries of these three regimes remain the same despite the

2352

Technical Committee 209 / Comit technique 209

increase in number of load cycles and reduction in applied

cyclic strain amplitude. This implies that the form of the
effective stress paths of Singapore Upper Marine Clay under
post-cyclic monotonic loading is dependent primarily on the
mean effective stress state at the end of the cyclic loading phase.
4

CONCLUSIONS

The effective stress paths of Singapore Upper Marine Clay

under post-cyclic monotonic loading takes on three different
forms depending on the mean effective stress state of the
specimen at the end of the cyclic loading phase. Although it is
commonly accepted that the undrained post-cyclic effective
stress path of a normally consolidated clay is similar to the
effective stress path of an overconsolidated clay (Matsui and
Abe 1981, Hyde and Ward 1985, Yasuhara et al. 1992), this
study shows that this condition holds only when the normalized
mean effective stress state of the clay specimen at the start of

post-cyclic monotonic loading falls below 0.5. When the

normalized mean effective stress state of the clay specimen at
the start of post-cyclic monotonic loading is greater than 0.6, the
effective stress path of the specimen still follows that of lightly
over-consolidated and normally consolidated clays. Within each
of these normalized mean effective stress regimes, the postcyclic clay behavior is governed by the normalized mean
effective stress after cyclic loading and independent of the
effective consolidation pressure, the cyclic strain amplitude and
number of cycles applied during cyclic loading.
Furthermore, stress reversal points observed during cyclic
loading phase becomes evident when mean effective stress state
of the clay specimen at the start of post-cyclic monotonic
loading falls below 0.5. Thus, the occurrence of stress reversal
during cyclic loading is indicative of dilative behavior and postcyclic monotonic loading in this regime exhibits effective stress
path of an overconsolidated clay.

Figure 1. Effective Stress Paths and Stress-Strain Relationships for (a) pc = 50kPa, (b) pc = 100kPa, and (c) pc = 200kPa.

p / pc increases

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Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

Figure 2. Stress Reversal Points.

Figure 3. Post-cyclic Effective Stress Paths and Stress-Strain Relationships.

Figure 4. Post-cyclic Effective Stress Paths and Stress-Strain Relationships for Post-Cyclic Tests at 0.7% Cyclic Amplitude.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors are grateful to National University of Singapore for

the provision of laboratory facilities, without which the research
will not be possible. In particular, the main author will like to
thank National University of Singapore for the research
opportunity given through the award of research scholarship.
6

REFERENCES

Diaz-Rodriguez J.A., Moreno P. and Salinas G. 2000. Undrained shear

behavior of mexico city sediments during and after cyclic loading.
Proc. 12th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering, 16521660.
Ho J.H., Kho Y., Goh S.H. and Lee F.H. 2012. Cyclic triaxial testing of
soft clays. Proc. 25th KKCNN Symposium on Civil Engineering,
347-350.
Hyde A.F.L. and Ward S.J. 1985. A pore pressure and stability model
for a silty clay under repeated loading. Gotechnique 35 (2), 113125.
Matsui T., Bahr M.A. and Abe N. 1992. Estimation of shear
characteristics degradation and stress-strain relationship of
saturated clays after cyclic loading. Soils and foundations 32 (1),
161-172.
Sangrey D.A. and France J.W. 1980. Peak strength of clay soils after a
2354
repeated loading history. Proc. International Symposium on Soils
Under Cyclic and Transient Loading, 421-430.

Tan S.L. 1983. Geotechnical properties and laboratory testing of soft

soils in Singapore. Proc. 1st Internation Seminar on Constrtuction
Problems in Soft Soils, 1-47.
Thiers G.R. and Seed H.B. 1969. Strength and stress-strain
characteristics of clays subjected to seismic loading conditions.
Proc. ASTM STP 450, 3-56.
Wood, D.M. 1982. Laboratory investigations of the behaviour of soils
under cyclic loading: a review. In: Soil mechanics Transient and
cyclic Loads, eds. Pande, G.N. and Zienkiewicz, O.C. John Wiley
& Sons Ltd, Chichester.
Yasuhara K., Hirao K. and Hyde A.F.L. 1992. Effects of cyclic loading
on undrained strength and compressibility of clay. Soils and
Foundations 32 (1), 100-116.

Centrifuge test and numerical modeling for a suction bucket monopod foundation
Essai en centrifugeuse et la modlisation numrique d'une fondation de type : caisson
succion
Kim D.J., Youn J.U., Jee S.H., Choi J.

Hyundai Engineering and Construction, Seoul, Korea

Choo Y.W., Kim S., Kim J.H., Kim D.S.

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, KAIST, Daejeon, Korea

Lee J.S.

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Wonkwang University, Iksan, Korea

ABSTRACT: A centrifuge load test for a preliminary design of a monopod suction bucket foundation was performed. The target
site was the Yellow Sea of Korea and the prototype foundation was a steel monopod caisson with a diameter of 15.5m for a 3MW
turbine. The seabed conditions comprised of a dense silty sand above layers of sandy silt were reproduced to a model soil profile
using soil samples collected at nearby seashores. Horizontal load and overturning moment were applied and monitored in the test,
with vertical load being simulated by self-weight of the bucket model. Series of numerical analysis were performed in order to
validate test conditions and compare the effects of soil parameters.
RSUM : Un test de chargement en centrifugeuse pour tudier le design prliminaire d'une fondation de type caisson
succion a t ralis. Le site cible tait la mer Jaune de Core et la fondation prototype tait un caisson unique en acier caisson de
15.5 m de diamtre pour une olienne de 3 MW. La stratigraphie du fond marin, sable limoneux dense et limon sableux, a t
reproduite pour faire un profil de sol modle en utilisant des chantillons de sol prlevs sur le rivage proximit. Un chargement
horizontal et un moment de renversement ont t appliqus et contrls pendant l'essai, le chargement vertical tait simul en
utilisant le poids propre du modle. La modlisation numrique a t ralise afin de valider les conditions d'essai et de comparer
les effets du choix des paramtres de sol.
KEYWORDS: Suction bucket foundation, Monopod bucket foundation, Offshore wind, Centrifuge Test, Numerical Modeling
MOTS-CLS : Caisson succion, Caisson de fondation, olienne Offshore, centrifugeuse, modlisation numrique
1

INTRODUCTION

Suciton bucket (also termed as suction caisson or suction pile)

has been considered as a viable alternative to conventional
foundations for offshore wind turbines, becuase it has features
appropriate for installing large foundations in offshore
environment with minimal environmental problems (Byrne and
Houlsby 2003, Houlsby et al. 2005, Villalobos 2006, LeBlanc et
al. 2009, Hung and Kim 2012, Oh et al. 2012). In Korea, major
offshore wind farm projects are planned in the Yellow Sea near
the south western coast of Korea. The soil profiles are mainly
composed of layers of silty sand and sandy silt.
A preliminary design was performed for field testing of suction
bucket foundations, and centrifuge load tests were performed to
verify and compare alternative designs. In this paper, a
centrifuge test for a steel monopod with a diameter of 15.5 m
and a length of 10.5 m is described. Expected horizontal load
combined with moment load was applied in the test.
Numerical analyses were performed to validate the centrifuge
test model conditions such as model weight and soil boundary
distance. In addition, the effects of soil parameters such as
elastic modulus, internal friction angle, dilation angle, cohesion
and wall interface friction angle, on foundation behaviour were
evaluated.
2

The soil conditions at the target site were replicated in the

model soil container for the centrifuge test. Natural soil samples
collected at the Western coastal areas near the target site were
used after verifying that the properties of model materials were
comparable the soil samples from the target site (Figure 2). The
model profile was formed in two layers of dense silty sand and
medium dense sandy silt up to the depth of 32 m, which was
about two times the diameter of the foundation.

(a) Silty Sand (SM) Layer

CENTRIFUGE MODELING

A centrifuge test was performed with a geotechnical centrifuge

at KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and
Technology) in South Korea. It has a maximum capacity of 240
g-ton and 5 m radius (Kim et al. 2012). Detailed description of
the centrifuge test for this study can be found in Choo et al.
(2012) and Kim et al (2013). The procedures and results are
briefly described here.

(b) Sandy Silt (ML) Layer

Figure 1. Comparison of grain size distributions between target site
samples and model soil

A 1/70 scaled model was used for the test. Horizontal load
by a displacement controlled actuator was applied and

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Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

monitored at the model tower which was located at 33.0 m

height from the foundation top in prototype scale. The
horizontal displacement of the tower was measured at multiple
points so as to calculate the horizontal displacement and
rotation of the foundation.
The load displacement curve of the test are shown in figure
2. The load is presented in moment, which is the horizontal load
multiplied by the vertical eccentricity of the load from the
foundation top. The displacement is shown in terms of the
rotation of the foundation. Gradual decrease in the slope was
observed and the method by Villalobos (2006) was used to
define the yield load, which was 198 MN-m.

3
3.1

NUMERICAL ANALYSIS
Model setup and analysis procedures

Numerical modeling in this study was performed using FLAC

3D V 5.0 based on the finite-difference method and explicit
scheme (Itasca, 2012). The numerical model was modified from
a model used in Kim et al. (2013) and detailed descriptions are
given for modeling and analysis procedures.
Soil elements were modeled by Mohr-Coulomb failure
criterion with linear elasticity up to plastic yield and the bucket
body and tower parts were modeled by linear elastic solid
elements. In order to represent the load conditions, a solid
circular tower was additionally modeled on top of the bucket
top lid and horizontal displacement was applied on the top face
of the tower. Half section model mesh and boundary conditions
were used for the analysis because of the symmetry of the
foundations and load conditions. Approximately 4800 elements
were used in the model. Actual steel deformation properties
were used in the analysis (E = 200 GPa, = 0.30). The mesh for
the analysis is shown in Figure 5.

Figure 2. Moment rotation angle curve of the centrifuge test

The model and nearby soil after the test are shown in Figure
3. Tilting of the foundation by the horizontal and moment load
induced several mm of heave in the passive side and 20 to 30
mm of subsidence behind the bucket. Positions of the model
before and after the load test are shown in Figure 4.

Figure 5. Mesh for numerical model (Bucket body shown in magnified

scale)

The base properties for the model are shown in Table 1. The
submerged unit weight of the steel used for the bucket body was
modified from actual value, because the weight of the centrifuge
model bucket was increased by the connection between the
bucket body and the vertical rod.
Table 1. Base properties for numerical analysis
Items
Parameters
Submerged
unit weight
(sub, kN/m3)
Elastic
modulus (E,
MPa)
Poisson ratio
()
Internal
friction angle
()
Dilation angle
()
Cohesion (c,
kPa)
Friction angle
between
bucket wall
and soil (, )
Coefficient of
earth pressure
at rest (K0)

Figure 3. Model and nearby soil after the test

Figure 4. Comparison between positions before and after the test

2356

Bucket

SM Layer

ML Layer

75.9

9.50

8.60

200,000

10

10

0.3

0.3

0.3

33.7

34.5

11.7

16.1

5.2

22.5

0.5

0.5

Technical Committee 209 / Comit technique 209

Bottom face nodes were fixed in vertical displacement, and

side face nodes were fixed in horizontal displacement. Coulomb
criterion interface elements were applied in contacting faces
between the bucket body and soil in order to model sliding and
separation behaviour. Shear and normal stiffness values were
set to 200 MPa/m which was larger than ten times the elastic
modulus of surrounding soil (Itasca, 2005).
The analysis was run in three stages. The first stage
simulated the initial K0 soil condition. The second stage
simulated the installation of the bucket in the soil. The third
stage was the loading stage where the top of the loading tower
was horizontally moved in every step and unbalanced forces
were calculated as the resistance of the foundation.
The ramping algorithm was used for the loading velocity
control, in which the loading velocity was linearly increased
with step to ud,max per step (110-6 m/step in this study) till
prescribed steps were run and kept constant afterwards (Itasca,
2012).
3.2

Analyses and results

Figure 7. Load displacement curves for different foundation weight

and vertical load

The centrifuge model soil container had a radius of 447.5

mm, which was about two times the diameter of the model
foundation. The results between 2D and 5D horizontal boundary
distances are compared in Figure 8. The difference was
negligible between the horizontal boundary distances
considered.

Cases considered in this study are summarized in Table 2 and a

plot of displacement contour for C2 case is shown in Figure 6.
Table 2. Analysis cases
Items
A1. Reference case
A2. Bucket weight and
vertical load
B1. Horizontal boundary
distance from model center
(5D for reference case)
C1, C2. Elastic modulus
of SM layer (E, MPa)
D1, D2. Internal friction
angle ()
E1. Dilation angle ()
F1. Cohesion (c, kPa)
G1. C2 + F1

Values
Parameters in Table 1
Bucket weight 2220 kN
Vertical load 5750 kN
2D
20, 5.0
Figure 8. Load displacement curves for different horizontal boundary
distances

38.7, 28.7
3.7
0.1

Different elastic moduli resulted in a noticeable variation in

the slopes of the curves (Figure 9). Therefore, proper estimation
of the elastic modulus and application in the numerical model
are thought be important for the load displacement behaviour
in the conditions of this study.

Figure 6. Contour of displacement for case C2

The prototype of the centrifuge test was modeled with larger

thickness in the wall and the top plate than the preliminary
design due to limitations in fabrication. The vertical rod and the
connecting part between the bucket body and the rod were
designed to have sufficient stiffness and strength for the
centrifuge. These resulted in a heavier prototype and vertical
load than the target structure in the preliminary design.
Therefore, the effect of heavier structure weight was analyzed in
the numerical analysis. The load displacement curve is shown
in Figure 7. Slight decrease in the resistance was observed for
the reduced weight and vertical load, after around 0.003 ~
0.005D.

Figure 9. Load displacement curves for different elastic moduli of the

silty sand layer

The effect of variations in the internal friction angle and

dilation angle of the silty sand layer was considered (Figure 10).
Slight changes in slopes were observed after around 0.005 ~
0.01D, but they were found to be relatively small in the
displacement range considered in this study.

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Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

Figure 10. Load displacement curves for different internal friction

angles and dilation angles of the silty sand layer

The resistance was affected by the cohesion of the

surrounding soil (Figure 11).

soil behaviour was observed for a wide load range from the
initial to the post-yield load, so that the foundation design be
verified and improved based on the test result. A series of
numerical modeling were performed to validate the centrifuge
test condition and study the effects of soil parameters on the
load-displacement curves. It was found that the increased
weight and vertical load provided slight increase in the
resistance. The effect of the limited horizontal boundary
distance in the tested centrifuge model was analysed to be
minimal. Soil parameters such as elastic modulus and cohesion
were found to have significant impacts than other factors in this
study on the load displacement behaviour of the monopod
foundation in the silty sand layer. Refinement of the numerical
model related to these parameters and elaborate estimation of
them are important for realistic modeling of the foundation
behaviour.
5

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This study was supported by a grant from the Offshore Windenergy Foundation System (OWFS) R&D program (10 CTIP
E04) of Korea Institute of Construction & Transportation
Technology Evaluation and Planning funded by Ministry of
Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs and Hyundai Engineering
and Construction, Co., Ltd.
6
Figure 11. Load displacement curves for different cohesions of the
silty sand layer

Figure 12 shows the result when the elastic modulus and

cohesion were decreased from the reference values. The curve is
closer to the centrifuge test result than others. However, this
does not mean that this set of parameters are the actual
properties, but provides a guide on which parameters are more
influential than others and how the numerical model can be
improved. Further researches are needed to model the
nonlinearity and the dependency on confining stress of elasticity
of the silty sand layer.

Figure 12. Comparison of load displacement curves for the centrifuge

test result and numerical model

CONCLUSIONS

The load displacement behaviour of a monopod suction

bucket foundation was studied by a centrifuge test and
numerical modeling. The centrifuge model test was performed
with a model soil which represented key soil characteristics of
the target site. Horizontal load combined with overturning
moment was applied according to the preliminary design of an
offshore wind tower. In the centrifuge test, the foundation and

REFERENCES

Byrne B.W. and Houlsby G.T. 2003. Foundations for offshore

windturbines, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of
London, Series A: Mathematical and Physical Sciences, 361
(1813), 2909~2930.
Choo Y.W., Kim D.J., Kim S., Kim J.H., Kim D.S., Jee S.H. and Choi
J.H. 2013. Centrifuge Tests of Monopod and Tripod Bucket
Foundations for Offshore Wind Turbine Tower. Proc. of Asiafuge
2012, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, India.
Houlsby G.T., Ibsen L.B. and Byrne B.W. 2005. Suction caissons for
wind turbines, Frontiers in Offshore Geotechnics : ISFOG, 75~93.
Hung L.C. and Kim S.R. 2012. Evaluation of vertical and horizontal
bearing capacities of bucket foundations in clay, Ocean
Engineering, 52, 75~82.
Itasca. 2012. FLAC(Fast Lagrangian Analysis of Continua) 3D User's
Manual, Itasca Consulting Group, Minneapolis, MN.
Kim D.J., Choo Y.W., Kim S., Kim J.H., Choi H.Y., Kim D.S., Lee
M.S. and Park Y.H. 2013. Bearing capacity of monopod bucket
foundations for offshore wind tower via centrifuge and numerical
modeling, Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society, under
review. (in Korean)
Kim D.J., Choo Y.W., Lee J.S., Kim D.S., Jee S.H., Choi J., Lee M.S.
and Park Y.H. 2013. Numerical Analysis of Cluster and Monopod
Suction Bucket Foundation, OMAE2013-10480, under review.
Kim, D.S, Kim, N.R., Choo, Y.W., and Cho, G.C. (2012), "A newly
developed state-of-the-art geotechnical centrifuge in South Korea,"
KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering, 17 (1), 77~84 (doi:10.1007/
s12205-013-1350-5).
LeBlanc C., Ahle K., Nielsen S. A. and Ibsen L. B. 2009. The monopod
bucket foundation, Recent experience and challenges ahead.
Eoropean Offshore Wind 2009 Conference & Exhibition,
Stockholm, Sweden.
Oh M.H., Kwon O., Kim K.S. and Jang I. 2012. Economic feasibility of
bucket foundation for offshore wind farm. Journal of the Korea
Academia-Industrial cooperation Society, 13 (4), 1908~1914.
Villalobos F.A. 2006. Model Testing of Foundations for Offshore Wind
Turbines. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Oxford, UK.

2358

A large deformation finite element analysis solution for modelling dense sand
Solution d'analyse par lments finis dune large dformation pour la modlisation de sable dense
Li X.1,2, Hu Y.1, White D.1
1

University of Western Australian, Perth, Australia

Beijing Jiaotong University, China

ABSTRACT: To capture the softening behaviour of dense sand, an extended Mohr-Coulomb model was developed using a critical state
framework. The model extends Boltons correlations to capture dilatancy and peak strength, and is compatible with the remeshing and
remapping strategies used in large deformation finite element analysis. This model is initially being used to simulate the behaviour of sand
layers during foundation and spudcan penetration into uniform and stratified soils, but is applicable to a variety of problems that cannot be
accurately simulated using conventional M-C plasticity alone.
RSUM : Pour attraper le comportement sadoucissant de sable, un modle de Mohr-Coulomb tendu a t dvelopp en utilisant un cadre
critique dtat. Le modle tend les corrlations de Bolton pour capturer la dilatance et la rsistance de pic, et est compatible avec les
stratgies de remaillage et remappage. Ce modle est initialement utilis pour simuler le comportement des couches de sable lors de la
pntration du caisson vers les sols feuillets. Donc, il sera applicable une varit de problmes qui ne sont pas bien captures en utilisant la
plasticit M-C conventionnel.
KEYWORDS: Critical state; Large deformation analysis; Remeshing and mapping algorithm; Dilation; Shear band; Biaxial test.
1

INTRODUCTION

Sand can display dilation and strain-softening during shearing under

certain stress and relative density conditions. There are numerous
constitutive models developed to capture these characteristics
(Manzari and Dafalias 1997; Li et al. 1999). However, to be able to
implement such a constitutive model into finite element software
for large deformation analysis, a relatively simple model is essential
with the minimum of control variables involved. This is to ensure
that the large deformation analysis can be kept stable.
Large deformation of sand has not been analysed widely since
large deformation doesnt occur in general when a conventional
foundation is placed on sand. However, when foundations such as
the spudcan foundations beneath offshore drilling rigs are placed
on sand overlying clay in offshore design, it is more likely for the
sand layer to experience large deformation (Yu et al. 2010).
Although large deformation of layered soils has been studied
extensively for stiff clay over soft clay soils using large deformation
FE analysis (LDFE) and centrifuge tests, fewer LDFE studies for
sand over clay conditions have been executed since to date no
suitable modelling approach exists for efficient simulation of the
large strain behaviour of sand.
This paper describes an investigation into the dependency of
bearing capacity on the large strain shearing characteristics of sand.
An extended Mohr-Coulomb (MC) model was developed, which
features strain-dependent hardening and softening using a critical
state framework. The model uses state dependent dilatancy and
friction angles. The controlling relations have been calibrated for a
number of well-characterised sands, demonstrating that the model is
a practical approach that can capture the specific responses of
particular soils. The model was implemented in LDFE analysis (Hu
and Randolph 1998a, 1998b) using the remeshing and interpolation
technique with small strain model (RITSS).
The results of LDFE/RITSS with the extended MC model show
that the volumetric and softening behaviour of sand has a
significant influence on the penetration resistance of foundations
during large penetration. When a shear band forms in sand, its
dilatancy angle reaches zero and the sand finds the critical state. For
foundations on uniform sand, this model shows how the variation in
the bearing capacity factors Nq and N is linked to density and
initial stress state, as well as the fundamental strength property, the
critical state friction angle.
The extended CSMC model coupled with LDFE shows great
potential to capture sand behaviour through large deformations in a
simple and efficient computational framework.

2359

CRITICAL STATE MOHR-COULOMB (CSMC) MODEL

2.1 State dependent dilatancy angle and friction angle

Using the critical state concept, Been and Jefferies (1985) proposed
a state parameter, to identify the current soil density state and to
predict the subsequent shearing behaviour. The state parameter,
is defined as:
e ec
(1)

where e is the current void ratio; ec is the critical state void ratio at
current stress. The state parameter can be used to indicate the
current volume change tendency of the sand and be linked to the
dilation angle (Jefferies 1993; Manzari and Dafalias 1997; Li et al.
1999; Li 2002).
Been and Jefferies (1985) reported that both the peak friction
angle p and dilatancy angle decrease with increasing . This
idea also can be extended to loose sand where negative dilatancy
(or contraction) occurs. A simple single parameter relation can be
written as:
(2)
tan A
where A is a constant and is suggested as 1.2 (Li et al. 2013). The
parameter A serves as a scale factor to the dilatancy angle, and it
influences dilatancy angle in both the negative and positive regions
of the state parameter , i.e. both dense and loose sands.
For a better fit to experimental data, a three-parameter relation
can be written as:

tan A(1 exp

s ign ( ) m

(3)

where m, n are constants; n is a parameter controlling the curve

shape; m is a parameter majorly influenced the curve shape with
positive state parameter, i.e. loose sand.
Bolton (1986) linked peak friction and dilation angles by:
(4)
p c a
where c is critical friction angle; a is a constant. However, the
value of a varies with soil stress condition and soil type (Li et al.
2003). Thus, the energy equation proposed by (Taylor 1948) is
preferred here:
(5)
tan

tan c tan
Combining Eqs. 3 and 5, the relation between the mobilized friction
angle and soil state parameter is illustrated in Fig. 1 with the
variation of parameter A. The current state-dependent dilatancy
angle and friction angle can be substituted into any modified MohrCoulomb (MC) model such as the hyperbolic MC model (Abbo and

Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

Sloan 1995). This extension allows the MC model to capture soil

hardening and softening behavior based on a critical state concept.

50

MODEL CALIBRATION

(1) Soil critical state line (CSL). A power relation (Li and Wang
1998) can be more accurate than the conventional log-linear CSL
for sand under a confining pressure no more than 2MPa:
p'
(6)
e
e ( )
c
pa
where ec is the critical void ratio at mean effective stress p; e is the
critical void ratio as mean effective stress diminishes to zero; pa is a
reference pressure taken as, pa = 101 kPa (atmospheric pressure) for
convenience; p is the mean effective stress; is the slope of CSL in
e versus (p/ pa) plane, which is similar to the conventional
compression index; is a dimensionless constant. In this paper, is
also termed as compression index and is termed as compression
power for convenience. For sand, is typically 0.75 and the
compression index can be estimated as 0.01Cu where Cu is the
coefficient of uniformity of sand; e is estimated as
0.85emax+0.15emin where emax and emin are the maximum and
minimum void ratios of the sand.
(2) Dilatancy parameter A for Eq. 2 or dilatancy parameters A, m,
n for Eq. 3. For Eq. 2, A = 1.2 can be selected. For Eq. 3, m, n can
be estimated as 3.5, 0.75 respectively. A is to be calibrated by
experimental data and is typically in the range of 0.3 to 1.0.
(3) Youngs modulus E and Poissons ratio . The stiffness of sand
varies with void ratio and stress state. Good predictions can be
made using the following equation (Hardin and Richart 1963; Wang
et al. 1990; Li et al. 1999; De and Basudhar 2008):

(2.97 e) 2
E E0
1 e

p'
pa

IMPLENTATION OF CSMC IN LDFE

4.1 LDFE with RITSS technique

Large deformation FE (LDFE) analysis is conducted by remeshing
and interpolation technique with small strain (RITSS) (Hu &
Randolph 1998a, b). This approach is coupled with a finite element
package named AFENA (Carter & Balaam, 1995). To avoid large
mesh distortion and achieve large deformation simulation, a series
of small strain analysis increments (using AFENA) are combined
with fully automatic remeshing of the entire domain, followed by
interpolation of all field variables (such as stresses and material
properties) from the old mesh to the new mesh.
During the mapping of field variables, some mapping error is
inevitable. The fewer number of variables that must be carried to
describe the current material state, the less error will be introduced
after each mapping, thus the more accurate and convergent the large
deformation analysis. When CSMC constitutive model is
implemented to the LDFE/RITSS, void ratio e is the only extra
variable required to be interpolated in addition to the stress field.
Thus, numerical stability can be kept.
In the mesh generation/remeshing algorithm, the angle in one
triangle element is limited in the range of 26~111. Two criteria are
used to trigger mesh refinement: (1) the distortion ratio (which is
the shortest distance from the mid node to a straight line joining the
corner nodes, divided by the length of that straight line) exceeding

2360

A=2
A=1
A=0.5
A=0.2

30

20

tan=tan+tanc
0.75

10
0.10

tan = A(1-exp(3.5*sign()*||
o
where = e - ec, c=31
0.05

0.00

-0.05

-0.10

-0.15

-0.20

State parameter

Fig. 1 Effect of parameter A on friction angle

4.2 Biaxial test

The calibration of the model parameters is illustrated using a
single element simulation of a triaxial test and by a fully meshed
simulation of a biaxial test, both in Ottowa sand (Alshibli et al.
2003). The close match of the prediction and the experimental data
for a single element triaxial test provides the model parameters A =
0.36, m = 8, n = 0.75 (Fig. 2).
When the calibrated parameters were applied to the bi-axial
element test conditions, a much lower peak is observed (Fig. 3).
However, if the dilatancy angle is increased, as the parameter A in
equation 2 is raised from 0.36 to 0.6, the CSMC model shows a
similar peak as the experimental data (Fig. 3). Bolton (1986) has
also suggested that the dilatancy angle in plane strain test is about
1.6 times of that in triaxial test. This shows that different
parameters might be needed for triaxial and biaxial test conditions.
In the biaxial test, the softening behaviour is captured very well.
8

(7)

where E0 is suggested as 6~10 MPa (Carraro et al. 2009). The bulk

and shear moduli, K and G can be calculated by the usual elastic
relations from and E.
4

40

Friction angle ( )

To implement state-dependent dilatancy and friction angles in the

extended Mohr-Coulomb model developed here, the following
parameters must be selected through the model calibration process
(see Li et al. 2013 for further details):

Single element triaxial test (A=0.36)

Laboratory drained triaxial test
Ottawa sand, 3=100 kPa

Principal Stress ratio = 1/3

0.02; (2) the ratio between the maximum and minimum element
edge lengths exceeding 100.

6
5
4
3

Soil properties:
Cu=1.4, D50=0.22mm, eini=0.53, Id=0.9

Model parameters:
0.75
o
CSL: ec=0.64-0.014(p/101) , c=36

0.75

sign()8||

Dilation: tan=A(1-exp
0

10

15

20

)
25

Axial strain 1 (%)

Fig. 2 Model calibration by single element triaxial test

Fig. 4 depicts the shear band formed in a biaxial test using the
CSMC model. A single shear band is formed first at 2% axial
strain. Subsequently, a double shear band begins to form at 3%
axial strain and evolves gradually. This phenomenon is consistent
with the observation in Alshibli et al. (2003).
The soil in the shear band yields and dilates gradually to the
critical void ratio for this stress level, which is 0.61. The dilatancy
angle decreases continuously until the soil reaches the critical state,
mobilising c. However, the soil outside the shear band remains at
the initial void ratio, i.e. 0.54. The local strain in the shear band
exceeds the external strain. The single element simulation (Fig. 2)
shows a much slower decrease in the principal stress ratio after the
peak than the biaxial test (Fig. 3). This confirms that the measured
axial strain in laboratory tests that undergo localisation is only an
apparent value (Fig. 4).

Technical Committee 209 / Comit technique 209

Laboratory drained biaxial test

Simulation A=0.60 (rough)
Simulation A=0.36 (rough)
Simulation A=0.36 (smooth)
Ottawa sand, 3=69.4 kPa

Soil properties:
Cu=1.4, D50=0.22mm, eini=0.54, Id=0.87

Principal Stress ratio = 1/3

Axial strain 1 (%)

Fig. 3 Biaxial test result of Ottawa sand simulated by FEM

-0.16

-0.08

-0.04

Numerical bi-axial test

Laboratory bi-axial test
Single element test

0.02

0.04

0.06

Fig. 4 v-1 relation in biaxial test

0.08

0.10

0.12

Bi-axial test with fully rough boundary

o
eini=0.54, Id=0.87, c=36

0.75

sign()3.5||

tan=0.75(1-exp
0.01

0.02

0.03

0.04

0.05

0.06

0.6

0.58

0.5
2

0.5
6
4
0.5

100

50

58

0.5
6

0.5

100

8
0.5

0.5
4

4
0.5

0.5
6 0
.56

0.6

0.5
4

6
0.5

0.5
8

6
0.5
8
0.5

0.58

4
0.5

0.54

0.6

0.58

0.5
2

0.54

0.56

0.500.5
4.568

0.56

0.5
4

4
0.5

0.6

0.5
6

0.58

0.6

6
0.5

0.

0.5
6

0.5
6

0.5
4

54
0.

6
0.5 .58
0 .56
0

0.5 0.5
8
4

4
0.5

0.6

0.56

0.6

2
0.5

50

Fig. 5 Void ratio field: (a) 1=2%; (b) 1=3%; (c) 1=9%

0.7
0.68
0.66
0.64
0.62
0.6
0.58
0.56
0.54
0.52
0.5

-0.012
-0.008
-0.004
0.000
100 X 300 Sample
100 X 200 Sample
100 X 100 Sample

0.004
0.008
0.00

0.01

0.02

0.03

0.04

0.05

0.06

Axial strain 1

Fig. 6 Effect of sample geometry on biaxial shearing behaviour

Limit analysis using ABC shows that the integrated Nq factor for a
rough circular foundation can be approximated as (Fig. 7):

0.5
8

(b) v-1 relation

-0.016

0.14

Axial strain 1

0.52

.58
00.5
6

-0.020

Strain localization is critical in explaining some laboratory test

results where after the peak, the deviatoric stress, q, often decreases
to a stable value much earlier for axial strain than volume strain
(Samieh and Wong 1997; Salgado et al. 2000; Alshibli et al. 2003).
In Alshibli et al. (2003), the stress starts to oscillate around a stable
value after 10% axial strain, whilst the volume strain continuously
increases even over 25% axial strain. Once a central shear band
of soil at the critical state is formed, the apparent shear strength of
whole sample reaches the critical value. However the volume of
whole sample still increases with yielding of soil at the margins of
the shear band (Fig. 5).

N q e 2 tan (1 0.48 tan

1024

100

The geometry of the specimen affects the shearing behavior.

Biaxial simulation results with different sample aspect ratios are
shown in Fig. 6. The 1-1 relation is nearly identical in all three
cases. However, the v-1 relation is dependent on the aspect ratio of
the soil specimen and the shape of shear band formed.
5

-0.024

Ottawa sand, 3=69.4 kPa

0.04
0.00

50

c = 3.85

Axial strain 1

0.00

0
0.00

Volumetric strain v

Volumetric strain v

-0.12

100 X 300 Sample

100 X 200 Sample
100 X 100 Sample

(a) 1-1 relation

0.75

sign()8||

(9)

Model parameters:
0.75
o
CSL: ec=0.64-0.014(p/101) , c=36
Dilation: tan=A(1-exp

qu
qsurf

N q

(8)

where D is a representative self-weight stress beneath the footing

and qsurf is the surface surcharge. The coupled Nq and N bearing
capacity can be characterized by an integrated bearing capacity Nq
that varies with and is defined as:

D
qsurf

Integrated bearing capacity factor Nq=qu/qsurf

Principal Stress ratio = 1/3

512

1 0.0025

(10)

Limit analysis of circular plate penetration into sand

2tan
Best fit lines: Nq=(1+0.48tan/(1+0.0025))e
o

==36

==32

256

==28

==24

128

==20

64
32
16
8
0.01

0.1

10

100

Boundary condition =D/qsurf

BEARING CAPACITY OF A FOUNDATION ON SAND

Fig. 7 Coupled bearing capacity factor Nq for a circular foundation

The bearing capacity of circular plate on sand is analyzed by both

limit analysis (using the ABC program, Martin 2004) and LDFE. In
soil with self-weight the bearing capacity factor N is often coupled
with Nq although the two parts are not simply superposable. An NqN bounding index is defined as:

2361

Referring to Fig. 7, the integrated Nq factor approaches a constant

value with the decrease of the Nq-N bounding index . That
ultimate value, e2tan, can be regarded as Nq. Similarly, the
integrated Nq of rough strip foundation can be calculated as,

Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

N q exp5 tan (1 0.91tan

1 0.0025

(11)

However, plasticity limit analysis involves certain assumptions:

(1) an associated flow rule, i.e. = ; (2) rigid plastic strength. The
FEM method can consider the effect of soil stiffness and soil
dilatancy angle on bearing capacity factor and the CSMC model
allows the progressive changes in strength and stiffness during
bearing failure to be captured.
Calculations of the Nq bearing capacity factor for a circular plate
on weightless sand have been performed using LDFE and the MC
model. The results show that both stiffness and dilatancy angle have
a significant influence on the soil bearing capacity. The bearing
capacity factor Nq varies by up to 50% for a realistic range of
stiffness. The variation of Nq induced by the variation of dilatancy
angle is no more than 15%. An empirical relation can be drawn for
the estimation of Nq, as:

N q (0.6 0.06 ln

qsurf
E

)e 2 tan

0.015E
0.3)(0.65 sin ) exp2 tan
D

(13)

For all the cases, the integrated bearing capacity factor can be
written as (seeing Fig. 8),
0.45E d tan
N qd
e
qsurf D
(14)
E 0.5

N qd N q (0.95 0.009( ) tan

)
D
1 0.02
0.0

0.1

qsurf/D

0.2
3

=10g/cm , =2 , D=4m

0.3

=10g/cm , =32 , D=4m

3

=2g/cm , =32 , D=40m

3

=2g/cm , =2 , D=40m

Eq. 14

0.4

Plate penetration into uniform sand

o
E=30MPa, =30.6
0.5

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

Coupled bearing capacity factor Nq

Ultimate coupled bearing capacity factor, Nq

g
Fig. 8 Integrated bearing capacity factor Nq
80

Cricular plate penetration into uniform sand

o
==30.6 , rough condition

60

40

20
FEM result
Eq. 13
0

100

200

300

CONCLUSION

In this paper, the classic Mohr-Coulomb (MC) model is extended to

simulate soil hardening and softening behaviour based on critical
state (CS) soil mechanics. Friction and dilation angles are linked
with soil state parameter in an MC model. This new critical state
Mohr-Coulomb (CSMC) model is verified by single element tests
and large deformation finite element (LDFE) analysis using the
RITSS method. The newly developed CSMC model can be easily
applied to large deformation analysis and shows good stability.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This research is supported by The National Basic Research Program
of China (973 Program, No. 2012CB026104) and the ARC
Discovery Project DP1096764. The third author is supported by an
ARC Future Fellowship and Shell.

(12)

For the plate on weighted sand, the integrated Nq is found to

vary with soil stiffness, soil weight, soil dilatancy angle and soil
dimension (as shown in Fig. 8). The FEM results (Fig. 9) show that
the integrated Nq approaches its ultimate value Nq if is smaller
than 2, as follows:

N
(atan
q

400

500

600

700

800

E/D

Fig. 9 Ultimate value of integrated bearing capacity factor Nq

2362

REFERENCES
Abbo, A.J. and Sloan, S.W. 1995. A Smooth Hyperbolic Approximation
to the Mohr-Coulomb Yield Criterion. Computers and Structures
54(3): 427-441.
Alshibli, K.A. Batiste, S.N. and Sture S. 2003. Strain localization in
sand: plane strain versus triaxial compression. Journal of
Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 129(6): 483-494.
Been, K. and Jefferies, M.G. 1985. A state parameter for sands.
Gotechnique, 35(2): 99-112.
Been, K., Jefferies, M.G., and Hachey, J. 1991. The critical state of
sands. Geotechnique, 41(3), 365381.
Bolton, M.D. 1986. The strength and dilatancy of sands. Geotechnique,
36(1): 65-78.
Carter, J.P. and Balaam, N.P. 1995. AFENA users manual:
Geotechnical Research Center, University of Sydney.
Hu, Y.X. and Randolph, M.F. 1998a. H-adaptive FE analysis of elastoplastic non-homogeneous soil with large deformation. Computers
and Geotechnics, 23(1-2): 61-83.
Hu, Y. & Randolph, M. F. 1998b. A practical numerical approach for
large deformation problems in soil. Int. J. Numerical and Analytical
Meth. Geomech. 22(5): 327-350.
Li X. Hu, Y.X. and White, D. 2013. Development of a critical state
hyperbolic Mohr-Coulomb model for sand in large deformation FE
analysis. Submitted to Geotechnique.
Li, X.S., Dafalias, Y.F., and Wang, Z.L. 1999. State-dependent
dilatancy in critical-state constitutive modelling of sand. Candian
Geotechnical Journal, 36(4): 599611.
Ling, H.I. and Yang, S. 2006. A unified sand model based on critical
state and generalized plasticity. J. of Eng. Mech., 132: 1380-1391.
Manzari, M.T., and Dafalias, Y.F. 1997. A critical state two-surface
plasticity model for sands. Gotechnique, 47(2): 255272.
Martin, C.M. 2004. ABC Analysis of Bearing Capacity.
http://www.eng.ox.ac.uk/civil/people/cmm/software.
Riemer, M.F. and Seed, R.B. 1997. Factors affecting apparent position
of steady-state line. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenviormental
engineering, 123(3): 281-287.
Richard F., Wendell, H., Michael, M. and Gioacchino, V. Strain
localization and undrained steady state of sand. Journal of
Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 122(6): 462-473.
Samieh, A.M. and R.C.K. Wong. 1997. Deformation of Athabasca oil
sand in triaxial compression tests at low effective stresses under
varying boundary conditions. Canadian Geotech. J., 34: 985-990.
Taylor, D.W. 1948. Fundamentals of soil mechanics. Wiley. New York.
Verdugo, R., and Ishihara, K. 1996. The steady state of sandy soils.
Soils Foundation, 36(2): 81-91.
Wang, Z.L., Dafalias, Y.F. and Shen, C.K. 1990. Bounding surface
hypoplasticity model for sand. Journal of Engineering Mechanics,
ASCE, 116(5): 983-1001.
Salgado R., Bandini, P. and Karim, A. 2000. Shear strength and
stiffness of slity sand. Journal of Geotechnical and
Geoenvironmental Engineering, 126: 451-461.
Yu, L., Hu, Y.X., Liu, J., Randolph, M. and Kong, X.J. 2012.
Numerical study of spudcan penetration in loose sand overlying
clay. Computers and Geotechnics, 46: 1-12
Carraro, H. Prezzi, M. and Salgado, R. 2009. Shear strength and
Stiffness of sands containing Plastic or Nonplastic Fines. Journal of
Geotech. and Geoenviromental Engineering, 135(9): 1167-1178.

Plugging Effect of Open-Ended Displacement Piles

Prise en compte de leffet de bouchon pour les pieux battus ouverts
Lking J.

HOCHTIEF Solutions AG, Civil Engineering Marine and Offshore, Hamburg, Germany

Kempfert H.-G.

Institute of Geotechnics and Geohydraulics, University of Kassel, Kassel, Germany

ABSTRACT: During jacking an open-ended displacement pile the soil is entering through the pile toe into the profile. This plug
can close up the pile toe completely. Because of this the pile can be treated approximately as a fully closed-ended displacement pile
and is able to mobilize an additional base resistance. Indeed the soil-mechanical processes and the different factors of influence on the
plugging effect are mostly unknown. This report is based on research work and investigated the influence of different factors on the
plugging effect and hence the change in the load-bearing behaviour mainly in non-cohesive soils using experimental, numerical and
statistical methods. All investigations show that a fully plugged soil inside the pile could not be identified and disproved the classical
model representation of a fully plugged pile toe. The load transfer in the plug takes place by compression arches, which are mainly
influenced by the pile diameter and the soil density. Finally, based on these results a practical calculation method is suggested.
RSUM : Lors de la mise en place dun pieu battu ouvert, le terrain est susceptible de pntrer dans le pieu par son pied de manire
plus ou moins importante. Suivant le degr de pntration du sol dans le pieu, celui-ci peut tre considr comme ouvert ou ferm et
une rsistance supplmentaire peut alors tre mobilise. Ce papier propose une tude des processus de pntration du terrain dans les
pieux battus ouverts pour des sols non cohsifs. La variation de capacit portante des pieux induite par ces processus est analyse
selon des points de vue exprimentaux, numriques et statistiques. Toutes les investigations ralises montrent que leffet de bouchon
complet nexiste pas et quun pieu battu ouvert ne peut pas tre considr comme vritablement ferm. Leffet de bouchon correspond
la formation de votes lintrieur du pieu. Enfin, une mthode de prvision de la capacit portante intgrant ces processus est
propose.
KEYWORDS: open-ended displacement pile, plugging effect, pile bearing capacity, pile foundation.
1

INTRODUCTION

Open-ended displacement piles are piles, which are open at the

pile toe like pipe piles, H-profiles or composed of sheeting
piles. During the piling process (jacking, impact driving,
vibrating or pressing) the soil is entering into the pile tube.
Between the opposite inner shaft areas a plug can occur, which
is able to mobilize an additional toe resistance. This toe
resistance depends on the soil parameters, the pile geometry and
the stress distribution.
Open-ended displacement piles are often used in harbour
constructions or as foundations for offshore wind plants (i.e.
monopiles or jackets).
Technical standards like API or others assume a fully
plugged open-ended displacement pile and treat this plug in a
monolithic way. However the soil-mechanical process and the
different factors of influence on the plugging effect are mostly
unknown.
Starting with a short state of the art this paper summarizes
laboratory tests, numerical and statistical calculations and
recommends new experience values for the bearing capacity of
open-ended displacement piles.
These research results are based on the works described in
Lking 2010 and also Lking and Kempfert 2012.
2

STATE OF THE ART

The bearing capacity of the plug can be evaluated by the values

IFR (Incremental Filling Ratio) after Brucy et al. 1991 or the
PLR (Plug Length Ratio) after Paik and Lee 1993, see Eq.1 and
Eq.2.

IFR hp de

PLR hp de

(2)

These values describe the incremental and the absolute ratio

of the height of the plug hp to the pile embedded depth de.
An IFR = 1 means that the surface of the plug does not
penetrate into the soil during driving in comparison to the last
measurement. Only the pile penetrates into the soil. This means
that no plugging effect takes place.
In contrast an IFR = 0 means that the surface of the plug
penetrates into the soil with the same value as the pile. In this
case the pile is fully plugged and all the soil has to be displaced
sideways.
The IFR will be measured during driving by a sounding line.
The PLR is only measured after finishing the driving and gives
only an average value for the plug development. This is
problematic in layered soils.
The highest radial displacement uR and radial stresses 'R
occur by an IFR = 0. In this case the soil is fully plugged which
means that the soil resistance is the same like the toe resistance
of the profile. Then the plug could be treated like a monolith
and is comparable to a closed-ended pile. With an increasing
IFR the radial displacement and the radial stresses are
decreasing. If the IFR lies between 0 and 1 the soil is partially
plugged. The changeover from a full plug to a partial plug and
no plugging is steady and the statuses cannot easily be
distinguished. Figure 1 gives an overview of the described
context after White et al. 2005.
The maximum pile diameter in which a plugging effect could
occur is about 1.5 m, see Jardine et al. 2005.

(1)

2363

Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

3.1

EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATIONS
General

Different experimental investigations were carried out. The next

section gives a short overview of the laboratory test program
before the results are discussed. A detailed description and a
documentation of all test results is given in Lking 2010.
3.2

Model Tests and Particle Image Velocimetry Tests

In the first test series a test pile of two pipe piles was
constructed. Both piles were only connected at the top. In all the
test pile had the following geometry: outer pile diameter 19 cm
and inner pile diameter 16 cm. The pile embedded depth after
driving the test pile into a sand box was about 140 cm. After
this a static pile test loading was carried out.
This test pile was equipped with different strain gauges.
Based on the measured strain the inner shaft friction qis, the
outer shaft friction qs and the pile toe pressure qb could be
calculated. By means of a special constructed cone-penetrationtest (lab-CPT) the change in density and the displacement effect
of the pile installation could be examined.
In the second test series Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV)
tests were carried out. The PIV method is a contact free
measurement, in which displacement vectors can be identified.
Basics to this method can be found in Raffel et al. 2007.
The test pile in the second test series had an outer pile
diameter of 60 mm and a wall thickness of 2 mm. It was driven
behind an acrylic glass to an embedded depth of 50 cm. Figure
2 gives a perspective view of both test series which were mainly
carried out in non-cohesive soils.

inner skin friction qis [kN/m2]

350 300 250 200 150 100 50
0
section 1

40

120
160

outer skin friction qs [kN/m2]

0

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

section a load levels
30.1 kN
60.2 kN
90.2 kN

80
section 3

pile length L [cm]

Figure 1. Distribution of the radial displacement uR and the radial stress

'R on the pile shaft depending on different IFR after White et al. 2005

an increasing relative density and increasing stress level the pile

bearing capacity is also increasing.
The change in density around the test pile was lower in
dense sands than in loose sands, which could be identified by
different tests with the lab-CPT. The base resistance of the labCPT inside the soil plug was up to 80 MPa. A higher density of
the soil tends to a higher IFR. Nevertheless the IFR does not
converge to a fixed value. It was increasing and also decreasing
during driving which means that the soil inside was plugging
and loosening again. This phenomenon was also identified
during the static pile test loading. However during both test
series the value never reached IFR = 0. The minimum was
IFR = 0.2. This means that only a partially plugged soil could
occur and based on this the concept of a monolithical soil plug
should be analyzed critically.
Figure 3 shows the distribution of the inner and outer shaft
friction at different load levels from the first test series. The
outer shaft friction is increasing with higher pile length as
expected. In contrary the inner shaft friction is very high on a
length which approximate two pile diameters. Above this the
inner shaft friction in section 1 and 2 is very low and it looks
approximately independent of the load level. The increasing of
the inner shaft friction in section 3 is an indication for a (partial)
plugging effect of the soil.

section 2

120.3 kN
135.3 kN
section b
pile wall

Figure 3. Distribution of the inner and outer shaft friction qis and qs for
different load levels in non-cohesive soils.

Figure 4 shows the vertical displacement of the soil on the

lowest two pile diameters exemplary for the second test series.

Figure 4. Distribution of the vertical displacements in the soil at the pile

toe in the second test series in non-cohesive soils.

Figure 2. Perspective view of a) test pile of the first test series and b)
test pile of the second test series (PIV)

3.3

Results of the experimental test series

In general the experience on the pile bearing behaviour

regarding different influence factors could be confirmed. With

There an inhomogeneous distribution could be identified.

Near the inner pile shaft the vertical displacement is much
higher than in the middle of the soil plug. This distribution
occurs during driving independently of all investigated
boundary conditions in the second test series. It is another
indication that the load transfer takes place by the inner shaft
friction and not by an additional base resistance underneath the
soil plug. This assumption can also be supported by the
comparable distribution of the inner and outer shaft frictions,
see also in Figure 3. For a monolithic approach the vertical
displacement had to be more constant which could not be
observed. Furthermore the tests show that these results in noncohesive soils cannot be transferred easily to cohesive soils. It

2364

Technical Committee 209 / Comit technique 209

looks like that two different mechanisms are active which are
not comparable.
4
4.1

NUMERICAL INVESTIGATIONS
General

The experimental works were further investigated by finite

element calculations. The experimental test loadings as well as
test loadings with bigger pile diameter were recalculated. The
numerical calculation software PLAXIS 2D - Version 9.0 was
used. A rotation-symmetric, 2-dimensional FE-model was built.
The simulation of the soil displacement during jacking was
considered by the method of Dijkstra et al. 2006. A detailed
calculation description and the verification of the numerical
model is given in Lking 2010.
Finally the numerical results confirmed the results of the
experimental tests quantitatively and qualitatively.
4.2

Results of the numerical calculations

Figure 5 shows the distribution of the inner skin friction for

different inner pile diameters (Di = 0.45 m up to Di = 3.95 m) of
a pile which is embedded in the soil of about de=10 m. The soil
is non-cohesive and has a dense relative density (cone
penetration resistance of about qc 20 MPa). The settlement for
the mobilization of the skin friction was about s = 4.2 cm.
inner skin friction qis [kN/m2]
0

pile length [m]

2
4
6
8

100

200

300

400

500

Di = 0.45 m
Di = 0.95 m
Di = 1.45 m
Di = 1.95 m
Di = 2.95 m
Di = 3.95 m

10

Figure 6. Numerical results for the orientation of the stress trajectories

(right part of each pile) and the derived load transfer (left part of each
pile) for different pile diameters in a "dense" relative density of a noncohesive soil

The orientation of the stress trajectories suggests a

compression arch, which is in analogy to the load transfer
mechanism of the outer skin friction, see Kempfert 2009.
At low pile diameters these compression arches can be
overlapped and results in another support. Because of this the
inner skin friction can increase significantly which is also
shown in the numerical and experimental results, compare
Figure 5 and Figure 3. With increasing pile diameter the height
of the compression arches is also increasing. This load transfer
could also be identified in loose relative density.
Finally the results suggest that the load transfer takes place
over an inner skin friction which is based on compression
arches inside the soil. No fully plugged soil inside an openended displacement pile could be identified which would
legitimate to treat the plug in a monolithic way.

Figure 5. Distribution of the inner skin friction qis under variation of the
inner pile diameter Di at a pile embedded length of de = 10 m and a pile
settlement of about s = 4.2 cm

At low pile diameter (Di = 0.45 m) the results show a good

agreement in the distribution to the experimental works,
compare Figure 3 with Figure 5.
Furthermore the results show that the inner skin friction for
lower pile diameters is significantly higher at a length of
approximately two pile diameters. On the upper part of the pile
length no skin friction was mobilized. With an increasing pile
diameter the peak value of the skin friction is reduced and is
transferred to the upper part of the pile. At pile diameters of
about 3 m or 4 m the distribution of the inner skin friction is
comparable to the outer skin friction. The changeover from a
raised inner skin friction to a more constant inner skin friction is
continuous. Calculations show that this changeover depends
mainly on the pile diameter and the relative density of the soil,
see Lking 2010. The distribution of the inner skin friction is
also valid at loose relative density (qc 10 MPa).
Figure 6 shows the numerical results for the orientation of
the stress trajectories and for the load transfer depending on the
pile diameter in a dense relative density of a non-cohesive
soil. The left part of each pile shows the derived load transfer
based on the stress trajectories which are shown on the right
part. In general all results show a rotation of the stress
trajectories near the pile toe and also at the pile wall. With
increasing distance from the pile wall to the middle of the soil
plug the rotation is reducing. Also this depends mainly on the
pile diameter.

Based on the new knowledge two feasable methods for

calculating the bearing capacity of open-ended displacement
piles are suggested. The values were verified statistically to a
large extend with calculation method 1 up to a pile diameter of
D = 1.6 m in cohesive and non cohesive soils and with
calculation method 2 up to a pile diameter of D = 1.2 m in noncohesive soils. All histograms of the statistical verifications can
be found in Lking 2010.

5.1

5.2

CALCULATION METHODS
General

Calculation Method 1

Calculation method 1 is based on an analysis of 28 static and 59

dynamic pile loading tests with pile diameters up to D = 1.6 m.
This method derived new adaptation factors which are linked to
the values of experience of the EA-Pfhle 2012. The basic
equation for calculating the pile resistance is given in Eq.3.

2365

Rk b qb,k Ab s qs,k As
Rk:
b:
qb,k:
Ab:

(3)

characteristic pile resistance

adaptation factor for the pile toe, see Eq.4
characteristic pile toe pressure after EA-Pfhle 2012
pile base area (contact area of the pile and the
bottom area of the soil plug)
s: adaptation factor for the pile skin, see Eq.5
qs,k: characteristic pile skin friction after EA-Pfhle 2012
As: outer shaft area of the pile

Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

The best compliance for the adaption factors was found by a

hyperbolic correlation, see Eq.4 and 5.
(4)

s 1.1 e0.63 Da

(5)

Da:
5.3

Figure 7 gives an overview of the caclulation results of both

methods compared with the results of the pile load tests.
10
Rcal [MN], calculation methods

b 0.95 e1.2 Da

outer pile diameter

Calculation Method 2

Calculation method 2 is based on an analysis of 28 static pile

loading tests with pile diameters up to D = 1.2 m. In contrary to
calculation method 1 this method derived new values of
experience for each part of pile resistance for the 10 % and the
50 % quantile. Eq.6 gives the basic equation.

Rk qis,k Ais qa,k Aa qs,k As

This method is valid for pile diameters from 0.3 m up to 1.2

m only in non-cohesive soils. The first values of the experiences
in the following tables are the 10 % quantile and the second are
the 50 % quantile.
Table 1. Values of experience for the characteristic inner shaft friction
qis,k depending on the pile settlement and the resistance of the CPT
Characteristic inner shaft friction qis,k [kN/m2]
at a cone penetration resistance qc [MN/m2]
7.5

15

25

s = 0.035Da

15/ 35/

35/ 55/

50/ 67.5/

s = 0.1Da

30/ 50/

60/ 80/

90/ 100/

Table 2. Values of experience for the characteristic pile toe pressure qa,k
depending on the pile settlement and the resistance of the CPT
Settlement s

Characteristic pile toe pressure qa,k [kN/m2] at a

cone penetration resistance qc [MN/m2]
7.5

15

25

s = 0.035Da

650 1.200

1.300 1.750

1.750 2.800

s = 0.1Da

1.100 2.000

2.000 3.000

2.800 4.800

Table 3. Values of experience for the characteristic outer shaft friction

qs,k depending on the pile settlement and the resistance of the CPT
Settlement s

Characteristic outer shaft friction qs,k [kN/m2] at

a cone penetration resistance qc [MN/m2]
7.5

15

25

sg*

15 25

30 50

50 70

s = 0.1Da

20 30

35 60

55 75

with sg* [cm] = 0.5Rs,k [MN] 1 [cm]

calculation method 1,
50 % quantile
calculation method 2,
10 % quantile

calculation method 2,
50 % quantile

4
2

2
4
6
8
Rm [MN], static pile load test

10

Figure 7. Calculation results for the characteristic pile resistance Rcal of

both calculation methods in comparison to results Rm of static pile load
tests

Figure 7 shows that the requirements of the calculation

methods for the 10 % and 50 % quantile are fully accomplished.
Further calculations and variations of parameters are given in
Lking 2010.
6

SUMMARY

The load transfer inside a plug of an open-ended displacement

pile was investigated by experimental, numerical and statistical
methods. It was shown that the load transfer takes place by
compression arches. A fully plugged soil could not be
identified.
7

with = 2PLR, see Eq. 2

calculation method 1,
10 % quantile

(6)

Rk: characteristic pile resistance

qis,k: characteristic inner pile skin friction after Table 1
qa,k: characteristic pile toe pressure of the pile contact
area after Table 2
qs,k: characteristic outer pile skin friction after Table 3
Ais: inner shaft area of the pile
Aa: contact area of the pile
As: outer shaft area of the pile

Settlement s

Comparable Calculations

5.4

REFERENCES

API RP 2A-WSD 2007. Recommended Practice for Planning,

Designing and Constructing Fixed Offshore Platforms - Working
Stress Design, 21st Edition, American Petroleum Institute,
Washington
Brucy F., Meunier J. and Nauroy J.-F. 1991. Behavior of Pile Plug in
Sandy Soils during and after Driving. Proceedings of the 23rd
Offshore Technology Conference, OTC 6514, Vol. 1, pp 145-154
Dijkstra J., Broere W., and van Tol A. F. 2006. Numerical Investigation
into Stress and Strain Development around a Displacement Pile in
Sand. Proceedings of the 6th European Conference on Numerical
Methods in Geotechnical Engineering. NUMGE 06. pp 595-600
Empfehlungen des Arbeitskreises Pfhle EA-Pfhle 2012.
Empfehlungen des Arbeitskreises Pfhle; 2. Edition, Ed.
Arbeitskreis Pfhle of the German Society of Geotechnics. Ernst
& Sohn. Berlin
Jardine R. J., Chow F. C., Overy R. F. and Standing J. R. 2005. ICP
Design Methods for Driven Piles in Sands and Clays. Thomas
Telford, London
Kempfert H.-G. 2009. Pfahlgrndungen. Chapter 3.2 in: GrundbauTaschenbuch. 7th edition. Part 3. Ernst & Sohn. Berlin. pp 73-277
Lking J. 2010. Tragverhalten von offenen Verdrngungspfhlen unter
Bercksichtigung der Pfropfenbildung in nichtbindigen Bden.
Schriftenreihe Geotechnik, University of Kassel, Issue 23.
Lking J. and Kempfert H.-G. 2012. Untersuchung der Pfropfenbildung
an offenen Verdrngungspfhlen. Bautechnik 89, Issue 4, pp 264274.
Paik K.-H. and Lee S.-R. 1993. Behavior of Soil Plugs in Open-Ended
Model Piles Driven into Sands. Marine Georesources and
Geotechnology, Vol. 11, pp 353-373
Raffel M., Willert C., Wereley S. and Kompenhans J. 2007. Particle
Image Velocimetry - A Practical Guide. Second Edition, SpringerVerlag, Berlin Heidelberg New York
White D. J., Schneider J. A. and Lehane B. M. 2005. The Influence of
Effective Area Ratio on Shaft Friction of Displacement Piles in
Sand. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Frontiers in
Offshore Geotechnics, Balkema, Rotterdam, pp 741-747

2366

A simplified procedure to assess the dynamic stability of a caisson breakwater

Une procdure simplifie pour valuer la stabilit dynamique dune digue en caissons
Madrid R., Gens A., Alonso E., Tarrago D.

Dep. of Geotechnical Engineering and Geosciences, Technical University of Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain

ABSTRACT: The paper describes a simplified method of analysis used to evaluate the stability of a caisson breakwater to sea wave
actions. An intensive laboratory program was performed in order to evaluate the static and dynamic characteristics of the foundation
soil. Anisotropic and isotropic consolidated cyclic triaxial tests and cyclic simple shear tests were used to define the cyclic interaction
diagram for the foundation soil. The possibility of foundation cyclic mobility due to wave loading and their effect on the breakwater
stability was examined combining the cyclic interaction diagram with the results of finite element analysis. The potential reduction in
soil strength is then incorporated into a conventional stability analysis. The procedure is illustrated by a specific application to a
caisson breakwater that is part of the extension works of the Barcelona Harbour.
RSUM : Larticle dcrit une mthode simplifie pour valuer la stabilit dune digue verticale sous laction de la houle. Les
caractristiques statiques et dynamiques de la fondation ont t values laide dun programme intensif de tests en laboratoire, qui
inclut des essais triaxiaux cycliques isotrope et anisotrope et des essais de cisaillement simple cycliques dans le but dtablir le
diagramme dinteraction cyclique du sol. La possibilit dune mobilit cyclique de la fondation sous laction de la houle et son effet
sur la stabilit de la digue ont t examins en combinant le diagramme dinteraction cyclique ainsi obtenu avec une analyse
numrique par lments Finis. La rduction potentielle de la rsistance du sol est ensuite incorpore dans une analyse de stabilit
conventionnelle. La procdure est illustre par une application spcifique une digue en caissons qui fait partie des travaux
d'extension du port de Barcelone.
KEYWORDS: cyclic tests, interaction diagrams, liquefaction, caisson breakwater, wave loading, stability.
1

INTRODUCTION

Two new breakwaters and a large container area, immediate to a

new quay, are the main development works of the ongoing
extension of Barcelona harbour. A plan view of the new
breakwaters and quays is shown in Figure 1.
Breakwaters have a total length of 6.8 km. The East
breakwater is of a rubble mound type whereas the South
breakwater involves two different types: rubble mound and
vertical caissons. This paper refers to the caissons section that
has a total length of 1.7 km constructed in water depths that
range from 20m to 25m. Most of the foundation soil
immediately under the breakwaters consists of weak sediments
of clayey silts and silty clays belonging to the pro-deltaic
deposits of the Llobregat River.
The paper describes summarily the main geotechnical
features of the foundation ground with special attention given to
undrained strength parameters. The bases for the static design of
the breakwater are then briefly presented. Finally, a description
of the cyclic resistance of the foundation soil is described in
terms of an interaction diagram; this information is then used in
a simplified assessment of the stability of the breakwater under
storm conditions incorporating the potential strength reduction
due to cyclic loading.
2

SOIL PROFILE CHARACTERISITCS

A representative soil profile at the location of breakwaters is

shown in Figure 2. It consists of: i) upper silts and clays, brown
and grey in colour, although dark colours occasionally appear
when organic matter content increases. The thickness of this
deposit underneath the breakwaters is about 50 m. Sandy and
silty sand inter-stratifications, were often found, specially in the

upper levels of the layer. ii) an intermediate layer of gravels and

sands, whose thickness is about 7 m; some silt partings were
also detected. iii) a lower level of clays whose identification
properties are similar to the upper clay unit, although it is a
denser soil. The maximum thickness of this layer is 14 m. iv) a
lower layer of gravels and sands; it includes several clays and
sands stratifications.

Figure 1. Plan view of the new breakwaters and new container areas of
the Barcelona harbour. The location of the caisson breakwater is
indicated.

Closer to the coast line, an upper deltaic sand deposit of

increasing thickness, laid on top of the upper stratum of soft
silty clays, appears. As it would be expected from a deltaic
environment the transitions between this sand deposit and the
upper clays are neither sharp nor regular. This sand deposit is 15
m thick at the shore line but it practically disappears at the
breakwater location and it is not considered further in this
paper.

2367

Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

Some of the geotechnical indices and properties obtained

during the site investigations are shown in Figure 3. The fine
grained materials classify mainly as CL (low plasticity clays)
and ML (low plasticity silts). Water content commonly exceeds
the liquid limit in the upper part of the soft silty clay unit, but at
lower levels it is close to the plastic limit, an indication of the
self weight consolidation of the sediments. Void ratios range
between 0.8 and 1.0 in the upper clay stratum. Dry densities
vary from 1.2 Mg/m3 at the upper clay levels to 1.8 Mg/m3 at
deeper locations.
0
-10

AS-5
AS-6

-20

S-6

AS-4

S-5 Apz-14

AS-3

consolidated range, this parameter is largely proportional to the

consolidation effective vertical stress. Undrained shear strength
has been examined by means of laboratory and in situ tests.
Unconfined compression tests of clay samples provided a
value of cu=0.215v. However, sample disturbance and suction
loss may lead to an underestimation of the real value (e.g.
Tsuchida, 2000). Simple shear tests performed by NGI provided
a value of cu=0.25v. quite consistent with the results of CPTU
tests. Anisotropically consolidated triaxial tests (compression
and extension) yielded a range of cu=0.21 0.33 v, the larger
values associated with compression tests. A summary of results
obtained is presented in Figure 4. The unusually large values of
undrained strength obtained in some vane tests were probably
due the occasional presence of sand lenses or laminations.
300

-30

Unconfined comp.
Triaxial test
Vane test
CPTU tests

-40
-50

cu=0.32'v

200

cu: kPa

-60
-70
-80

cu=0.25'v

100

-90

cu=0.215'v

-100
-110

0
Upper level of
silt and clays

Intermediate level of
gravels and sands

Lower level of
clays

Figure 2. Soil profile under the caisson breakwater

w (%)
10 20 30 40 50 20

wL (%)
30 40 50

Lower level of
gravels and sands

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

'v: kPa

Figure 4. Undrained shear strength. Summary of results

wP (%)
20
40

60

20
40
Depth (m)

60

It was also found that specimens sheared under normal

effective stresses reproducing in situ stress conditions showed
somewhat higher strength ratios than specimens consolidated to
higher effective stress values. This is an indication of some
modest overconsolidation/structure effects due to natural creep
or aging phenomena. However, the additional stresses applied
by the caissons and fills will take the soil in situ to a normally
consolidated state. Therefore, a conservative attitude is favoured
for the selection of the undrained stress ratio. The static design
of the breakwater was eventually performed using a value of
cu=0.25v.

80

100
120

IL (%)

0.4

0.8

1.2

0.8

d (Mg/m3)
1.2
1.6

20

Depth (m)

40
60
80
100
120

Figure 3. Basic soil properties

In the low permeability foundation soils, stability is

controlled by the undrained shear strength (cu). In the normally

BREAKWATER DESIGN

The conventional breakwater design was performed using finite

element analysis as the most efficient method to consider
automatically the variation of undrained shear strength
throughout all stages of construction. The following phases
were considered: i) dredging and bench construction on the new
soil surface, ii) caisson placement and filling, iii) construction
of the superstructure, and iv) backfill behind the caissons to
create a new quay zone. Although all potential limit states were
considered, it should be pointed out that the use of finite
element analysis readily identifies the most critical failure
mechanism at every stage of the analysis. It should also be
noted that the gain in undrained shear strength during each one
of the construction phases was a critical feature with respect to
the stability of the subsequent construction phase.
The wave and uplift forces due to storm loading in the
different phases of construction are listed in Table 1. They were
derived from physical model tests using the specific breakwater
design. Wave forces depend on two factors: the height of the
superstructure that provides the surface on which the wave
impact acts and the wave height that in turn depends on the
intensity of the storm. It can be observed that the wave height
(and hence the storm intensity) is lower in Phase II. This is due
to the temporary character of this Phase that makes it less likely

2368

Technical Committee 209 / Comit technique 209

that an extremely large storm will occur during that limited

period. Probability analysis based on available time series
provides the design storm to be used in each particular stage.
For each construction stage, a variety of factors of safety
were used to assess the degree of stability of the breakwater
affecting either loads or soil strength parameters. In the former
case, wave caisson weight and storm wave loads were
considered both jointly and separately. The values of safety
factors were assessed in relation with the perceived uncertainty
of the parameters involved. Thus, a higher factor of safety was
demanded when only the wave action was considered due to the
much larger uncertainty of the load magnitude associated with
the storm. In fact, uncertainty affects both storm intensity and
the actual effect on the caisson. The final design of the
breakwater is depicted in Figure 5. Note the wide rockfill bench
required for stability. An example of the failure mechanism in a
particular instance of the analysis is shown in Figure 6.

Failure occurs for a given combination of normalized cyclic

and average shear stress. Figure 7 shows the approximate
bounds of these combinations for two different loading
conditions (40 impacts and 1000 impacts). The normalised
cyclic shear stress cy/vc , for low values of the normalized
average shear stress, is close to 0.17 for 40 cycles and to 0.10
for 1000 cycles. A second static bound is provided by the
relationship cy/vc+a/vc=0.25, which is based on the
previous discussion on static undrained strength.

40 impacts

Table 1. Wave and uplift forces acting on the caissons breakwater at

different phases of construction
Shoulder
height
(m)

Wave
height
(m)

Wave
period
(s)

Wave
force
(kN/m)

Force
height
(m)

Dynamic
uplift
(kN/m)

II

No

1036.3

9.48

525.1

III

+6

5.91

12.7

1436.1

10.36

878.2

IV

+11

8.04

12.7

748.9

6.10

766.2

Phase

1000 impacts

+11.00
SEAWARD SIDE

+3.00

0.00

0.00

-13.00
-18.00
-22.00

RIP RAP 300kg

CAISSON

CONCRETE BLOCK

-15.00

RIP RAP 4 ton

-13.75

RIP RAP 300kg

RUBBLE MOUND
-26.00

Figure 7. Interaction diagram from direct simple shear tests (NGI,

2002).

-21.00
-23.00

172.27

Figure 5. Design of the caisson breakwater.

5 SIMPLIFIED ANALYSIS USING THE INTERACTION

DIAGRAM

Figure 6. Failure mechanism for Phase III under storm loading.

CYCLIC SHEAR STRENGTH

However, breakwaters are also subjected to cyclic wave

loading. Storms are the primary source of energy that may cause
cyclic mobility or, in extreme conditions, liquefaction of
foundation soils. Even if such extreme events do not occur,
undrained shear strength may be lower after a severe episode of
cyclic loading. Consequently, clay behaviour under cyclic
loading was also investigated in the laboratory by performing
cyclic simple shear and triaxial tests (on isotropically and
anisotropically consolidated specimens). Data from simple
shear tests were favoured because they appear to correspond
more closely to the actual breakwater foundation conditions
during storm loading.
Results from these tests can be usefully summarized using
interaction diagrams such as that shown in Figure 7. This
diagram shows a relationship between the normalized average
shear stress a/vc, normalized cyclic shear stress cy/vc and
the number of cycles to reach the cyclic mobility criteria. Also,
results obtained from simple shear testing on the plastic
Drammen clay (Goulois et al, 1985) are shown for reference.

An example of the simplified stability analysis concerning

Phase III of construction is presented in this section. The design
storm established for this Phase is summarised in Table 2 that
contains the number of waves of different heights corresponding
to a succession of storm intensities with different durations and
different significant wave heights.
It is assumed that the design storm can be represented as the
application of a number of wave impacts of a certain magnitude.
Then, a static analysis can be used to identify areas in the
foundation soil where the stress state exceed the criteria of
unstable stress defined by the interaction diagram. Naturally, to
use the information contained in the interaction diagram, it is
necessary to transform the variable wave loads of the storm into
a series of cycles of uniform magnitude. This transformation
always involves, to a certain extent, a degree of uncertainty and
approximation. It is therefore advisable to adopt a measure of
conservatism.
With this approach, two loads intensities were selected from
the wave magnitudes shown in Table 2: a large load of 1011.5
kN/m and a smaller load of 341.6 kN/m. The former is assumed
to act forty times and the latter five thousand times. The limit
criteria corresponding to those two numbers of cycles have been
indicated in Figure 7.
Now, it is possible to compute, using a conventional static
finite element analysis and applying the corresponding wave
loads, the points at which such criteria are exceeded, indicating
the possibility that, in those zones, a degree of cyclic mobility
occurs with a potential reduction of the undrained shear
strength. A quite conservative assumption is that the operational
undrained shear strength reduces to the residual value of cu. The
foundation zones affected are shown in Figures 8 and 9. They

2369

Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

are quite similar in the two cases and affect only a quite limited
area of the foundation soil.
Table 2. Characteristics of the design storm

Consideration of
cyclic loading

Number of waves
Wave
height
(m)

Hs =
3m
(24 h.)

Hs =
4m
(24 h.)

Hs =
5m
(24 h.)

Hs =
5.9m
(24 h.)

Wave
force
(kN/m)

Force
height
(m)

1-2

3124

1661

593

150

213.4

9.77

2-3

2203

1693

720

199

341.6

10.28

3-4

848

1133

626

198

475.0

10.62

4-5

195

545

427

161

685.0

10.65

5-6

28

194

236

111

825.4

10.74

6-7

52

108

66

870-5

10.80

7-8

11

41

34

920.0

10.00

8-9

13

16

1011.5

10.36

9-10

1410.1

11.46

10-11

1528.0

11.15

11-12

1559.3

11.38

Yes

20

-20

-40

-60

-80

-60

-40

-20

20

40

60

80

100

120

Figure 8. Foundation zones exceeding the interaction diagram criterion.

Wave load = 341.6 kN/m and 1000 cycles.
20

-20

-40

-60

-80
-100

-80

-60

-40

-20

20

40

60

80

100

Factor of safety
Wave force =
Wave force =
1011.6 kN/m
341.6 kN/m
40 impacts
1000 impacts
1.48
1.18

No

Finally, a new stability analysis is performed with the new

distribution of undrained shear strength of the foundation soil
for the two cases considered. The analysis also considers the
influence of the dynamic uplift caused by the storm loading,
derived from the physical model tests carried out for this
particular breakwater design. The results, in terms of factor of
safety for strength reduction, are shown in Table 3. It can be
seen that consideration of cyclic loading has a moderate but
noticeable impact on the factor of safety. Given the exceptional
character of the design storm and the conservative assumptions
made in the analysis, the factor of safety obtained was
considered adequate for accepting the design.

-80
-100

Table 3. Computed factors of safety (on strength parameters)

120

Figure 9. Foundation zones exceeding the interaction diagram criterion.

Wave load = 1011.5 kN/m and 40 cycles.

2370

1.55

1.40

CONCLUDING REMARKS

A key design feature of a breakwater is the assessment of the

stability of the breakwater when subject to extreme storms. This
is particularly the case for caisson breakwaters in which the
effects of wave action are significantly stronger than for the
classical rubble mound type. A proper consideration of the
dynamic effects would require the performance of a full
dynamic analysis. Here, a simplified stability analysis is
proposed that takes into account the potential reduction of the
shear strength of the soil due to cyclic loading. It is based on the
experimental determination of the interaction diagrams that
provide criteria to identify the conditions for which the soil can
undergo cyclic mobility and strength degradation. The
corresponding strength reduction is then taken into account in
conventional stability analyses. The procedure has been
illustrated by a specific application to a caisson breakwater that
is part of the extension works of the Barcelona Harbour.
7

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors are grateful for the technical and financial support
provided by APB (Autoritat Portuaria de Barcelona).
8

REFERENCES (TNR 8)

Goulois, A.M., Whitman, R.V., and Hoeg, K. (1985). Effect of

sustained shear stress on the cyclic degradation of clay. Proceeding,
Symposium on Strength Testing of Marine Sediments, R.C. Chaney
and K.R. Demars, eds., ASTM STP 883, ASTM, Philadelphia, 336351.
NGI. (2002). Laboratory Testing. Geotechnical Testing Report. March
2002.
Tsuchida, T. (2000). Evaluation of undrained shear strength of soft clay
with consideration of sample quality. Soil & Foundations 40, No 3,
29-42.

The new remediation technique for buried pipelines under permanent ground
deformation
Une nouvelle technique de pose des conduites enterres soumises des dformations
permanentes du sol
Moradi M., Galandarzadeh A., Rojhani M.

Department of Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering of Collage of Civil Engineering, University of Tehran

ABSTRACT: One part of lifelines is buried pipelines such as gas, water and oil pipelines. Permanent ground deformation such as
fault crossing and lateral spreads is one of the more important threats for pipelines. In this research, a new remediation technique for
buried pipeline system subject to permanent ground deformation is proposed. Also this new technique has been evaluated by
centrifuge modeling of buried pipelines subjected to concentrated PGD. In proposed technique, the high porosity gravels are used as
low-density backfill to fill the trench around the pipe near the susceptible area to PGD, thereby reducing soil resistance and soil-pipe
interaction forces and also pipeline strains. Previously, the expanded polystyrene (EPS) geofoam proposed to reduce density of
pipelines backfill. However, the high porosity gravel is better than expanded polystyrene geofoam from many cases such as
workability to construct, environmental effect, durability and cost. In this technical paper, described the proposed technique and also
two centrifuge modeling have been done to evaluate its performance. The comparisons of responses of remediated pipeline with
unremediated pipeline have been shown that the proposed technique is effective considerably.
RSUM : Une partie des rseaux ncessaires au transport du gaz, de leau et du ptrole est constitue de conduites enterres. Les
dformations permanentes du sol dues des tassements ou des mouvements latraux sont l'une des menaces les plus importantes
pour les conduites enterres. Dans cet article, une nouvelle technique de pose des conduites enterres soumises des dformations
permanentes du sol est propose. Cette nouvelle technique a t value par des essais en centrifugeuse sur des canalisations enterres
soumises des dformations permanentes du sol. Pour la technique propose, des matriaux sableux dont la porosit est leve sont
utiliss pour le remplissage des tranches. Ils rduisent les efforts induits par linteraction sol-tuyau. Auparavant, cest le polystyrne
expans geofoam qui tait utilis. Le matriau propos est meilleur que le polystyrne expans geofoam en ce qui concerne la mise en
uvre, l'effet sur l'environnement, la durabilit et le cot. Dans ce papier, la technique propose est dcrite ainsi que deux modles en
centrifugeuse raliss pour valuer sa performance. Les rsultats obtenus montrent que la technique propose est plus efficace que
celle utilise prcdemment.
KEYWORDS: Centrifuge Modeling, Faulting, Lifelines, Pipeline, Earthquake
1 INTRODUCTON
Buried pipelines often serve as lifelines in that they may carry
resources that are essential to the support of human life and this
is the reason to retain them in serviceable condition in every
situation. Among various kinds of natural hazards, earthquakes
happen to be the most serious threats for lifelines serviceability.
They can damage lifelines through faulting, permanent ground
deformation (PGD) and deformations due to seismic waves
propagation. Faulting can affect pipelines in various ways (Fig.
1) and cause severe damages (Fig. 2) depending on faulting
movement direction.
Considering mentioned hazards, lots of statistical, analytical
and numerical studies have been conducted since 1970s in order
to predict pipelines response and vulnerability level and also to
investigate methods of damage mitigation; but it has been a
difficult and somehow impossible way to evaluate theoretical
and analytical research results due to loss of accurate and
efficient records about pipelines response to faulting in actual
case histories of earthquakes (Choo et al. 2007). In order to
compensate such a gap, studies turned towards applying
experimental and physical modeling of this phenomenon. Since
2003, significant researches have been started in U.S.A. and
Japan with support of companies and institutes such as Tokyo
Gas Company, US lifelines Agency, National Science
Foundation in U.S.A, Earthquake Engineering Research Center
and etc. Most of mentioned conducted studies have been
focused on strike-slip faulting. So, still there is lack of studies

on normal and reverse faultings effects and this puts them in

prime importance of research priority.
Herein, the authors investigated the pipeline response due to
reverse faulting and also investigated the use of high porosity
gravel as low-density backfill in pipeline response. It is
expected that low-density backfill for will reduce soil-pipe
interaction and reduce the pipe train.
Table 1. Centrifuge Facility Properties
Property
Exerted acceleration
Acceleration accuracy
Rotational velocity range
Rotation radius
Maximum model weight (up to 100 g)
Maximum model weight (up to 150 g)

1.1

Unit

g
g
rpm
m
kg
kg

Quantity
5 130
+ 0.2
38 208
3
1500
500

Faulting simulator split box

Experimental setup provision in order to use in centrifuge

instrument has its own limitations; for instance, weight and
dimensions of the box is thoroughly tied to the used centrifuge
facility properties and it is of prime importance for the box to
have the minimum weight and dimensions possible together
with having enough strength for high magnitude forces caused
due to high exerted accelerations. Regarding these limitations,
the group-7000 aluminum alloy which has low density and high
strength is used to build up the faulting simulator split box in

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Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

this study. Outer dimensions of the box are 1027668 cm

(lwh) and the inner dimensions are 967023 cm. The split
line of the box which is the faulting line itself, makes the angle
of 30 from the vertical direction. The box setup is assembled
and fixed on a 4 cm thick aluminum block of 15 cm width that
can bear the hydraulic jack caused 5 ton horizontal force and
high magnitude vertical force which is exerted due to high
accelerations. Holes have been cut in the two ending walls of
the box as the backrests for studied structures such as pipelines.
Regarding lack of space in the centrifuge basket, the motivating
system and the other constituents of the simulator must occupy
the minimum space possible.
Moving mechanism has been designed to be enough stable
during the faulting movement and also can bear the high
magnitude unbalanced forces derived from soil-structure
friction.
A wedge-sliding mechanism has been applied for the box
movement to direct the faulting through the 30 specified
direction and prevent form any strike between fixed and moving
parts of the split box. The wedge-sliding mechanism is
consisted of two rails installed with the angle of 30 from the
vertical direction and high level force tolerating ball bearings to
guide the movement as desired. Sliding the wedge forward and
backward, the moving part of the box would have an upwarddownward movement (Fig. 4). Considering the high magnitude
forces and weight increase in high order accelerations, the
moving system has been chosen of hydraulic type to be strong
enough and less space occupying. The velocity and
displacement control can be done by means of electronic
hydraulic valves with a satisfactory level of accuracy and
reliability. The hydraulic pressure generator is installed out of
the centrifuge basket to save a significant amount of space and
is connected to the inside basket moving system by means of
hydraulic pipe and rotary joints.

of low-density soil is equal to 50% of Firoozkouh soil density.

(Table 3)
Table 3. Properties of Firoozkouh and low-density Soil

Sand type

D50

Gs

emax

emin

(mm)

Firoozkouh
161

2.65

0.874

0.548

0.27

Low-Density

1.3

1.4

FC

Cu

Cc

1%

2.58

0.88

~0%

Instrumentation

Two types of instruments containing strain gauge and linear

variable differential transformers (LVDTs) were installed in the
model. The strain gauges are installed in axial and
circumferential directions on the
pipelines with the number of 26 in 7 stations. Strain gauges
are placed in a way that axial and bending strains could be
measures separately. Strain gauges are of the high strain type
and are connected in the quarter bridge form.
Three LVDTs of the whole 5 ones are installed on the
surface of the pipeline to record the deformation profile and the
2 other ones measure the axial displacement of the two endings
of the pipeline. Apart from above, colorful grids were being
used on the surface and between the soil layers.
2 RESULTS
Two tests were conducted in this study. In the first one, a
stainless steel pipe with diameter of 8.0 mm and wall thickness
of 0.4 mm which buried in Firoozkouh sand was subjected to a
70 mm reverse faulting with the acceleration of 40g. In the
second experiment, the stainless steel pipe with 8.0 mm
diameter and 0.4 mm wall thickness which buried in lowdensity gravel was subjected to the reverse faulting with 40g
acceleration. The properties of model and prototype are
indicated in Table 4.
Table 4. Properties of model/prototype for conducted tests
1st Test

Figure 4. General View

1.2

The scaling laws used for this modeling are indicated as

below (Table 2).
Table 2. Scaling laws for centrifuge testing
Parameter

Model / Prototype

Dimensions

Length
Strain
Stress
Acceleration
Axial Rigidity
Flexural Rigidity

1/N
1
1
N
1/N2
1/N4

L
1
ML-1T-2
LT-2
MLT-2
ML3T-2

1.3

Model

Prototype

Model

Prototype

Pipeline Diameter (m)

0.008

0.320

0.008

0.32

Pipeleine Wall
Thickness (m)

0.0004

0.016

0.0004

0.016

Faulting Magnitude (m)

0.070

2.8

0.070

2.8

Backfill

Scaling laws

2nd Test

Faulting Type

Firoozkouh 161
Reverse (60%)

High Porosity Sand

(Low Density)
Reverse (60%)

Following figures illustrate the deformations of pipeline and

soil during the faulting process. In Figs. 9 and 10 bending and
axial strains before pipe failure versus distance from the faulting
in 2nd test are presented.

Soil properties

Soil material used in first test is chosen to be the granular

soil of standard Firoozkouh 161 sand. Soil material used in
second test is high porosity gravel with low density. The density

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Technical Committee 209 / Comit technique 209

Figure 5. Surface Observation of 1st test

Figure 9. Bending strain during faulting- (Top: 1st test, Down: 2nd test)

Figure 6. Surface Observation of 2nd test

Figure 7. Section Observation of 1st test

Figure 10. Axial strain during faulting-(Top: 1st test, Down: 2nd test)

Figure 8. Section Observation of 2nd test

3 CONCLUSIONS
In this article the report of establishment of the first
geotechnical centrifuge in Iran and its initial application in
buried pipelines modeling subjected to faulting are presented.
Also, a brief summary of the modeling details, related scaling
laws and used facilities and instruments are described. Reported
in this experimental study are the axial and bending strains
diagrams of steel pipe versus distance from the normal faulting
before pipe failure for the first time in the literature. Pipe failure
happened almost at 3 cm in model or 1.2 m in prototype offset.

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The use of light weight material to fill pipeline trench is an

affective technique to improve pipeline response to PGD. This
technique changes the pipeline response from wrinkling to
beam buckling which is a better deformation mechanism. In this
mechanism the deformation of pipeline is distributed along the
pipeline, despite of wrinkling mechanism which the
deformation concentrated on two points. Also in beam buckling
mechanism, the axial strain of pipeline is very small and the
maximum bending moment reduced and transferred to the
middle of pipeline. Choo et al. (2007) also investigated the use
of light weight material (polystyrene blocks) to remediate the
behavior of buried pipeline under normal faulting. They found
that this technique improved the performance of pipeline under
PGD condition.

4 REFERENCES
O Rourke, M., Gadicherla, V., and Abdoun, T., (2003). Centrifuge
Modelling of Buried Pipelines, ASCE, Earthquake Engineering;
Rojhani, M., Ebrahimi, M.H., Moradi, M., and Ghalandarzadeh, A.,
(2010). Building the Faulting Simulator Split Box for
Geotechnical Centrifuge Modeling, 4th International Congress of
Geotechnical Engineering and Soil Mechanics in Iran, Tehran, Iran.
Taylor, R. N., (1995). Geotechnical Centrifuge Technology, Chapman
& Hall Press.
Woo Choo, Y., Abdoun, T. H., ORourke, M., and Ha, D., (2007).
Remediation for buried pipeline systems under permanent ground
deformation, Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering.
Wood, D. M., (2004

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Site investigation and geotechnical design strategy for offshore wind development
Investigation gotechniques et stratgie de conception pour le dveloppement doliennes
maritimes
Muir Wood A.
DONG Energy

Knight P.

Parsons Brinckerhoff

ABSTRACT: The development of multi billion euro Offshore Wind Farms presents geotechnical engineers with the opportunity to
create comprehensive detailed ground models incorporating a large variety of geotechnical hazards. However the political structure of
renewable energy projects often leads to a fragmented development team, with no one party appointed for the whole design process.
Inexperienced clients are often commissioning surveys because they think that they want to do a survey rather than for an engineering
reason. This leads to unclear specification, and a resulting survey that does not add the expected value to the project. The authors
demonstrate in this paper how site investigation and ground modelling practices that are followed as routine in the design cycle of
onshore projects can be adapted and applied to add significant value to offshore renewable projects. This paper seeks to set out a
structure for development of the ground model for offshore wind projects, and demonstrates how clients can ensure their surveys are
adding value to the design strategy for their projects.
RSUM : Grce au dveloppement trs coteux de fermes oliennes en mer, les ingnieurs gotechniciens, ont lopportunit de
concevoir des modles de sol dtaills et exhaustifs qui peuvent rendre compte dun large ventail de risques gotechniques.
Cependant la structure politique conduit au fait que les projets concernant les nergies renouvelables se trouvent bien souvent mens
par diverses quipes de conception sans vritable coordination. Des clients inexpriments ont souvent recours des sondages dans le
seul but de faire des sondages et non pour des raisons techniques. Cela conduit avoir des cahiers des charges souvent imprcis qui
napportent rien la valeur attendue du projet. Les auteurs dmontrent dans cet article comment les tudes de terrain et les pratiques
de modlisation du terrain utilises systmatiquement dans les projets sur terre peuvent tre adaptes et appliques aux projets en mer
et peuvent augmenter leur valeur considrablement. Cet article propose une structure de dveloppement des modles terrestres pour
les champs dolienne en mer et dmontre comment les clients peuvent sassurer que leurs sondages valorisent les stratgies de
conception de leurs projets.
KEYWORDS: geotechnical hazard management, site investigation strategy, ground model development, offshore wind farm
1

INTRODUCTION

The offshore wind industry in Northern Europe started with the

development of small demonstration projects. In recent years
these have significantly increased in size, and many of the
current projects are now multi billion euro investments, with
development times in excess of five years. The industry can
demonstrate many examples of how lessons learnt and
knowledge gained from the earlier projects have been
incorporated into the recent larger projects, ultimately leading to
lower capital and operational expenditure per MW of power
generated.
Through this process the design methodology and codes (e.g.
DNV 2011) which were originally predominately based on the
experience of offshore oil and gas infrastructure have also
continued to develop and there are many examples of good
practice in current projects. However, for geotechnical site
investigations this learning process has not been completely
positive. It leads to a tendency to base the scope of the
investigation on a specification for a previous projects, rather
than on what is most appropriate for the site and specific
development.
The authors have been involved in the design of over 15
projects, which when built will total more than 8GW of power.
A review of these projects shows that they have all spent
comparable money on site investigation - typically
approximately 1% of the project capital costs (which on the
current large projects leads to investigations costing in excess of
30M). However the success of the investigations in managing

the geotechnical risks and bringing value to the projects is

extremely variable.
2

EXAMPLE PROJECTS

Typical problems that the authors have experienced are:

investigations not planned to mitigate project specific
geotechnical hazards; poor recording and interpretation of
geological information; planning of surveys not based on the
results of proceeding investigations/studies; and surveys not
specified by the foundation designers.
Some specific examples of good and poor practice on
projects are detailed in the following sections. The project
names have not been stated however the approximate
construction cost of each project is given.
2.1

Poor practice

2.1.1 Project 1 value ~2bn

The site investigation comprised site wide sub-bottom
geophysical survey with three rounds of geotechnical works: (1)
met mast borehole; (2) site wide boreholes; (3) seabed CPTs on
every foundation location. Extensive advanced lab testing and
down hole geophysical methods and pressuremeter tests were
undertaken.
Issues included: the detailed designer was appointed after the
site investigation was completed; insufficient time was allowed
for the interpretation of the geophysical and geotechnical

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Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

surveys; early CPT refusal and lack of boreholes on location

meant that insufficient information was collected at many
locations; and, the advanced cyclic testing undertaken was not
optimised for the design load being applied to the soil.
The above issues meant that stratigraphy was not certain for
the full foundation depth leading to very conservative design
and uncertain driveability.
2.1.2 Project 2 value ~0.3bn
The site investigation comprised a site wide sub-bottom
geophysical survey with several rounds of geotechnical works
comprising CPTs and boreholes.
The primary issue was the detailed designer being appointed
after the site investigation was specified. The boreholes were
not deep enough and insufficient information was gathered
about the bedrock.
The developer had to commission another round of
geotechnical investigation to gather further information for
design and risk mitigation, which resulted in project delays and
additional costs.
2.1.3 Project 3 value ~1.5bn
The site investigation comprised a site wide sub-bottom
geophysical survey with staged geotechnical works comprising
CPTs and boreholes. Extensive advanced lab testing and downhole geophysical methods and pressuremeter tests were
undertaken.
Again, the detailed designer was appointed after site
investigation had been undertaken, resulting in an insufficient
number of boreholes to allow an efficient design.
2.1.4 Project 4 value ~0.1bn
The site investigation comprised a site wide sub-bottom
geophysical survey with staged geotechnical works comprising
CPTs and boreholes.
The specification for the surveys was directly copied by the
client from one of their previous projects in very different
geology, and the detailed designer was appointed after the site
investigations had been undertaken. This resulted in the
geophysical techniques not being suitable for the geology and
the developer had to repeat the geophysical survey to an
enhanced specification.
2.2

Mediocre practice

2.2.1 Project 5 value ~1bn

The site investigation comprised sub-bottom geophysical survey
with one round of geotechnical investigation comprising full
depth CPTs and boreholes.
The geophysics was incorrectly scoped, so when planning
the geotechnical campaign, the detailed designer could not
utilise the geophysics. The project programme was also
compressed, meaning the geotechnical campaign was carried
out in one stage.
More value, cost savings and mitigation of geotechnical risks
could have been achieved with a collaborative geophysical and
geotechnical interpretation and a staged geotechnical campaign
with ground model development.
2.2.2 Project 6 value ~1bn
The site investigation comprised sub-bottom geophysical survey
with one round of geotechnical investigation comprising full
depth CPTs and boreholes with geophysical borehole logging.
Again, the geotechnical campaign was carried out in one
stage with the scope being developed whilst offshore. A more
cost effective survey could have been achieved with a staged
geotechnical campaign with ground model development.

2.3

Good practice

2.3.1 Project 7 value ~2bn

The site investigation comprised sub-bottom geophysical survey
with multi-stage geotechnical investigation comprising CPTs
and boreholes. Extensive advanced laboratory testing was
undertaken.
The foundation designer was involved in the specification of
the surveys, and a ground model was developed based on
collaborative geophysical and geotechnical interpretations. The
geotechnical investigations were specified considering the
confidence in the ground model and the foundation design.
2.3.2 Project 8 value 1.5bn
The site investigation comprised sub-bottom geophysical survey
with multi-stage geotechnical investigation comprising CPTs
and boreholes.
The early geophysics identified a considerable geological
hazard which was successfully mitigated (Liingaard et al. 2012)
through ground model development based on collaborative
geophysical and geotechnical interpretations. A multi-stage
geotechnical investigation allowed the detailed designer to
develop a specific design method and scope the investigations
to verify the variations from design codes.
3

SUGGESTED APPROACH

The above projects highlight the issues regarding quality and

more importantly the effectiveness of the geotechnical
investigations. There are common problems with scoping and
management of site investigations. The offshore wind industry
should look to the experience gained on projects in other fields
of engineering, especially the lessons learnt by large onshore
infrastructure projects. In particular they should: consider more
formal approaches to the management of geotechnical risk;
accept that a staged site investigation will deliver the most cost
effective results; and, consider a contracting structure that
brings the detailed designer onto the project from a very early
stage.
3.1

Management of geotechnical risk

Managing ground risks solely through the traditional practice of

thorough site investigation will not lead to the most cost
effective project. Simply undertaking the most detailed site
investigation that the budget will pay for leads to investigations
being undertaken that are not specifically targeting the
unknowns that are truly affecting the project, and also does not
allow for the fact that the acceptable level of risk at construction
is very different depending on the project developer and their
attitude towards risk.
Developers should therefore seek to apply a more formal
approach of managing geotechnical risk so that the site
investigation specifically targets the unique project hazards.
Clayton (Clayton, 2001) suggests formal processes for
managing geotechnical risk, these have been adapted to form
the recommended process detailed in Figure 1.
Figure 1 shows a design team led approach to planning,
undertaking and reviewing effective site investigations. The
design team identifies all hazards affecting the project (design,
installation, operation and decommissioning). An assessment is
made of the significance of those hazards in consultation with
all project stakeholders. The site studies/investigations are
planned to specifically target the hazards. The results are
studied and the residual hazards reviewed. The consultation is
repeated with the stakeholders and the need for further
investigation evaluated.

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Technical Committee 209 / Comit technique 209

combined with the existing understanding of the site will often

provide the best value to the developer at an early stage.
3.3

Figure 1. Risk based approach to managing geotechnical hazards

In managing this risk based approach it is essential that the

designers appreciate that developers will have different
acceptable levels of risk (Figure 2). This level of risk will
depend on developers sources of funding, project timescale and
contracting/procurement strategy. The acceptable level of risk
will also change as a project develops.

Develop contracting structure that allows early

appointment of the designer

Many of the example projects detailed in Section 2 had

ineffective site investigations because the detailed designer for
the foundations was not appointed until after all site
investigations had been completed. These projects appointed
engineers solely to organise and supervise a single phase of site
investigation who were not otherwise engaged in planning or
design of the project. This practice inhibits continuity or
integration of project development, with the prospect that the
site investigation will not be coupled with other features of the
project planning process and will, in consequence, not provide
adequate answers to vital questions and will not allow
consideration of innovative methods of working. This quote
from Muir Wood (Muir Wood 2000) is just as applicable to
offshore wind farm developments as it is to the tunnelling
projects it was originally written to describe.
Instead developers should seek to engage a designer at the
start of the development phase, who has the competence and
ability to provide the geotechnical engineering for the whole
project. This allows the foundation design and the scope of the
site investigation to develop with the project, which mitigates
project risks and delivers cost effective site investigations.
This is the approach taken by most infrastructure projects of
equal size and complexity to these offshore wind developments.
As these projects have demonstrated, this does not prevent the
use of different project procurement mechanisms, provided that
mechanisms such as novation are available to the developer.
4

APPLIED EXAMPLE

The strategy detailed in Section 3 is being applied to the first

project of the Hornsea Round 3 development area as follows.
4.1

Figure 2. Acceptable level of geotechnical risk to a developer

3.2

Staged site investigations

All of the projects reviewed in Section 2 had separate stages of

site investigation comprising a geophysical followed by a
geotechnical campaign. However the good practice projects had
a multistage geotechnical campaign. Eurocode 7 (EC7) (BS EN
1997-2:2007) states that Ground investigations should
normally be performed in phases depending on the questions
raised during planning, design and construction. The code
goes on to define two distinct phases of investigation
preliminary investigation and design investigation.
The multistage geotechnical investigation allows for a
comparatively cheap ground-truthing geotechnical campaign
early in the design process. This campaign gives the designer
sufficient information to confirm the expected ground model
and develop a preliminary design solution. The design
investigation will then be significantly more effective, since it
can utilise the most effective methods of investigation for the
ground conditions, and fit the foundation type and dimensions
that are being designed.
The strategy outlined in Figure 1 will be most effective when
repeated several times; designers should be wary of trying to
understand all ground based hazards in one stage of
geotechnical investigation. A simple preliminary investigation

2377

Engineering contract setup

For this project, the developer DONG Energy is using inhouse engineers to undertake the geotechnical design and
engineering. This capability is supplemented by the use of
additional consultants appointed to the projects for long term
positions. This setup gives an integrated approach to
engineering and development. Different parts of the project will
have different procurement strategies; where the developer
chooses not to progress the detailed design in house the design
for that element will be contracted to another party, with the
original in-house design team maintained in a reviewing
capacity.
4.2

Desk study

Prior to the desk study, no geotechnical design parameters were

available. The principal geotechnical risks at this stage are
shown in Table 1. At this point, the site investigations cannot be
specified as the foundation type, ground conditions and design
requirements are not understood.
Table 1. Design parameters and primary geotechnical risks prior to desk
study
Design parameter
None

Geotechnical risks
Unknown site constraints
Unknown design constraints
Unknown construction constraints

Following completion of a desk study which includes a

review of geological information, design requirements and
possible foundation types and construction considerations,

Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

geotechnical design information is available and project specific

geotechnical risks can be identified, as shown in Table 2. At this
point the design parameters have been selected based on
geological memoirs and nearby site investigations. The
undrained shear strength of the main clay unit has been used as
an example to show how the design inputs change as more
information is collected.

of the site to progress the design and construction planning and

manage the geotechnical risks.
Some of the project infrastructure will be designed and
developed by others. There is now sufficient knowledge of the
site to be able to define a contract ground model baseline, and
enable the risk to third parties of unknown ground conditions to
be appropriately handled.

Table 2. Design undrained shear strength of main clay unit and primary
geotechnical risks following desk study

4.7

Design parameter

Geotechnical risks

125 to 350 kPa

No wind farm specific ground information

Presence of regional geohazards
Several foundation types possible

The design information and project risks are reviewed at this

stage. Referring to Figure 2, this level of design information and
risk may be acceptable to some clients, in which case the design
and construction risks will be managed with a conservative and
uncertain design, or passed onto a third party with large
financial consequences. However in this case, to confirm the
ground conditions and add confidence to the design, site
investigation works were specified.
4.3

Geophysical survey

A site wide sub-bottom geophysical survey was carried out.

The primary objectives were to: identify the geological units
present; identify any unexpected geological features; and,
collect information to allow preliminary geotechnical boreholes
to be positioned.
4.4

Preliminary geotechnical survey

A preliminary geotechnical survey consisting of seabed CPT

and composite CPT and sampling boreholes was carried out.
The primary objectives were to: validate the desk study and
geophysical survey; collect information for ground model
development including in situ testing and sampling in the
primary units; and, identify unexpected ground conditions and
risks.
Following completion of the preliminary geotechnical site
investigation, the results were interpreted and a ground model
produced.
4.5

Ground model development

The ground model was developed using a collaborative

geophysical and geotechnical approach. The engineering units
were identified and geotechnical parameters selected using the
CPT and laboratory testing results. Wind farm specific ground
information is now known, and the regional geohazards
understood, allowing preliminary design to commence. The
design parameters and risks (Table 3) have been refined,
resulting in a more efficient foundation.
Table 3. Design undrained shear strength of main clay unit and primary
geotechnical risks following preliminary site investigation and ground
model development
Design parameter

Geotechnical risks

Low: 145 kPa

Local variation in site geology

Mean: 240 kPa

Advanced design parameters unknown

High: 325 kPa

4.6

Design team and stakeholder review

The confidence and expected accuracy of the geotechnical

interpretation and risks were reviewed by the design team and
stakeholders. It was decided that there was sufficient knowledge

2378

Future geotechnical survey

The residual project risks are not acceptable for the finalisation
of detailed design. To obtain this information, a small number
of sampling boreholes (to obtain samples for advanced
laboratory testing) complemented by one CPT to the expected
foundation depth (to identify local variability and confirm the
units present) will be carried out. Subsequent investigation may
be required depending on the results of this investigation and
the developers acceptable risk.
5

CONCLUSIONS

Offshore wind projects in their early stages present considerable

challenges to engineers managing the geotechnical hazards
given the large complexity, cost and time scale of the projects.
A review of the site investigations undertaken for various
projects highlights repeated mistakes leading to inefficient site
investigations; namely the site investigations not being planned
to mitigate project specific geotechnical hazards and surveys not
being specified by the foundation designers.
Lessons must be learnt from the wider construction industry,
including: the need for formal approaches to the management of
geotechnical risk; acceptance that a staged site investigation will
deliver the most cost effective results; and, considering a
contracting structure that brings the detailed designer onto the
project from a very early stage.
The authors have proposed an engineer led approach for
managing geotechnical risks, where the design team and
stakeholders are actively involved in assessing and mitigating
the geotechnical risks, allowing the geotechnical foundation
design and site investigation to develop with the project and
ensuring that survey work is specified to directly control project
risks.
These principles are being applied to the first project of the
Hornsea Round 3 development area, where design and
construction risks are being mitigated early with a relatively
small amount of site investigation works.
6

REFERENCES

BS EN 1997-2:2007. Eurocode 7 Geotechnical design Part 2: Ground

Investigation and testing
Clayton C.R.I. 2001. Managing geotechnical risk: improving
productivity in UK building and construction. Institution of Civil
Engineers and Thomas Telford, London.
Det Norske Veritas AS. 2011. Offshore Standard DNV-OS-J101 Design
of Offshore Wind Turbine Structures. Det Norske Veritas, Oslo.
Liingaard M.A. Mygind M. Thomas S. Clare M. and Pickles A. 2012
Evidence of tertiary intrusive rock at the West of Duddon sands
offshore wind farm. Society for Underwater Technology
Proceedings of the 7th International Conference, London 2012,
145-152.
Muir Wood A.M. 2001. Tunnelling: management by design. E&FN
Spon, London.

Diagrammes de stabilit cyclique de pieux dans les sables

Cyclic stability diagrams for piles in sands
Puech A., Benzaria O.

Fugro GeoConsulting, Nanterre, France

Thorel L., Garnier J.

IFSTTAR, Nantes, France

Foray P., Silva M.

3S-R, Grenoble, France

Jardine R.

Imperial College, London, UK

RSUM: Cette communication rassemble des diagrammes de stabilit cyclique obtenus dans des sables siliceux denses et par des
moyens exprimentaux varis : essais in situ sur pieux rels, essais sur pieux modles en grande chambre dtalonnage et essais sur
pieux modles centrifugs. Elle couvre le cas des pieux battus en traction et celui des pieux fors en compression. Les diagrammes
cycliques de stabilit sont des outils prcieux pour une premire estimation de leffet des chargements cycliques sur le comportement
axial des pieux.
ABSTRACT: This paper gathers cyclic stability diagrams obtained from various experimental sources: in situ tests on actual piles,
laboratory tests on model piles in a large calibration chamber and model piles in a centrifuge. Driven piles in tension and bored piles
in compression are addressed. Cyclic stability diagrams are useful tools for a preliminary assessment of the effects of cyclic loadings
on the behaviour of piles.
MOTS-CLS: pieu battu, pieu for, chargement cyclique axial, diagramme de stabilit cyclique
KEYWORDS: driven pile, bored pile, axial cyclic loading, cyclic stability diagrams

INTRODUCTION

Le concept de diagramme de stabilit cyclique pour reprsenter

de manire synthtique la rponse des pieux soumis des
chargements cycliques axiaux a t introduit dans les annes 80
par Karlsrud et al. (1986) pour les argiles et par Poulos (1988)
pour les sables.
Ce concept se rvle particulirement utile pour juger en
premire estimation de leffet potentiel des chargements
cycliques sur la rponse des pieux (Jardine et al., 2012)
On dispose en pratique de peu dlments dans les sables. La
prsente communication propose des diagrammes cycliques
applicables aux pieux battus et aux pieux fors dans les sables
denses.
2
2.1

Les essais cycliques ont utilis les installations du projet

GOPAL (Parker et al., 1999). Au total 21 essais statiques et 14
essais cycliques ont t effectus sur les six pieux de raction du
projet GOPAL. Ces pieux ont t battus jusqu une profondeur
denviron 19 m avec une relation espacement/diamtre du pieu
denviron 15. Leur diamtre est de 457 mm.
Plusieurs sries de chargements cycliques ont t appliques,
entrecoupes dessais statiques rfrentiels en traction, la
plupart dentre eux avec des cycles uniquement en traction pour
mieux individualiser la distribution des charges entre la pointe
et le frottement latral.
La rponse des pieux au chargement cyclique est dcrite
dans Jardine & Standing, 2012 ; Tsuha et al., 2012; Rimoy et
al., 2013.
2.2

ESSAIS EN TRACTION
Essais de Dunkerque (ICL)

Sept pieux tubulaires en acier base ouverte non instruments

ont t tests par lImperial College de Londres (ICL) sur un
site de sable marin dans le secteur Industriel Ouest du port de
Dunkerque, France (Jardine & Standing, 2000). Le profil du sol
est caractris par 3 m de remblai hydraulique sur du sable des
Flandres. Le sable est compos principalement de quartz (84%),
dalbite et microcline (8%) et de dbris de coquillages CaCO3
(8%). Les profils pntromtriques (qc) du site varient entre 10
et 35 MPa selon la profondeur et lemplacement. La densit
relative est en moyenne denviron 75%. Des essais de
cisaillement direct et triaxiaux indiquent un angle de frottement
de pic de 35 40 et une valeur dtat critique cv ~ 32. Des
renseignements supplmentaires sur les caractristiques du site
et les essais de laboratoire raliss sont prsents par Jardine et
al. (2006).

2379

Essais en chambre dtalonnage (3SR-ICL-SOLCYP)

Dans le cadre dune coopration entre lImperial College de

Londres (ICL), le Laboratoire 3SR de lUniversit de Grenoble
et le Projet SOLCYP, plusieurs sries dessais on t ralises
sur un pieu modle instrument dans la chambre dtalonnage
du laboratoire 3SR de Grenoble. Lobjectif initial tait de tenter
de reproduire une chelle de laboratoire et dans un
environnement contrl les rsultats obtenus par Jardine et
Standing, 2000 sur les pieux battus dans le sable de Dunkerque.
La chambre de calibration a une hauteur de 1,5m et un
diamtre de 1,2m. Dans sa paroi intrieure, une membrane en
latex et une couche de graisse en silicone ont t mises comme
systme danti frettage pour avoir un meilleur contrle des
conditions Ko du sol. Un systme disolation permet deffectuer
les essais une temprature constante comprise entre 18 et 19.
Le sable utilis est le sable de Fontainebleau NE34, (d50 =
0,2 mm, max = 17,2 kN/m3 et min = 14,2 kN/m3). Pour
lensemble des essais prsents, ce sable t mis en place par
pluviation en obtenant un indice de densit relative compris
entre 0,65 et 0,70. Le massif de sable est soumis une pression

Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

2.4

0,8
41

1
12

0,6
0,4

Unstable

13
24
Metastable
206
9
>221 27
>200
>1000

0,2
0,0
0,0

0,2

La caractrisation complte dun essai de chargement cyclique

suppose la dfinition des paramtres suivants :
Qm: valeur moyenne de la charge sous chargement cyclique,
Qc : demi-amplitude du chargement cyclique,
Nf : nombre de cycles conduisant la rupture,
N : nombre de cycles appliqus en labsence de rupture,
f : frquence des cycles (en gnral 0,5Hz)
Lessai est dit rpt (one-way) si Qc< Qm et altern (two-way)
si Qc>Qm. On dfinit de plus :
Qu : capacit statique ultime selon le mode considr (Qut en
traction et Quc en compression).
Il est pratique de prsenter les rsultats dessais de
chargements cycliques dans un diagramme o chaque srie de
chargement est identifie par le couple de paramtres
normaliss Qm/Qu et Qc/Qu. Ce type de reprsentation permet de
bien visualiser les zones de fonctionnement sous chargements
rpts et sous chargements alterns. Si on affecte chaque point
du nombre de cycles Nf ayant provoqu la rupture ou du nombre
de cycles N appliqu sans provoquer la rupture on peut dfinir
des zones de stabilit ou d instabilit du pieu. On voit
que la taille de ces zones dpend du (des) critre(s) de rupture
choisis.
On reproduit sur les Figures 1 et 2 les diagrammes cycliques
obtenus pour les essais de Dunkerque (Jardine and Standing,

2380

345

0,4
0,6
Qmean/QT

0,8

1,0

Figure 1 : Diagramme de stabilit cyclique des pieux battus de

Dunkerque (daprs Jardine and Standing, 2012)

1,0

Nf=

Nf=number of cycles to failure

ow

ay

0,8

ay
ew
On

0,6
5
10
100

0,4

Unstable
1

10

4
165

66

500

Diagrammes de stabilit cyclique

Stable
-0,2

Lapplication de cycles sur un pieu install dans du sable

provoque une succession de petits glissements relatifs sol-pieu
dont le cumul dtermine le dplacement global. La vitesse de
dplacement initiale est fonction de lamplitude Qc et du niveau
de chargement maximal Qmax mais ces mmes paramtres
conditionnent galement lvolution du frottement qui peut se
dtriorer pour des cycles de grande amplitude ou samliorer
pour des cycles de faible amplitude (Tsuha et al., 2012). Sur un
pieu sollicit en traction, la vitesse initiale se modifie pour :
- soit conduire vers la rupture : dans ce cas la vitesse
saccrot. La rupture peut tre dfinie de manire
conventionnelle (par exemple pour un dplacement de la
tte du pieu de 0,1D) ou lorsque se produit une acclration
brutale du taux de dplacement ;
- soit conduire vers la stabilisation : la vitesse dcrot
continument jusqu passer en dessous dun seuil o on
peut considrer que les dplacements cumuls deviennent
non significatifs.

No cyclic failure
First failure
Cyclic failure after previous cyclic or static failure

Tw

Critres de rupture

1,0

Q cyclic /Q T

2.3

2012) et pour les essais en chambre de calibration (Tsuha et al.,

2012).

Q cyclic/Q T

verticale applique sur la surface du massif de 150 kPa,

correspondant une rsistance de pointe pntromtrique qc de
20 23 MPa.
Le pieu modle instrument a t dvelopp par ICL et est
dcrit en dtail dans Jardine et al (2009). Cest un pieu base
ferme de 36 mm de diamtre, instrument en 3 niveaux le long
du ft pour mesurer les contraintes tangentielles et radiales dans
la surface du pieu. Chaque niveau dinstrumentation inclut aussi
un capteur de force. Pour les derniers essais raliss, il a t
quip dun capteur de force en pointe.
Linstallation initiale du pieu a t effectue jusqu une
profondeur denviron 1 m par des cycles denfoncement
successifs de 5 20 mm une vitesse de 0,2 mm/s, suivis dune
dcharge complte, de faon simuler les effets dun processus
de battage.
Le programme exprimental a inclus quatorze essais
cycliques autant sous contrle de dplacement que sous contrle
en charge pour des cycles alterns et non-alterns (seulement en
traction).
Une premire partie des rsultats concernant les essais de
chargement cyclique a t prsente par Tsuha et al. (2012). On
trouvera de plus amples informations dans Rimoy et al., 2013

0,2

Meta-Stable

580

1000
>1000

0,0
-0,2

Stable
0,0

0,2

0,4
Qmean/QT

0,6

0,8

1,0

Figure 2 : Diagramme de stabilit cyclique des pieux modles en

chambre de calibration (daprs Tsuha et al., 2012)

Pour ces deux diagrammes, la rupture est atteinte lorsque le

dplacement de la tte du pieu atteint 0,1D. La zone instable
caractrise les essais ayant atteint le critre de rupture avant 100
cycles. La zone stable correspond une zone de faible
amplitude de chargement cyclique dans laquelle les pieux ont
t soumis plus de 1000 cycles sans accumuler de
dplacements significatifs (pour les deux types de pieux) ou
pour lesquels la vitesse de dplacement tait infrieure 1mm
pour 1000 cycles (pieux de Dunkerque). Entre ces deux zones
se situe une zone qualifie de mtastable dans laquelle les pieux
atteignent la rupture entre 100 et 1000 cycles ou dveloppent
des taux de dplacement pouvant faire craindre des ruptures audel de 1000 cycles.

Technical Committee 209 / Comit technique 209

Il est intressant de mentionner que les trois zones de

stabilit resteraient inchanges si on adoptait un critre de
rupture 0,03 D comme pour les pieux en compression ci-aprs.
3
3.1

ESSAIS EN COMPRESSION
Essais de Loon-Plage (SOLCYP)

Dans le cadre du projet national SOLCYP (Puech et al., 2012

des essais sur pieux rels ont t conduits sur le site de LoonPlage constitu de sables denses. Cinq pieux fors et deux pieux
mtalliques battus ont t installs et soumis des sries de
chargements statiques et cycliques. Les rsultats obtenus sur les
pieux fors sont prsents dans Benzaria et al. (2013).
Le site exprimental se situe sur la commune de Loon-Plage
(59) prs de Dunkerque dans le Nord de la France. Il se
caractrise par une couverture de remblais rcents (0-0,6m) et
dargile sableuse (0,6-2,2m) sous laquelle on rencontre la
formation de sable des Flandres.
Le sable est un sable siliceux trs fin (D50 voisin de 0,15mm)
et mal gradu (coefficient duniformit CU=0,98) trs proche de
celui rencontr sur le site voisin des essais ICL (mme origine).
La formation est latralement homogne et se caractrise par
des valeurs de rsistance au cne qn croissant de 5 40 MPa
vers 8 m de profondeur pour se stabiliser ensuite entre 30 et 50
MPa jusque vers 11,5m. Linterprtation des CPT conduit un
indice de densit ID compris entre 0,7 et 0,9 (sable dense trs
dense).
Une srie dessais triaxiaux monotones a donn un angle de
frottement interne cv voisin de 31 en bon accord avec les
valeurs trouves sur le sable de Dunkerque (Jardine et Standing,
2000)
Les deux pieux F4 et F5 sont gomtriquement identiques
(D=420mm, fiche 8m). Ils ont t excuts laide dune tarire
axe creux visse dans le sol sans extraction notable de
matriau puis extraite sans dvissage tandis que le bton est
dvers simultanment par l'axe creux. Les pieux sont quips
dun train dextensomtres amovibles de type LCPC introduits
dans un tube de rservation positionn entre les armatures.
Les pieux ont t tests trois mois environ aprs leur mise en
place. Les programmes de chargement comportaient des essais
statiques de rfrence paliers dune heure selon la norme NF P
94-150, des essais de chargement rapides (rduction des paliers
3mn) et des essais de chargement cycliques axiaux de type
rpt la frquence de 0.5Hz. Une description plus prcise des
modes de chargement est indique dans Benzaria et al. (2012).
3.2

Essais sur modles rduits centrifugs (SOLCYP)

Une campagne dexprimentations sur modles rduits

centrifugs a t ralise sur la centrifugeuse gotechnique de
lIFSTTAR Nantes (Guefrech et al., 2012). Les pieux
dlancement 31 sont raliss lchelle 1/23me. Leur diamtre
est de 18 mm. Leur surface est parfaitement rugueuse. Ils sont
mis en place selon un procd non refoulant consistant
essentiellement mettre le sable en place par pluviation alors
que le pieu est dj pr-positionn dans le conteneur. Cette
technique simule un pieu moul en place comme les pieux fors
la tarire creuse du site de Loon-Plage.
Le sable de Fontainebleau NE34 sec est en tout point
identique celui utilis au laboratoire 3SR pour les essais en
chambre dtalonnage et prsente des proprits physiques et
mcaniques trs voisines de celle du sable des Flandres.
On sintresse dans ce qui suit une srie dessais raliss
dans un massif forte densit (ID ~ 0.7) la frquence de 1Hz.
Seuls les essais de chargement cyclique en compression rpte
sont analyss.

3.3

Critre de rupture

La dfinition de critres de rupture en compression est plus

dlicate quen traction. En effet, quelle que soit la vitesse de
dplacement initiale (sur les premiers cycles), les dplacements
tendent globalement vers la stabilisation. Cette observation est
commune aux pieux in situ (Benzaria et al., 2013) et aux pieux
modles (Guefrech et al.,2012). En effet, mme sil y a
dgradation rapide du frottement, le dplacement du pieu
provoque une mobilisation progressive de leffort de pointe qui
ralentit progressivement les tassements.
Le critre de rupture ne peut alors tre dfini de manire
conventionnelle (e.g. 0,1D) mais doit sexprimer en termes de
dplacement cyclique acceptable. Ce critre pourra tre franchi
sur les tous premiers cycles en cas de chargement trs svre
(avec une vitesse de dplacement forte voire croissante) mais
plus gnralement au bout dun nombre de cycles plus ou moins
important et avec une vitesse de dplacement dcroissante.

Figure 3 : Vitesses de dplacements des pieux en compression pour les

essais en centrifugeuse

Lanalyse des vitesses de dplacement effectue sur les

pieux modles centrifugs illustre les phnomnes en jeu
(Figure 3). On distingue trois familles dessai : a) les essais pour
lesquels un tassement de 0,1D est atteint en moins de 500 cycles
et qui prsentent une dcroissance permanente de la vitesse de
tassement ; b) ceux pour lesquels ce tassement est atteint entre
1000 et 5000 cycles avec une vitesse de tassement qui semble se
stabiliser ; c) ceux pour lesquels la vitesse de tassement devient
rapidement trs faible (< 0,5 mm pour 1000 cycles). Lvolution
vers des dplacements importants est alors improbable.

Figure 4 : Vitesses de dplacement des pieux en compression pour les

essais de Loon-Plage

2381

Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

La Figure 4 montre le mme type dvolution des vitesses de

dplacement pour les pieux de Loon-Plage.
3.4

Diagrammes de stabilit cyclique

On prsente sur les Figures 5 et 6 les diagrammes de stabilit

cyclique obtenus pour les essais cycliques en compression sur
pieux fors de Loon-Plage et les pieux mouls en centrifugeuse.
Pour ces deux diagrammes, la rupture est dfinie pour un
dplacement du pieu de 0,03 D. La zone instable caractrise les
essais ayant atteint le critre de rupture avant 100 cycles. La
zone stable correspond une zone de faible amplitude de
chargement cyclique dans laquelle les pieux nont pas atteint le
critre de rupture et les vitesses de dplacement sont faibles.
Entre ces deux zones se situe la zone qualifie de mtastable
dans laquelle les pieux atteignent la rupture entre 100 et 1000
cycles.

moyens varis : essais in situ sur pieux rels, essais sur pieux
modles en chambre dtalonnage et essais sur pieux modles
centrifugs. Elle couvre le cas des pieux battus en traction et
celui des pieux fors en compression.
Les diagrammes cycliques de stabilit sont des outils
prcieux pour juger de la svrit des chargements cycliques sur
le comportement axial des pieux.
Lattention est attire sur la difficult de dfinir des critres
de rupture significatifs, notamment en compression.
Linterprtation des diagrammes ne peut tre dissocie des
critres choisis pour les laborer.
5

La rdaction de cette communication a t rendue possible par

la collaboration de nombreux chercheurs et organismes. Les
auteurs remercient tous leurs collgues impliqus dans ces
recherches et les diffrents organismes ayant autoris la
publication des rsultats.
6

Figure 5 : Diagramme de stabilit cyclique pour les pieux fors de

Loon-Plage

Figure 6 : Diagramme de stabilit cyclique pour les pieux mouls en

centrifugeuse

On constate une bonne concordance entre les deux

diagrammes. Il est recommand de ne pas extrapoler les
donnes dans le domaine des essais alterns. Les donnes
disponibles (non montres ici) indiquent en effet une forte
rduction des zones mtastable et stable dans le domaine
altern.
4

CONCLUSION

Cette communication rassemble des diagrammes de stabilit

cyclique obtenus dans des sables siliceux denses et par des

2382

REMERCIEMENTS

REFERENCES

AFNOR.1999. NF P 94-150. Norme Franaise. Sols: Reconnaissance et

Essais Essai statique de pieu sous effort axial Partie 1: en
compression et Partie 2: en traction
Benzaria O., Puech A., and Le Kouby A. 2012. Cyclic axial load-tests
on driven piles in overconsolidated clay, Offshore Site Investigation
and Geotechnics, SUT, London
Benzaria A., Puech A. et Le Kouby A. 2013. Essais cycliques axiaux
sur des pieux fors dans des sables denses. Proceedings 18th
ICSMGE, Paris
Guefrech A., Rault G, Chenaf N., Thorel L., Garnier J., Puech A. 2012
Stability of cast in place piles in sand under axial cyclic loading .
Proc. 7th Int. Conf. Offshore Site investigation and Geotechnics.
London. 12-14 sept. pp.329-334.
Jardine, R.J. and Standing, J.R. 2000. Pile load testing performed for
HSE cyclic loading study at Dunkirk, France. Two Volumes.
Offshore Technology Report OTO 2000 007; Health and Safety
Executive, London. 60p and 200p.
.Jardine, R.J., Standing, J.R. & Chow, F.C. 2006. Some observations of
the effects of time on the capacity of piles driven in sand.
Geotechnique, 56 (4), 227-244.
Jardine, R., Bitang, Z., Foray, P., & Dalton, C. 2009. Experimental
Arrangements for Investigation of Soil Stresses Developed around a
Displacement Pile. Soils and Foundations, 49(5), 661673.
Jardine, R.J. and Standing. 2012. Field axial cyclic loading experiments
on piles driven in sand. Soils and Foundations, 52(4), 723736.
Jardine R, Puech A and Andersen K. 2012. Cyclic loading of offshore
piles: potential effects and practical design. Proc.7th Int. Conf. on
Offshore Site Investigations and Geotechnics, SUT,. London.
Karlsrud K., Nadim F. and Haugen, T. 1986. Piles in clay under cyclic
axial loading - Field tests and computational modeling. Proc. 3rd
Int. Conf. on Numerical Methods in Offshore Piling, Nantes, France
Parker, E. J., Jardine, R.J., Standing, J.R. and Xavier, J. 1999, Jet
grouting to improve offshore pile capacity. Offshore Technology
Conference, Houston, OTC 10828.
Poulos H.G. 1988 Cyclic stability diagram for axially loaded piles.
Journal of Geot. and Geoenv. Eng. 114 (8): 877-895 .
Puech A., Canou J., Bernardini C., Pecker A., Jardine R., and Holeyman
A. 2012. SOLCYP: a four year JIP on the behavior of piles under
cyclic loading. Offshore Site Investigation and Geotechnics, SUT,
London
Rimoy S., Jardine R. and Standing J. 2013. Displacement response to
axial cyclic loading of driven piles in sand. Proceedings 18th
ICSMGE, Paris
Tsuha, C., Foray, P., Jardine, R., Z.X., Y., Silva, M., & Rimoy, S. 2012.
Behaviour of displacement piles in sand under cyclic axial loading.
Soils and foundations, 52(3), 393410.

Utilisation
Utilisation des
des essais
essais d'expansion
d'expansion cyclique
cyclique pour
pour dfinir
dfinir des
des modules
modules lastiques
lastiques en
petites
dformations
en petites dformations
Determining
Determining small
small strain
strain elastic
elastic modulus
modulus using
using cyclic
cyclic expansion
expansion tests
tests
Reiffsteck
Reiffsteck P.,
P., Fanelli
Fanelli S.,
S., Tacita
Tacita J.-L.
J.-L.

Univ
Univ Paris
Paris Est,
Est, IFSTTAR
IFSTTAR GER,
GER, Paris,
Paris, France
France

Dupla
Dupla J.-C.
J.-C.

Univ
Univ Paris
Paris Est,
Est, Marne-la-Valle,
Marne-la-Valle, Navier
Navier Gotechnique
Gotechnique

Desanneaux
Desanneaux G.
G.

CETE
CETE de
de lOuest,
lOuest, LRPC
LRPC Saint
Saint Brieuc,
Brieuc, France
France
RSUM : Depuis trente ans, la ralisation d'essais d'expansion cycliques raliss en trous prfors ou fors l'avancement sur
diffrents sites exprimentaux a permis de disposer d'une base assez importante de cas. La qualit de ces rsultats permet de driver
des paramtres de dformabilit des taux de dformation faibles. Ces essais cycliques ont t raliss au pressiomtre Mnard et au
pressiomtre autoforeur. Un peu moins d'une dizaine de sites ont t tudis permettant dobserver le comportement de matriaux
sableux et argileux normalement consolids et surconsolids. Cette communication prsente le matriel utilis ainsi que les
procdures suivies. Le programme d'essai compos de plusieurs phases de cycles damplitude variable a t propos dans les annes
quatre-vingt. On observe une volution du module en fonction du nombre de cycles, de la nature du matriau et du rapport de
l'amplitude et de la position moyenne avec la contrainte horizontale en place. Une synthse des rsultats des essais obtenus sur ces
sites est prsente.
ABSTRACT: For thirty years, realization of cyclic expansion tests carried out in borehole pockets drilled using a separate tool or
integrate in the probe, on different experimental sites allowed to have a rich database. The quality of these results allows to derive
stress-strain parameters at low strain level. These cyclic tests were carried out using Menard and self-boring pressuremeters. A little
less than ten sites were studied covering the behavior of sandy and clayey materials normally consolidated or overconsolidated. This
paper will present the equipment used and procedures applied. Usually, the test program, which was proposed in the eighties, consists
of several phases of cycles of variable amplitude. One can observe a shift of the module depending on the number of cycles, the
nature of the material and the ratio of the amplitude and the mean position compared to the at rest horizontal stress. A summary of test
results obtained on these sites is presented.
MOTS-CLS : comportement cyclique, essais dexpansion de cavit, pressiomtre autoforeur, pressiomtre Mnard
KEYWORDS: cyclic behavior, cavity expansion test, Self-boring pressuremeter, Mnard pressuremeter.

INTRODUCTION

Avec le matriel dessai pressiomtrique Mnard, il est possible

de raliser des essais dexpansion par palier (norme NF P94110-1) et des essais cycliques (norme NF P94-110-2) (AFNOR,
1999 et 2000). Ces derniers essais comportent un cycle ralis
par paliers, dans les mmes conditions que lessai
pressiomtrique Mnard objet de la norme NF P 94-110-1.
Lessai dexpansion classique, dans les conditions de forages
prconises par la norme NF P 94-110-1 et avec le protocole de
chargement propos, ne donne pas de rsultats utilisables
directement dans une tude de la dformabilit des ouvrages
notamment lorsque la connaissance des modules en petite
dformation est ncessaire (Combarieu et Canpa, 2001).
Les essais avec boucle de dchargement-rechargement
permettent de dterminer un module cyclique de dformation.
Les valeurs obtenues sont intermdiaires entre les modules en
petites dformations obtenus au laboratoire, ou avec des essais
de propagation dondes in situ, et les modules Mnard usuels
(Les pressiomtres Louis Menard, 1960, Borel et Reiffsteck,
2006). Toutefois, un seul cycle est insuffisant pour cerner
lvolution des caractristiques du sol sous chargement cyclique
(Dupla et Canou, 2003). Ltude prsente, ralise dans le
cadre du projet national SOLCYP (projet de recherche sur le
comportement des pieux soumis des sollicitations cycliques,
voir le site www.pnsolcyp.org pour plus dinformation),
comporte des essais multi-cycles raliss avec la technique de la
sonde mise en place dans un trou pr-for ou for
lavancement.

DISPOSITIF EXPRIMENTAL

Le principe de lessai consiste mesurer lvolution du volume

inject lors de lapplication de cycles de pression.
2.1

Matriel

La mesure de la variation de volume en fonction des cycles se

fait soit par mesure du volume deau inject, soit par mesure du
dplacement dun palpeur (Figure 1a et b). Lide tant de
pouvoir raliser des essais avec une sonde pressiomtrique mise
en uvre par autoforage ou dans un pr-forage de type Mnard
(AFNOR, 2000).
Le matriel utilis dvelopp par lentreprise Jean Lutz SA
est un contrleur pression volume (CPV) (de type PREVO),
capable de piloter des lectrovannes par un ordinateur de type
PC via une application spcifique.

2383

Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

acquisition

PC

eau

gaz

gaz

cellule de garde

cellule de garde

cellule de mesure

cellule de mesure
cellule de garde

cellule de garde

a)

Dans la premire zone dsigne comme lastique , le

module atteint une valeur quasi indpendante du niveau de
dformation. Il est appel module initial G0.
Les courbes en partie monotone sont dcrites par un module
scant (Gs,1) dfini par la pente de la droite reliant lorigine
au point actuel et en partie cyclique, un autre module scant
(Gp,N) dtermin par la pente de la droite reliant les deux points
dinversion du cycle N. Les modules maxima des cycles sont
calculs avec la relation (avec les notations de la Figure 3) :

PC

b)

Figure 1. Architecture de lessai cyclique (a) au pressiomtre Mnard,

(b) au pressiomtre autoforeur

Le principe de fonctionnement est le suivant. Les diffrentes

oprations manuelles sont ralises, soit directement sur le
CPV, soit par le programme. Le pilotage en cyclique est ralis
sur la base dun fichier dessai acceptant tout type de signal,
harmonique ou multifrquence. Le suivi se fait en temps rel sur
un onglet graphique ou sur le tableau de valeur.
2.2

Mthode dessai

Durant les annes 70, lAssociation pour la Recherche en

Gotechnique Marine rassemblant diffrentes entreprises,
bureaux dtude et tablissements de recherche dans le domaine
a men une campagne, sur plusieurs sites, dessais cycliques au
pressiomtre. Les dtails des exprimentations sont rassembls
dans plusieurs rapports et articles du Symposium sur la
pressiomtrie et ses applications en mer tenu en 1982 Paris
(Jzquel et le Mhaut, 1982 ; Puech et al., 1982). Trois types
dessais furent raliss ; nous prsentons les deux mis en uvre
dans la prsente tude :
- essai de chargement cyclique entre deux bornes de
pression pM et pm (Figure 2 a),
- essais de chargement entre deux bornes de pression
variables, dont la moyenne est cependant constante, la borne
infrieure restant suprieure po la pression des terre au repos
(Figure 2 b).

Figure 3. Calcul des modules des cycles

Le mode dinterprtation est bas sur lvolution de laire

caractristique des boucles de chargement dchargement ainsi
que du module scant des boucles dhystrsis (Figure 3).
3
3.1

ESSAIS CYCLIQUES
Essais du LRPC de Saint Brieuc

la fin des annes 70, le laboratoire des Ponts et Chausse de

Saint Brieuc a ralis plusieurs campagnes dessais dexpansion
cyclique au pressiomtre autoforeur (modle PAF76 de
diamtre 132 mm). Ces essais comptaient une centaine de
cycles voire plusieurs milliers de cycles (dure de 24 72
heures). Ils ont t raliss sur deux sites principaux Cran et
Plancot (Le Mhaut et Jzequel, 1980).

Figure 2. Diffrents types dessais cycliques

Les paramtres retenus pour les essais cycliques dcoulent de la

mthode propose (cf. ci avant) : essai pression contrle ;
adaptation de la frquence au type de sol pour tenter de rester
drain, niveau de sollicitation : 0,8 ( Rc = pcyc /p0) ; frquence
: 0,01 0,05 Hz et nombre de cycles gal 50.
La pression initiale pm utilise pour dmarrer lessai est
dfinie comme la contrainte horizontale en place (pression des
terres de repos) (effective de prfrence) et la pression
maximale pM est gale (1+0,8)pm (Dupla et Canou, 2003). La
pression pm, qui a t prise gale p0, a t dfinie partir des
rsultats dessais dexpansion de type Mnard antrieurs par la
mthode propose par Briaud (1992).
2.3

La boucle parcourue dans ces squences de

dchargement/remise en charge est de forme ellipsodale. Elle
reprsente lnergie dissipe en dformation plastique.
Lvolution de linclinaison des cycles ou module au cours des
cycles permettra dvaluer le comportement du sol. On peut
valuer le durcissement ou ladoucissement cyclique et
laccumulation de dformation, la stabilisation ou la relaxation
ou leffet rochet.

Dfinition des modules

Lintrt de raliser des cycles avec le pressiomtre pour obtenir

des modules en petites dformations est apparu trs tt (Les
pressiomtres Louis Menard, 1960). Ds lorigine, plusieurs
modules ont t dfinis partir des courbes exprimentales.

2384

3.1.1
Site de Plancot
Le site est constitu dune parcelle plane en bordure de la
rivire Arguenon. Le sol est constitu de sols fins trs lches :
silts en surface (0 4 m), sables fins ensuite (surtout de 6 9 m)
puis des argiles (de 10 12 m) avec quelques inclusions de
graviers et de sables. Le substratum et 15 m. La nappe fluctue
en fonction des saisons entre 0,30 et 1,50 m.
3.1.2
Site de Cran
La plaine alluviale de la Vilaine en aval de Redon est une valle
sdimentaire de prs de 2 km de large. On y rencontre un dpt
dargile sur une paisseur de 10 20 m, reposant sur une couche
de sable et de galets qui recouvre le substratum rocheux.
Cran, la rive droite est constitue par un dpt dargile molle
marine de 17 m dpaisseur reposant sur un substratum rocheux
(schiste et phtanites).

Technical Committee 209 / Comit technique 209

3.2.1
Site de Gosier
Les premiers essais avec le nouveau matriel ont t entrepris
sur le site de Gosier en Guadeloupe situ dans une zone
potentiellement liqufiable, instrumente et tudie dans le
cadre du projet ANR Belle Plaine. Des essais pressiomtriques
Mnard (par paliers) ont t raliss pour complter les profils
obtenus au pntromtre statique pointe lectrique et dfinir
les pressions p0 utiliser puis deux sondages pressiomtriques
cycliques ont t raliss.
La figure 4a prsente les courbes de la pression impose
corrige en fonction de la variation volumique obtenue pour 4
essais de la srie MC2. Aprs une premire partie qui
correspond la monte la charge moyenne en monotone, la
phase cyclique entre pM et pm montre la tendance la
stabilisation de quasiment tous les essais, mme si celle-ci na
jamais t atteinte. Apparemment, lessai la profondeur 7 m
montre une accumulation importante de dformation volumique
(couche dargile molle).

2.5

3m
5m

7m
9m

2.5

3.5

1m
4

2m
3m

3.5

4m

2.5

2.5

1.5

1.5

0.5

0.5

cycle 20
cycle 10
cycle 1
cycle 1
cycle 10
cycle 20

V/Vo (%)

V/Vo (%)

0
0

20

40

60

80

100

120

20

40

60

80

12 0

100

Figure 5. a et b Essais dexpansion cycliques autofors site de Cran

Un sondage au pressiomtre autoforeur avec des essais

cycliques 6, 8 et 12 m, en alternance avec des essais
dexpansion monotone croissante 5, 7 et 11 m, a t ralis
(Figure 6 et Figure 7a). Les trois premiers essais cycliques ont
t raliss avec la mme amplitude fixe partir des essais
dexpansion monotones. Le dernier essai a t ralis avec une
amplitude base sur lessai 11 m.
200
180
160
140
120

pression (10 5 Pa)

pression (105 Pa)

3.5

pression (105 Pa)

Des tests de validation ont t effectus sur trois sites : Gosier,

Cran et Merville. Les deux derniers sites ont fait lobjet de
nombreuses tudes dans le cadre de recherches programmes
par les Laboratoires des Ponts et Chausses. Les caractristiques
qui ont prsid au choix, ont t une relative homognit
densemble sur une profondeur minimale de 5 10 m.

3.5

4.5

4.5

pression (10 5 Pa)

Essais du projet Solcyp

vomlume (ml)

3.2

cycle 1
cycle 16
cycle 36
cycle 52
cycle 1
cycle 16
cycle 36
cycle 52

100
80
60

40

1.5

1.5

20

0.5

0.5

6m
8m
10m

20

40

60

80

dV/Vo (%)
0

20

40

60

5
temps (ms)

9 Millions 10

80

Figure 4. a et b Essais dexpansion cycliques pr-fors site de Gosier

3.2.2
Site de Cran
Les essais raliss en 2011 ont t placs proximit des sries
ralises en 1979.
la profondeur 2 m, la courbe dessai prsente sur la
Figure 5a montre une accumulation de volume leve (de
lordre de 900 cm3) conduisant la conclusion que le test a t
effectu dans la couche molle et que la pression initiale dduite
des tudes prcdentes a t surestime. Le signal obtenu
reprsent sur la Figure 5a est assez bruit car lamplitude de la
plage de pression est faible, et une interaction entre
lasservissement de leau et lair na pu tre corrige temps
dans le pilotage.

Les amplitudes de 60 kPa ont abouti des rsultats peu

prcis car d'une part la source de pression tait rgle une
pression trop forte et de ce fait l'lectrovanne de la chambre
tampon avait du mal rguler et d'autre part cette valeur est
faible et de l'ordre de grandeur de la prcision de
l'asservissement. Il est donc ncessaire dadapter les amplitudes
aux profondeurs et de rvaluer la mthode de dtermination de
celle-ci.
10
9
8
7

3.2.3
Site de Merville
Sur le site exprimental de Merville (Nord), on rencontre 1,5
m environ de la surface, une couverture de limons peu
plastiques, affecte par le battement de la nappe et de 1,5 42 m
de profondeur, largile (surconsolide) des Flandres de
lYprsien.

10

pression (105 Pa)

dV/Vo (%)
0

Figure 6. Essais dexpansion cycliques autofors multi-amplitude site de

Merville

pression (105 Pa)

12m

9
8
7

6m

Profondeur 11 m
Profondeur 9 m

8m

Profondeur 7 m

10m

12m
0
0

DV/V0 (%)

Profondeur 5 m

0
0

3
Dv/Vo (%)

Figure 7. a et b Essais dexpansion cycliques (a) autofors et (b) prfors site de Merville

proximit immdiate un sondage au pressiomtre Mnard

avec un perforage dun mtre la tarire hlicodale avec des
essais cycliques 5, 7 et 11 m permet de disposer de rsultats
comparables (figure 7).

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Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

DISCUSSIONS

Un premier constat est que le signal obtenu reprsent sur les

Figure 4 7 est plus bruit que celui donn dans les articles de
Jzquel et Le Mhaut (1982) car lasservissement par
contrleur pression volume vis bille en vitesse de volume
(2%/mn) est plus stable quun asservissement en pression par
lectrovanne. Les cycles obtenus prsentent des points
singuliers mplats et non de rebroussement.
Les diffrentes exprimentations ont montr quil faut
raliser un minimum de 50 cycles pour obtenir une volution
claire du module scant et quil nest pas possible de se limiter
quelques cycles 3 10 par exemple pour obtenir des
rsultats reprsentatifs. A noter que lvolution du module
scant de 50 500 cycles est de 10% en moyenne et de 500
5000 de 3%.
Mme si les diffrences de protocole dues la mise au point
de ces matriels et essais ne permettent pas une comparaison
dtaille, les accumulations volumiques constates sont du
mme ordre de grandeur avec les diffrents modes de mise en
uvre. La qualit du pr-forage est essentielle pour permettre
un essai avec un volume inject initialement minimal. Sur deux
sites (Gosier et Cran) indpendamment du mode de mise en
uvre, laccumulation importante de dformation certains
niveaux a permis de localiser les couches susceptibles dune
chute de caractristiques importante lors de lapplication de
sollicitations cycliques (figures 4 et 5).
Tableau 1. Caractristiques des essais
Site
Forage
Sol
z
Gp,1
(m) (105 Pa)
Plancot
8-3
silt
2
5,19
16-1
3
3,46
7-3
2
1,08
8-3
sable
7
9,98
16-1
7
6,49
7-3
7
2,69
8-3
argile
11
8,58
16-1
11
6,47
7-3
11
3,75
Cran 1 C1
argile moy 29,9
C2
argile moy 20
Gosier C2-PMT sable 7
51,6
9
13,9
Cran 2 A0-PAF argile 1
60,8
2
25,6
Merville PAF
argile 6
426
12
294
Merville PMT
argile 5
145
11
255

aM0
(%)
0,5
1
5
0,5
1
5
0,5
1
5
1,67
0,99
0,5
3,5
10
12
0,8
3,5
0,6
0,9

Gp,50 /Gp,1
1,6
1,8
3
2,2
2
3,3
1,43
1,9
2,1
1,15
1,09
1,60
1,41
2,71
1,59
2,01
1,93
1,37
1,21

Lors de tous les essais, une stabilisation des dformations

moyennes des cycles en fonction du nombre de cycle a pu tre
observe. Selon le type de sol, les cycles tendent se redresser
plus ou moins fortement, comme cela semble tre le cas pour les
sables de Plancot et largile de Merville.
Les sries d'essais multi-amplitude permettent d'obtenir des
courbes d'volution du module cyclique en fonction de la
profondeur et de l'amplitude des cycles pour diffrentes natures
de sol (figure 6 et tableau 2).

On observe une volution trs similaire sur le site de sols

lches de Plancot et sur le site dargile raide de Merville : une
volution importante pour la premire amplitude, puis une quasi
stabilisation pour les autres amplitudes
5

CONCLUSION

Les diffrentes campagnes de sondages avec essais cycliques

mono ou multi amplitudes ont montr lintrt de cet essai pour
cerner lvolution du module de cisaillement en fonction du
nombre de cycle et le potentiel de lessai localiser les horizons
susceptibles de liqufaction.
Il reste mieux prciser les conditions dessais pour avoir
des jeux de donnes comparables et si possible disposer de la
mesure de la pression interstitielle au niveau de la membrane
pour estimer les accumulations potentielles de pression ou
adapter la vitesse dessais afin de rester drain.
6

REMERCIEMENT

Les auteurs dsirent remercier le projet national SOLCYP ainsi

que le ministre de lEnvironnement de lnergie, du
Dveloppement Durable et de la Mer pour le financement de
cette action de recherche ainsi que leurs collgues O.
Malassingne et A. le Kouby.
7

RFRENCES

AFNOR (1999) Essai pressiomtrique Mnard partie 2 Essai

avec cycle, NF P94-110-2, Reconnaissance et essais, pp. 43.
AFNOR (2000) Essai pressiomtrique Mnard partie 1 Essai
sans cycle, NF P94-110-1, Reconnaissance et essais, pp. 43.
Borel S., Reiffsteck Ph., (2006) Caractrisation de la
dformabilit des sols au moyen dessais en place. LCPC
Paris, pp. 132.
Briaud, J.L., (1992). The Pressuremeter, A. A. Balkema,
Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Combarieu O., Canpa Y. (2001) Lessai cyclique au
pressiomtre, BLPC, 233, 37-65.
Dupla, J.C., Canou J. (2003). Cyclic pressuremeter loading and
liquefaction properties of sands, Soils and Foundations, Vol.
43(2), 17-31.
Jzquel J.F., Le Mhaut A. (1982) Essais cycliques au
pressiomtre autoforeur, Symposium sur la pressiomtrie et
ses applications en mer, Paris, ditions Technip, 221-233.
Le Mhaut A. Jzquel J.F., (1980) Essais cycliques au
pressiomtre autoforeur, Rapports des LPC, FAER 1-05-0922, 29 pages
Les Pressiomtres Louis Mnard (1960) Phase de dchargement
des essais pressiomtriques, Etude thorique et applications,
Circulaire 3 pages
Puech A., Brucy F., Ma E., (1982) Calcul de la capacit axiale
des pieux de fondations marines partir du pressiomtre
autoforeur, Symposium sur la pressiomtrie et ses
applications en mer, Paris, ditions Technip, 373-388.

Tableau 2. volution du module sur plusieurs amplitudes

Site
Outil z (m)
Gp,50 / Gp,1 de la phase
1
2
3
4
Plancot PAF 1
1.83
1.08
0.8
1.27
Merville PAF 12
1,93
0,99
0,87
0,98
PMT 11
1,21
0,94
1,42
1,06

2386

Displacement response to axial cyclic loading of driven piles in sand

Rponse en dplacement au chargement cyclique axial de pieux battus dans le sable
Rimoy S., Jardine R., Standing J.
Imperial College London

ABSTRACT: Interactive axial cyclic loading stability charts have been developed to guide the assessment of axial cyclic capacity
degradation of piles driven in sands. Less guidance is available regarding displacement accumulation and cyclic stiffness response at
full scale. This paper focuses on axial cycling experiments of six fullscale steel openended pipepiles at a marine sand site in
Dunkerque, France. Multiple suites of cyclic loading were applied, interspersed with reference static tension capacity tests. The piles
stable, meta-stable and unstable capacity responses are identified with reference to a site-specific normalised cyclic interaction
stability diagram. The stiffness response and rates of accumulated displacement associated with each style of cycling are reported. It is
shown that under stable loading, the piles cyclic stiffnesses remain constant or decline marginally. Similar trends are observed with
meta-stable tests up to onset of an eventual cyclic failure, after which stiffness degrades rapidly. Unstable tests displayed shorter
periods of modest change before marked losses of cyclic stiffness. The patterns of accumulated displacement growth show more
complex relationships with the cyclic loading parameters that can be expressed in multi-surface 3-D plots.
RSUM : Des diagrammes interactifs de stabilit cyclique ont t dvelopps afin dvaluer la dgradation cyclique des pieux battus
dans les sables. Peu de donnes sont disponibles chelle relle en ce qui concerne les dplacements. Cet article sintresse aux essais
cycliques axiaux de six pieux tubulaires en acier base ouverte dans un site de sable marin Dunkerque. Plusieurs sries de
chargement cyclique ont t appliques, entrecoupes dessais statiques rfrentiels en traction. Les rponses stable, mta-stable et
instable de capacit des pieux sont identifies en relation avec un diagramme normalis de stabilit cyclique. La rponse en termes de
rigidit et de taux de dplacement accumul associe chaque type de chargement cyclique est ensuite prsente. On montre que sous
un chargement stable, la rigidit cyclique reste constante ou diminue lgrement. On observe des tendances similaires dans les essais
mta-stables jusqu' l'apparition d'une ventuelle rupture cyclique, aprs laquelle la rigidit se dgrade rapidement. Les essais
instables ont montr de courtes priodes de lger changement avant de fortes pertes de rigidit cyclique. Les schmas de croissance
des dplacements cumuls montrent des relations avec les paramtres de charge cyclique plus complexes qui peuvent tre exprimes
dans des reprsentations 3-D.
KEYWORDS: axial cyclic loading/ pile stiffness/ accumulated displacements/ offshore engineering/ renewable energy
MOTS-CLS: chargement cyclique axial/rigidit du pieu/dplacements cumuls/ingnierie offshore/nergies renouvelables
INTRODUCTION

The axial cyclic response of driven pile foundations can be

critical in the design of offshore oil and gas platforms, and
multi-piled wind turbines, towers and pylons. Lateral and
moment loads imposed by wind or wave action can be large
compared to self-weights, leading to multiple modes of axial
and lateral cyclic loading on the foundation piles. Lateral
loading model tests have been reported that tracked the gradual
rotation and stiffness of monopiles (Leblanc et al. 2010);
however less guidance is available on full-scale displacement
accumulation and stiffness responses under axial cycling.
Jardine et al. (2012) reviewed the potential effects of cyclic
loading on offshore pile foundations and considered how these
may be addressed in practical design for a range of
geomaterials. They note that loads vary with platform weight,
water depth, metocean environment and structural form. Of the
15 field research studies they identified, only one concerned
silica sands, that at Dunkerque, France reported by Jardine &
Standing (2000, 2012). Merritt et al. (2012) describe how the
most severe tens or hundreds of cycles imposed in storms are
the most critical to pile performance. The Jardine & Standing
(2000) field study investigated behaviour up to 1000 cycles.
Karlsrud et al. (1986), Poulos (1988) and Jardine & Standing
(2000) have used cyclic stability diagrams to guide the
assessment of pile axial cyclic behaviour. These consider the
interaction effects of cyclic and mean loads (normalised by
static capacity before cycling) and the number of cycles applied.
Such interaction diagrams may be zoned to identify a cyclically
stable (S) region where there is no reduction of load capacity
after N cycles, a meta-stable (MS) region where some reduction
of load capacity occurs after N cycles and an unstable (US)
region where cyclic failure develops within a small specified
number of cycles. Jardine & Standing (2012) used a similar

scheme in interpretation of their field tests at Dunkerque (Figure

1) where multiple cyclic loading tests performed that were
interspersed with reference static tension capacity (QT) tests.
This paper focuses on further interpretation of the same axial
cycling experiments. The axial static and cyclic stiffness
responses are discussed and the accumulated cyclic
displacement trends associated with each mode of cycling are
examined, referring to the site specific normalised cyclic
interaction stability diagram.
1.0

No cyclic failure
First failure
Cyclic failure after previous cyclic or static failure

0.8

41

12

Qcyclic/QT

S = Stable cycle zone

MS = Metastable cycle zone
US = Unstable cycle zone

0.6

0.4

0.2

-0.2

US

0.0
0.0

13
24
206
9
27

MS

>221
>200

Set 3
1
3
345

Set 2

>1000

0.2

Set 1

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

Qmean/QT
Figure 1. Axial cyclic interaction diagram for the fullscale pile tests in
Dunkerque silica marine sands (Jardine & Standing 2012).

2387

Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

SCOPE OF STUDY

Seven full-scale 457mm diameter, 13.5mm wall thickness

(increased to 20mm over top 2.5m), open-ended steel pipe-piles,
six (R1 R6) with embedded lengths around 19m and one (C1)
driven to 10m were installed as part of the Grouted Offshore
Piles for Alternating Loading (GOPAL) project (Parker et al.
1999) in a flat area close to Dunkerque Port Ouest Industrial
Zone. The site has a relatively deep profile of dense sand,
Figure 2. Chow (1997) reported static and cyclic pile tests
incorporating pore pressure measurements that showed a fully
drained response over the loading rates applied. The piles
cyclic capacity trends have been reported by Jardine and
Standing (2000, 2012), while Jardine et al. (2006) reported the
static tension capacitytime trends.
3

The fourteen cyclic tests gave a range of outcomes with one

stable (set 1), four metastable (set 2) and nine unstable (set 3)
responses indicated in Figure 1. The following sections analyse
the cyclic stiffnesses and accumulated displacements seen in
these three modes using the terms defined in Figure 4.

TEST PROGRAMME

Jardine et al. (2006) detail the testing arrangements, pile head

load control and displacement measurements. The cyclic test
programme is detailed on Table 1; load cycles were performed
with periods between 1 to 2 minutes depending on the pile
response. The axial cyclic load was applied in approximately
sine wave forms as defined in Figure 3. The load-controlled
tests involving only tensile pile head loads are termed one
way while cycles ranging from tension to compression are
referred to as twoway; tension loads and upward
displacement responses are taken as positive throughout.
Reference static tension tests to failure were conducted after
most of the cyclic tests to assess the effects on the applied axial
cyclic loading on the operational static tension (shaft) capacity
and isolate any effects of previous (static or cyclic) loading
phases from the current axial cyclic behaviour.

Figure 3. Loadcontrolled axial cycling illustrated (Tsuha et al. 2012)

4.2

Pile axial cyclic stiffness

The variations of the piles secant stiffness, k = Q/s, under

first-time static tension loading are shown on Figure 5
represented by the stiffnesses ratio, k/kRef, against the load ratio,
Q/QRef, where kRef is the pile stiffness at the first monotonic
load step, QRef, in the first-time tension tests. The 19m long
piles (R2 to R6) follow common trends although one younger
and lower ultimate capacity 19m long pile R1 degraded more
rapidly than the others as did the shorter (10m long) pile C1.
Table 1. Axial cyclic loading test programme: after Jardine & Standing
(2000)
Test mode

Figure 2. Typical site profile for Imperial College test site (Chow 1997)

4
4.1

RESULTS AND INTERPRETATION

Cyclic failure criteria

The axial cycling displacement response is classified as stable

(S), metastable (MS) or unstable (US) according to the
following criteria. Stable response signifies low and stabilising
cyclic displacements that remain below 0.01 the pile diameter,
D, and show slow rates of change 1mm/1000 cycles (N) up to
N 1000 without causing loss in operational static shaft
capacity. Tests with metastable responses accumulate > 0.01D
displacements but < 0.1D with moderate rates (1mm/1000
cycles < rates 1mm/10 cycles) potentially leading to some
degradation of the operational static shaft capacity but not
causing failure within 100 cycles. Unstable responses lead to
cyclic failure within 100 cycles, involving either accumulated
permanent cyclic displacements > 0.1D or rates of accumulation
of permanent cyclic displacements that exceed 1mm/10cycles
with potentially very significant shaft degradation.

2388

Test code

Qcyclic
(kN)
1000
700
950
1000
750
400
750
700
750
700
700
620
445
410

Qmean
(kN)
1000
700
950
1000
1250
405
1250
700
1250
700
700
-40
165
10

QT
(kN)
2500
2315
2050
2960
2000
2110
2465
2000
2000
1585
1650
840
620
620

Nf

US 3.R2.CY2
9
MS 2.R3.CY2
200+
US 2.R3.CY3
13
MS 2.R4.CY2
221+
US 2.R4.CY4
3
Oneway
S 3.R4.CY6
1000+
MS 2.R5.CY2
345
US 2.R5.CY3
27
US 2.R6.CY2
1
US 2.R6.CY4
24
MS 3.R6.CY6
206
US 2.C1.CY3
41
Twoway
US 2.C1.CY4
1
US 2.C1.CY5
12
Test code explanation:
XX M.YY.ZZN:
XX = Pile response mode (S - Stable, MS Meta-stable, US
Unstable)
M = Testing campaign phase (out of 3)
YY = Pile name (C1, R2 R6)
ZZ = Test type (T Static tension, C - Static compression, CY Axial
cyclic)
N = Test number on the pile in sequence from installation

Figure 6 examines the axial cyclic stiffness trends for the

stable and metastable (sets 1 & 2 on Figure 1). The initial
normalised stiffness values (i.e. kl/kRef at N = 1) generally
decreases as the proportion of applied Qmax to QT increases. In
the stable loading test 3.R4.CY6, it can be seen that continued
cycling leads to only a marginal stiffness decrease (12%) over
1000 cycles, with stiffness values stabilising and then
marginally increasing after 200 cycles. Compared with this, the
four metastable loading tests showed similarly mild stiffness
degradation before manifesting sharply accelerating stiffness
degradation as the piles approached cyclic failure under the
conditions given in Table 1.

Technical Committee 209 / Comit technique 209

cyclic failure approaches with more plastic displacements

accumulating on the loading loops leading to the progressively
decreasing secant loading stiffnesses and apparently stiffer
behaviour on unloading as cyclic loading approaches failure.

a: Permanent accumulated cyclic displacement

kl: Loading cyclic stiffness
a
ku: Unloading cyclic stiffness

N=0

ku kl
1 2...

1.0

Pile head load, Q (kN)

Qmax

US 3.R2.CY2 (0.40)
US 2.R3.CY3 (0.46)
US 2.R4.CY4 (0.44)
US 2.R5.CY3 (0.35)
US 2.C1.CY5 (0.66)

0.8
0.6

All Unstable tests

kl/kRef

Qmin

0.4

transient displacement, d

0.2

Displacement, s (mm)

Figure 4. Illustration of the stiffness and displacement parameters used

in the analyses

0.0
1

10
Cycles, N

1.0

1.0

kl/kRef

0.6

0.8

R1

0.4

0.6

ku/kRef

R2 - R6

0.2

0.4

C1
5

10
Q/QRef

15

MS 3.R6.CY6 Qcyc = 0.42QT

0.0
1

0.8

kl/kRef

All other Meta-stable tests

Data not logged for
Qcyc = 0.34QT
the first 34 cycles

4.3

Qcyc = 0.3QT

MS 2.R3.CY2; Qcyc = 0.3QT

0.2
0.0
1

MS 2.R4.CY2; Qcyc = 0.34QT

MS 2.R5.CY2; Qcyc = 0.3QT

MS 3.R6.CY6; Qcyc = 0.42QT

10

Cycles, N

100

US 2.R5.CY3 Qcyc = 0.35QT

US 2.R3.CY3 Qcyc = 0.35QT

10

Cycles, N

100

1000

Figure 8. Axial cyclic unloading stiffness ku responses normalised by

kRef against number of cycles for selected metastable and unstable tests.

Stable test

S 3.R4.CY6; Qcyc = 0.2QT

US 2.R6.CY4 Qcyc = 0.44QT

0.2

1.0

0.4

MS 2.R5.CY2 Qcyc = 0.30QT

20

Figure 5. Pile stiffness from the firsttime axial static monotonic tension
loadings normalised by the reference stiffnesses against normalised load

0.6

100

Figure 7. Axial cyclic loading stiffness kl responses normalised by kRef

against number of cycles for the unstable tests.

0.8

0.0
0

US 2.R6.CY2 (0.36)
US 2.R6.CY4 (0.36)
US 2.C1.CY3 (0.74)
US 2.C1.CY4 (0.72)

Qcyc = 0.42QT

1000

Figure 6. Axial cyclic loading stiffness kl responses normalised by kRef

against number of cycles for the stable and metastable tests.

The loading stiffness kl degradation trends for the unstable

tests (Set 3 of Figure 1) are shown on Figure 7. By definition,
these tests failed with sudden stiffness loss after relatively few
cycles. However, even these piles retained most of their initial
stiffnesses until within ~10 cycles of final failure. Seemingly
anomalous stiffness behaviour is observed towards failure in
some oneway meta-stable and unstable loading tests when
stiffnesses are defined from the unloading cycle phase ku,
Figure 8. This reversal in normalised stiffness results from an
increased opening-up of the load-unload hysteresis loops as

Accumulated cyclic displacements

The patterns of pile head displacement accumulation for the

stable and metastable cyclic tests are shown on Figure 9. Also
shown are the reference lines related to the predefined
thresholds for stable, metastable and unstable accumulated
displacements rates. An almost static accumulated displacement
trend was observed in the single fully stable loading test
3.R4.CY6. The metastable tests 2.R3.CY2 and 2.R4.CY2
developed higher, but steady displacement rates >
1mm/100cycles while the other two metastable tests 2.R5.CY2
and 3.R6.CY6 displaced by > 1mm/10cycles. A range of
responses is evident for the unstable loading tests summarised
in Figure 10 which develop displacement rates > 1mm/10cycles.
While the cyclic stiffness patterns varied principally as a
function of the applied cyclic amplitudes Qcyclic, the
accumulated cyclic displacement patterns depended on both the
normalised mean (Qmean/QT) and cyclic (Qcyclic/QT) loads.
Rimoy et al. (2013) demonstrate the interactive effects of the
loading components Qcyclic and Qmean by considering the
accumulated displacements developed after 3, 10, 30, 100, 200,
and 300 cycles to produce tentative 3D surfaces equivalent to
displacements of 2%, 0.2% or 0.02% pile diameter, Figure 11.
The accumulated displacement trends flatten progressively as N
increases. The zero cyclic effect boundary was set at Qcyclic/QT =

2389

Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

0.1 following centrifuge studies by Julio (2009). No

displacements are expected to accrue due to cycling below this
level; further full-scale specific investigation of this lower
threshold is required.

1.0
0.8

30

mea
n

Stable test

10

Cycles, N

100

1000

Figure 9. Accumulated cyclic displacements for the stable and meta

stable loading tests

50
40

US 3.R2.CY2
US 2.R4.CY4
US 2.R6.CY2

US 2.R3.CY3
US 2.R5.CY3
US 2.R6.CY4

US 2.C1.CY3
US 2.C1.CY4
US 2.C1.CY5

a (mm)

20
s
ycle
/10c
1mm

0
-10
1

1mm/100cycles

10
Cycles, N

100

Figure 10. Permanent accumulated cyclic displacements response for

the unstable tests

0.6

0.8

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

The analysis presented of the axial cyclic loading load

displacement, stiffness and accumulated displacements
responses seen in tests on steel open-ended pipe piles driven in
silica sand indicate the following.
(1) Axial loaddisplacement behaviour is highly non-linear,
even at relatively low levels of loading.
(2) The piles cyclic stiffnesses generally remained within 20%
of those observed under initial static loading until cyclic failure
was approached.
(3) The patterns of accumulated displacements depended on
both the mean and cyclic normalised loading levels.
(4) While displacements accumulate rapidly over just a few
cycles in the unstable zone, extended cycling in the stable zone
led to minimal (and stabilising) accumulated displacements and
axial capacity gains (Jardine et al (2006) metastable tests
showed intermediate behaviour.

2390

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The above research was funded by the EU (through the GOPAL

project) and Health and Safety Executive (HSE) of UK. We
gratefully acknowledge the Port Autonome de Dunkerque for
providing the test site. The field testing was conducted in
conjunction with Precision Monitoring Control Ltd. of Teesside
UK. The first author has been supported by the Commonwealth
Scholarship Commission during the writing of this paper.
7

30

10

/Q

Figure 11. 3D plot for accumulated cyclic displacements equivalent to

0.02%D, 0.2%D and 2%D.

1m

Data not logged

for first 34 cycles

0.4
Q

0
50
100
150
200
250
1.0 300
cle

m
Me
/1
tas
00
tab
cy
le t
cle
est
s
s

0.02%D
0.0
0.0
0.2

s,
N

0.2%D
0.2

10

0.4 2%D

Cy

1mm/10cycles

a (mm)

20

Qcyclic/QT

0.6

S 3.R4.CY6
MS 2.R3.CY2
MS 2.R4.CY2
MS 2.R5.CY2
MS 3.R6.CY6

REFERENCES

Chow F.C. 1997. Investigations into displacement pile behaviour for

offshore foundations, PhD thesis, University of London (Imperial
College).
Jardine R.J. & Standing J.R. 2000. Pile load testing performed for HSE
cyclic loading study at Dunkirk, France. Two volumes. Offshore
Technology Report OTO2000 007; Health and Safety Executive,
London. 60p and 200p.
Jardine, R.J., Standing, J.R., & Chow, F.C. 2006. Some observations of
the effects of time on the capacity of piles driven in sand.
Gotechnique 56(4): 227-244.
Jardine R.J. & Standing J.R. 2012. Field axial cyclic loading
experiments on piles driven sand. Soils and foundations 52(4): 723
- 736.
Jardine R.J., Puech A. & Andersen K. H. 2012. Cyclic loading of
offshore piles: Potential effects and practical design. Proceedings of
the SUT 7th International Conference on Offshore Site
Investigation and Geotechnics, London, UK, pp. 59 - 97.
Julio R.M.H. 2009. Comportement des pieux et des groupes de pieux
sous chargement latral cyclique. These de doctorat, Ecole
Nationale des Ponts et Chaussees, Paris, France.
Karlsrud K., Nadim F. & Haugen T. 1986. Piles in clay under cyclic
axial loading field test and computational modelling. Proceedings
of the 3rd International Conference on Numerical Methods in
Offshore Piling, Nantes, France, pp. 165 190.
Leblanc C., Houlsby G.T., & Bryne B.W. 2010. Response of stiff piles
in sand to long-term cyclic lateral loading. Gotechnique 60(2): 7990.
Merritt A.S., Schroeder F.C., Jardine R.J., Stuyts B., Cathie D. &
Cleverly D. 2012. Development of pile design methodology for an
offshore wind farm in the North Sea. Proceedings of the SUT 7th
International Conference on Offshore Site Investigation and
Geotechnics, London, UK, pp. 439 - 447.
Parker E. J., Jardine R.J., Standing J.R. & Xavier J. 1999. Jet grouting
to improve offshore pile capacity. Offshore Technology
Conference, Houston, OTC 10828 1: 415 420.
Poulos H.G. 1988. Cyclic stability diagram for axially loaded piles.
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering,
114(8): 877-895.
Rimoy S., Jardine R., and Standing J. 2013. Displacement response to
axial cycling of piles driven in sand. Geotechnical Engineering.
165 (GE1): 1 16.

Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

Experimental Testing of Monopiles in Sand Subjected to One-Way Long-Term

Cyclic
Lateral Testing
Loadingof Monopiles in Sand Subjected to One-Way Long-Term
Experimental
Cyclic Lateral Loading

Test exprimental de monopiles implantes dans du sable et soumises un chargement latral

cyclique
long terme de monopiles dans le sable soumis un chargement cyclique transversal
tude exprimentale
non altern
H. R. Roesen, L. B. Ibsen and L. V. Andersen
RoesenUniversity,
H.R., Ibsen
L.B., Denmark
Andersen L.V.
Aalborg
Aalborg,
Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark

ABSTRACT: In the offshore wind turbine industry the most widely used foundation type is the monopile. Due to the wave and wind
ABSTRACT:
In the offshore
windtoturbine
industry
most widely
used foundation
is the monopile.
Due to
thevarying
wave and
wind
forces
the monopile
is subjected
a strong
cyclicthe
loading
with varying
amplitude,type
maximum
loading level,
and
loading
forces the
monopile
is subjected
to a strongofcyclic
loadinginwith
amplitude,
maximum
loading
andis varying
loading
period.
In this
paper the
soilpile interaction
a monopile
sandvarying
subjected
to a long-term
cyclic
lateral level,
loading
investigated
by
period.ofInsmall
this paper
soilpile
interaction
of a monopile
in sand subjected
a long-term
lateral
investigated
by
means
scale the
tests.
The tests
are conducted
with a mechanical
loadingtorig
capable ofcyclic
applying
theloading
cyclic is
loading
as a sine
meanswith
of small
scale
tests. Themean
testsloading
are conducted
with
a mechanical
rig capable
of applying
the cyclic
loading as
sine
signal
varying
amplitude,
level, and
loading
period forloading
more than
60 000 cycles.
The tests
are conducted
in adense
signal with
varying
amplitude,moment
mean loading
loading
forfrom
more18%
thanto6036%
000of
cycles.
The tests
are conducted
in dense
saturated
sand.
The maximum
appliedlevel,
in theand
cyclic
testsperiod
is varied
the ultimate
lateral
resistance found
in
sand. The
moment
applied
in the cyclicrotation
tests is varied
18% to
ultimate
lateralFurther,
resistance
found
in
asaturated
static loading
test.maximum
The tests reveal
that
the accumulated
can be from
expressed
by36%
use of the
a power
function.
static
tests
a static loading
test. The
testsindicate
reveal that
can
be expressed
bymagnitude
use of a power
function.
Further, static tests
conducted
post cyclic
loading
that the
the accumulated
static ultimaterotation
capacity
increases
with the
of cyclic
loading.
conducted post cyclic loading indicate that the static ultimate capacity increases with the magnitude of cyclic loading.
RSUM: Dans l'industrie olienne offshore, le type de fondation le plus largement utilis est la monopile. En raison de la force des
RSUM:
Dans
l'industrie
olienne
fondations
de type monopile
sontlamplitude,
les plus largement
utilises.
En raison
de la force
vagues
et du
vent,
la monopile
est maritime,
soumise les
une
charge cyclique
leve dont
le niveau
de charge
maximale
et la
des
vagues
et
du
vent,
ces
fondations
sont
soumises

des
charges
cycliques
leves
dont
lamplitude,
le
niveau
maximal
et la
priodicit varient. Dans cet article, l'interaction sol-pieu d'une monopile implantes dans du sable et soumises un chargement latral
frquenceestvarient.
cet article,
l'interaction
fondation
de type monopile
dans du sable
et soumise
un
cyclique
tudieDans
au moyen
d'essais
chellesol-pieu
rduite. d'une
Les tests
sont effectus
avec une implante
grue de chargement
mcanique
capable
chargement
transversal
cyclique
est
tudie
au
moyen
d'essais

chelle
rduite.
Les
tests
sont
effectus
avec
une
grue
de
chargement
d'appliquer un chargement cyclique sinusodal avec amplitude, niveau moyen et priode de chargement variable pendant plus de
mcanique
capable
d'appliquer
un chargement
cyclique
sinusodal
avec
amplitude,
niveau
moyendurant
et priode
de chargement
variable
60
000 cycles.
Les tests
sont effectus
dans du sable
dense
satur. Le
moment
maximum
appliqu
les essais
cycliques varie
de
pendant
plus
de
60
000
cycles.
Les
tests
sont
effectus
dans
un
sable
dense
satur.
Le
moment
maximal
appliqu
durant
les
essais
18% 36% de la rsistance latrale ultime obtenue lors dessais de chargement statique. Les essais montrent que la rotation
cycliques varie
36%par
de la
rsistanced'une
transversale
obtenue En
lorsoutre,
dessais
chargement
Les essais
montrent
accumule
peut de
tre18%
exprime
l'utilisation
fonctionultime
de puissance.
desde
essais
statiquesstatique.
mens aprs
le chargement
que
la
rotation
accumule
peut
tre
exprime
par
une
fonction
puissance.
En
outre,
des
essais
statiques
mens
aprs
le
chargement
cyclique indiquent que la capacit statique ultime augmente avec le niveau du chargement cyclique.
cyclique indiquent que la capacit statique ultime augmente avec le niveau du chargement cyclique.
KEYWORDS: Experimental, wind turbine foundation, monopile, long-term cyclic loading, dense sand.
KEYWORDS: Experimental, wind turbine foundation, monopile, long-term cyclic loading, dense sand.
1 INTRODUCTION
long-term cyclic loading with constant frequency but different
1 INTRODUCTION
loading amplitude and mean loading level.
In the offshore wind turbine industry, the most widely used
Theloading
characteristic
of the
cyclic loading
can beof
described
by
cyclic
tests are
presented.
The purpose
the cyclic
foundation
type is
the turbine
monopile,
i.e. a large
diameter
stiff used
pile.
In
the offshore
wind
industry,
the most
widely
tests
is to evaluate
the influence
ofbythe
numberetofal load
cycles,
the
ratios
and
as
defined
LeBlanc
(2010).
During the type
lifetime
of monopile,
a wind turbine,
foundation
is the
i.e. a the
largemonopile
diameterfoundation
stiff pile.
,
on the the
accumulated
rotationasofthetheratio
pilebetween
at seabed,
expresses
magnituderocking
of the loading
the
is subjected
to few load
with large
caused by
During
the lifetime
of a cycles
wind turbine,
theamplitudes,
monopile foundation
under
long-term
cyclic
loading
with
constant
frequency
but
maximum
load
in
a
load
cycle
and
the
maximum
static
lateral
thesubjected
strong storms,
and cycles
also towith
millions
of lateral load
cycles
is
to few load
large amplitudes,
caused
by
different loading amplitude and mean loading level.
withstrong
low orstorms,
intermediate
amplitudes
dueoftolateral
the wave
the
and also
to millions
loadloading.
cycles
The characteristic of the cyclic loading can be described by
This low
loading
may cause failure
in thedue
fatigue
serviceability
with
or intermediate
amplitudes
to theorwave
loading.
bytake
LeBlanc
et between
al (2010).

the
ratios and as defined
capacity,
.
will
a value
0 and
limit loading
states, FLS
SLSfailure
respectively
et al. 2008).
This
mayand
cause
in the (Wichtmann
fatigue or serviceability
expresses
the magnitude
of the
loading
as
the ratioofbetween
the
1.
The
cyclic
load
ratio
defines
the
direction
the
loading
The cyclic
induce a change
in the soil
limit
states, loading
FLS andmight
SLS respectively
(Wichtmann
et al.stiffness
2008).
maximum
loadofinthe
a load
cycle and
maximum
static
on the basis
minimum
and the
maximum
load
in alateral
load
and cyclic
a permanent
(tilt)stiffness
of the
The
loading accumulated
might induce rocking
a changerotation
in the soil
capacity, = / . will take a value between 0
turbine.
Due to the
efficiencyrocking
of the rotation
wind turbine,
and
a permanent
accumulated
(tilt) ofstrict
the
and 1. The cyclic load ratio defines the direction of the
demands Due
for the
and the stiffness
the entire
structure
turbine.
to rotation
the efficiency
of the of
wind
turbine,
strict
loading
in a
cycle, on the basis of .the minimum
will take and
the maximum
value 1 forload
a static
are normally
made
and thus,
andstructure
rotation
demands
for the
rotation
and the
the change
stiffnessinofstiffness
the entire
load
cycle,
=

/
.

will
take
the
value
1
for
a

test, 0 for one-way loading, and -1 for two-way loading.

becomes
keymade
issuesand
in thus,
the design.
However,
the current
design
are
normally
the change
in stiffness
and rotation
static test, 0 for one-way loading, and -1 for two-way loading.
guidance,key
DNV
(2011),
on design.
this long-term
loading
is limited
and
becomes
issues
in the
However,
the current
design
2 EXPERIMENTAL MODEL TESTS
a procedure
for (2011),
designing
diameter piles
is yet
to be fully
guidance,
DNV
on large
this long-term
loading
is limited
and
The development
of isa reliable
1g small scale tests
are carried
aexpressed
procedureand
forconfirmed.
designing large
diameter piles
yet to bedesign
fully
2TheEXPERIMENTAL
MODEL
TESTSout at the geotechnical
method requires
verification
for that in-situ
large-scale
laboratory at Aalborg University, Denmark. In the tests an open
expressed
and confirmed.
Theand
development
of a and
reliable
design
testing is
by far verification
the best tool.
this isand
alsolarge-scale
the most
ended1g aluminium
is used.
pilegeotechnical
is scaled
The
small scale pipe
tests pile
are carried
out The
at the
method
requires
andHowever,
for that in-situ
expensive
tool. Therefore,
approximately
1:50 inUniversity,
relation to aDenmark.
typical offshore
monopile.
In
laboratory
at Aalborg
In the tests
an open
testing
is byand
far time-consuming
the best tool. However,
this is alsothe
therecent
most
choice for evaluating
the cyclic behaviour
has beenthe
numerical
Table 1aluminium
the dimensions
the model
pile are
presented.
ended
pipeof pile
is used.
The
pile is scaled
expensive
and time-consuming
tool. Therefore,
recent
modelling
and smallthe scale
Several
authors
has
approximately 1:50 in relation to a typical offshore monopile. In
choice
for evaluating
cyclic testing.
behaviour
has been
numerical
Table 1.
of theofopen
pipe pile.
investigatedand
this small
e.g. Niemunis
et al. (2005),
al.
Table
1 Dimensions
the dimensions
the ended
modelaluminium
pile are presented.
modelling
scale testing.
Several Achmus
authors ethas
(2005), Pengthis
et al.e.g.
(2006),
LeBlanc
(2010) Achmus
and Achmus
et
investigated
Niemunis
et et
al.al.(2005),
et al.
Diameter Embedded length
Wall thickness
Load eccentricity
al. (2011).
the LeBlanc
research ethas
beenAchmus
based on
Table 1. Dimensions of the open ended aluminium pipe pile.
(2005),
PengHowever,
et al. (2006),
al. mainly
(2010) and
et
cyclic
triaxial
tests, the
FEM-calculations
and 1gbeen
experimental
(mm)
(mm)length
(mm)
al.
(2011).
However,
research has mainly
based on
Diameter
Embedded
Wall (mm)
thickness
Load eccentricity
setups in
dry sand.
cyclic
triaxial
tests, FEM-calculations and 1g experimental

100
500
5
600
In inthis
paper, a 1g testing rig for modelling the
setups
dry sand.
(mm)
(mm)
(mm)
(mm)
The bending stiffness of the model pile is similar to a scaled
environmental
loading
monopile
foundation
in dense
In this paper,
a on
1ga stiff
testing
rig for
modelling
the
100
500 however, the behaviour
5
600 during
prototype
steel pile,
of the pile
saturated sand loading
is described
results foundation
from four in
one-way
environmental
on a and
stiff the
monopile
dense
loading
also
depends
on
the
stiffness
of
the
surrounding
soil.
cyclic loading
are presented.
purpose
of the
cyclic
saturated
sand istests
described
and the The
results
from four
one-way
According to Poulus and Hull (1989) a pile behaves flexible if
tests is to evaluate the influence of the number of load cycles, N,
and rigidly if
, where
is a critical length
on the accumulated rocking rotation of the pile at seabed, under

2391

Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

The bending stiffness of the model pile is similar to a scaled

prototype steel pile, however, the behaviour of the pile during
loading also depends on the stiffness of the surrounding soil.
According to Poulus and Hull (1989) a pile behaves flexible if
and rigidly if /3, where is a critical length
defined by Eq. 1. is the bending stiffness of the pile and
is Youngs modulus of elasticity of the soil.
= 4.44

(1)

Due to the low stresses in the soil at 1g small scale testing,

the stiffness is also low. From previous testing and numerical
modelling an estimated soil stiffness of 4 MPa can be used for
the sand in the test setup (Roesen et al. 2010). With use of Eq. 1
the model pile is thereby found to behave rigidly during lateral
loading. In comparison a prototype steel monopile with
= 5 m and = 0.07 m installed in sand with Es = 70 MPa
is found to behave rigidly with a slenderness ratio / = 3
and behave flexible with / = 9. Thus, for the examined
slenderness ratio (/ = 5) the model pile experiences a more
rigid behaviour than the prototype pile. Nevertheless, the results
obtained in the small scale model tests can be used as
underlying basis for understanding the monopile behaviour
during lateral cyclic long-term loading.
The test setup consists of a cylindrical sand container with an
inner radius of 2.00 m and a height of 1.20 m surrounded by a
loading frame equipped for both static and cyclic loading. The
setup is an improvement of the system presented in Roesen et
al. (2012) which originally is based on the setup presented by
LeBlanc et al. (2010). A cross-sectional sketch and a photo of
the system are shown in Figure 1 and 2. The pile is installed in
the middle of the container by use of a mechanical motor with
installation velocity of 0.02 mm/s. The container holds up to
0.90 m dense saturated sand with 0.30 m highly permeable
gravel underneath. In the bottom a drainage system with
perforated pipes ensures homogeneous in- and outflow of water.
The cyclic loading system is a simple load controlled system
based on a lever arm, weight hangers with applied masses,
, , and , wires, and an electric motor controlling the
rotation of weight . The rotation causes an oscillating motion
on the lever and thereby a cyclic loading on the pile. The system
is thereby capable of providing sinusoidal loading to the pile for
more than 60 000 load cycles. The rotational frequency of the
motor is set to 0.1 Hz to be in agreement with environmental
wave loading (Peng et al. 2006).
Initially, when the mass = = 0, the mass is
chosen to outbalance the system. Depending on the weights
chosen for and the system is capable of providing both
one- and two-way loading with varying and , i.e. different
direction, amplitude, and mean loading level. The loading is
applied through steel wires attached to the pile 600 mm above
soil surface. Hence, the pile experiences both horizontal and
moment loading. In both sides of the pile a HBM U2A 100 kg
load cell is attached measuring the actual force applied to the
pile throughout the whole test. The displacement of the pile is
measured using three WS10-125-R1K-L10 displacement
transducers from ASM GmbH. The transducers, 1, 2, and
3 are mounted 600 mm, 375 mm, and 155 mm above soil
surface, respectively. The rocking rotation, , and displacement
of the pile at soil surface is found by use of linear regression of
the three measurements assuming rigid pile behaviour. The data
sampling rate is 2 Hz.
Before conducting any cyclic tests a static loading test is
performed. The static test is conducted displacement controlled
by use of a motor with a loading rate of 0.02 mm/s. The
displacement is actuated 600 mm above soil surface, i.e. the
same height as the loading in the cyclic loading tests. The pile is
loaded to a rotation of 2, unloaded, and reloaded to failure. The
static test is used as a reference for the ultimate lateral

2392

Figure 1. Sketch of the test setup. F1 and F2 refer to the two load cells,
D1, D2, and D3 refer to the three displacement transducers and m1, m2,
and m3, refer to the weights applied on the load hangers. All
measurements are in meters.

Figure 2. Test setup for cyclically long-term loaded monopiles.

Table 2. Test programme with relative soil densities, , loading
characteristics, and number of cycles, .
78.56

Static test after

cyclic loading

Static

(%)

Cyclic

87.76

0.18

0.03

50 894

yes

Cyclic

85.38

0.24

0.10

51 732

no

Cyclic

87.87

0.25

-0.01

50 960

yes

Cyclic

91.70

0.36

0.03

60 224

yes

Test
No.

Type

resistance and the maximum resistance obtained is interpreted

as the ULS load on the pile.
In total four long-term cyclic loading tests are performed,
each with more than 50 000 load cycles. The tests are conducted
with = , i.e. one-way loading with the target = 0. The
magnitudes of the loading in the cyclic tests are chosen to
reflect realistic loading conditions for FLS and SLS loading,
which according to LeBlanc et al. (2010) is approximately 30%
and 40% of the ultimate limit state loading (ULS), respectively.
Thus, the target maximum moment applied in the cyclic loading
tests are defined as 20%, 25%, 30% and 40% of the maximum
static lateral resistance, i.e. is chosen in the interval 0.2 to
0.4. In Table 2 a summary of the testing programme with the
obtained loading characteristics is presented.

Technical Committee 209 / Comit technique 209

Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

In general the magnitude of the loading is seen to be a little

less than expected. This result verifies the importance of
measuring the actual force on the pile as some of the applied
load is lost in the system due to friction. For three of the tests
the cyclic load ratio, , is seen to be close to zero which is in
agreement with the target loading.
In order to investigate the influence of cyclic loading on the
ultimate lateral resistance static loading tests were performed
after the cyclic loading.
2.1

Soil Conditions

The tests are conducted using saturated Aalborg University

Sand No. 1 (Baskarp Sand No.15). In Table 3 the properties of
the sand are summarised.
Table 3. Properties of Aalborg University Sand No. 1
Specific
grain density

Maximum
void ratio

Minimum
void ratio

(-)
2.64

(-)

0.858

50%quantile

Uniformity
coefficient

= /

(-)

(mm)

0.549

0.14

Figure 3. Moment-rotation relationships of the static reference test and

the four cyclic loading tests.

(-)

1.78

Prior to each test the sand is prepared by use of an initially

upward gradient of 0.9 followed by mechanical vibration with a
rod vibrator. The obtained homogeneity and compaction of the
sand is verified by conducting three cone penetration tests
(CPT) with a laboratory cone; one in the middle of the container
and two in a distance 400 mm from the centre in the active and
passive side of the pile, respectively. The relative densities of
the sand, , are derived in accordance to Ibsen et. al (2009)
where the laboratory cone is correlated with in-house triaxial
tests on the same sand type. The mean values of the relative
densities found prior to each experiment are presented in
Table 2 together with the characteristic of the tests themselves.
3

TEST RESULTS

Initially, the static loading test is used as a reference test for the
ULS moment capacity and thus the choice of maximum
moment loading in the cyclic tests. The moment-rotation
relationships obtained in both the static and the cyclic tests are
presented in Figure 3. The static test clearly defines a maximum
moment capacity of 360 Nm which is interpreted as the ULS
load. In all the cyclic tests the rotation obtained in the first
loading cycle follows the static reference test cf. Figure 3. This
verifies the use of the static test as a reference for the loading
despite the difference in relative densities of the soil cf. Table 2.
Even though the cyclic loading system is an improvement of the
system presented in Roesen et al. (2012) the maximum moment
loading in the cyclic tests are seen to decrease a little during the
test. Therefore, the characteristics of the cyclic loading, and
cf. Table 2, are calculated as mean values over the whole test
and is seen to be lower than the target value.
In Figure 4 the rotation of the pile, , at soil surface as a
function of the number of cycles, , for test no. 2 is presented.
The figure shows the cyclic response during loading and the
rotation is seen to accumulate throughout the entire test. Similar
results are obtained in the three other tests. In the evaluation of
the accumulated rotation the maximum values of the rotation
are used, i.e. the rotation marked with dark grey in Figure 4. As
seen in Figure 3 the rotation in the first loading cycle is equal to
the rotation obtained in the static reference test. Thus, in order
to evaluate the influence of the cyclic loading only the
accumulated rotation, = , is investigated. is
the rotation obtained at the th loading cycle and is the
rotation obtained in the first loading cycle.

2393

Figure 4. Rotation of the pile at soil surface as a function of the number

of cycles in the test with = 0.25. Maximum and minimum values of
the rotation are indicated by dark grey and black colouring.

Figure 5. Normalised accumulated rotation as a function of the number

of cycles for the four cyclic tests.

In Figure 5 the accumulated rotation obtained in all four

cyclic tests are presented. The rotations are normalised with
respect to the rotation obtained in the first loading cycle. The
accumulated rotations of the stiff pile are fitted with a power
function as suggested by several authors, e.g. Long and
Vanneste (1994), Peralta and Achmus (2010), and LeBlanc et
al. (2010). The fitted expression is given by Eq. 2 and shown as
the dotted black lines in Figure 5.

Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

(2)

and are dimensionless constants determined empirically

from the tests. The results from the long-term one-way loading
cf. Figure 5 shows a general good agreement with the power
function even though deviations in the first 1000 cycles are
observed. The values for the power are found to be similar for
all the tests with values in the range of 0.11 to 0.18. These
values are found to be smaller than the value of 0.31 as
presented by LeBlanc et al. (2010). The results for the constant
cf. Figure 6 indicates that depends linearly of the magnitude
of the loading which is in agreement with the findings in
LeBlanc et al. (2010).

cyclic tests more than 50 000 load cycles are applied to the pile.
When evaluating the cyclic tests the accumulated rotation
normalised with respect to the rotation obtained in the first
loading cycles is used. The results reveal that the accumulation
of rotation during long-term cyclic loading can be described by
use of a power function. Further, the maximum moments
obtained in the static tests conducted post cyclic loading
indicates that the lateral capacity depends on the cyclic loading
and increases with increasing load magnitude.
The entire test setup is still in the initial phase of testing and
can be improved even more. Thus, the findings inhere must be
evaluated further and supplemented with additional testing with
varied loading characteristics, i.e. varied and for both oneand two-way loading.
5

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This research is associated with the EUDP programme

Monopile cost reduction and demonstration by joint applied
research funded by the Danish energy sector. The financial
support is sincerely acknowledged.
Figure 6. Fitted empirical constant as a function of the loading
magnitude in the four cyclic tests.

The influence of the cyclic loading on the static lateral

capacity is evaluated by means of the results from the three
static tests performed post cyclic loading cf. Figure 7. The
maximum moments obtained indicates that the lateral capacity
depends on the cyclic loading and increases with increasing
load magnitude.

Figure 7. Moment-rotation relationships obtained in the static tests post

cyclic loading compared with the reference static test.

CONCLUSION

This paper presents a description of a 1g laboratory small scale

test setup for modelling laterally long-term cyclic loading of a
stiff pile in saturated dense sand. A static loading test and four
one-way cyclic loading tests with maximum moment loading
equal to 18% to 36% of the maximum static capacity are
presented. The purpose of the tests is to evaluate the influence
of the number of load cycles on the accumulated rocking
rotation of the pile at seabed during long-term cyclic loading. In
addition the effect of the cyclic loading on the static lateral
capacity is evaluated by means of static loading tests conducted
post cyclic loading.
All the tests are carried out with an open ended aluminium
pipe pile scaled approximately 1:50 in relation to a typical
monopile foundation for an offshore wind turbine. In the four

REFERENCES

Achmus, M., Abdel-Rahman, K. and Peralta, P. 2005. On the design of

monopile foundations with respect to static and quasi-static loading.
Copenhagen Offshore Wind 2005.
Achmus, M., Albiker, J. and Abdel-Rahman, K. 2011. Investigations on
the behaviour of large diameter piles under cyclic lateral loading.
In: Frontiers in Offshore Geotechnics II - Gourvenev & White
(eds), Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
DNV 2010. Offshore standard DNV-OS-J101: Design of offshore wind
turbine structures, Technical report DNV-OS-J101, Det Norske
Veritas.
Ibsen, L. B., Hanson, M. Hjort, T. and Taarup, M. 2009.
MC-parameter Calibration of Baskarp Sand No. 15, DCE Technical
Report No. 62. Department of Civil Engineering, Aalborg
University
LeBlanc, C., Houlsby, G. and Byrne, B. 2010. Response of stiff piles to
long-term cyclic lateral load, Gotechnique, 60 (2), pp. 79-90.
Long J. H. and Vanneste G. 1994. Effects of Cyclic Lateral Loads on
Piles in Sand. Journal of Geotechnical Engineering, 120 (1), pp.
225-244.
Niemunis,A., Wichtmann, T. and Triantafyllidis, T. 2005. A high-cycle
accumulation model for sand, Computer and Geotechnics, 32 (4),
pp. 245-263.
Peng, J.-R., Clarke, B. G. and Rouainia, M. 2006. A device to Cyclic
Lateral Loaded Model Piles, Geotechnical Testing Journal 29 (4)
pp. 1-7.
Peralta, P. and Achmus, M. 2010. An experimental investigation of
piles in sand subjected to lateral cyclic loads, 7th International
Conference on Physical Modeling in Geotechnics, Zurich,
Switzerland.
Poulus H., and Hull T. 1989. The Role of Analytical Geomechanics in
Foundation Engineering. Foundation Engineering.: Current
Principles and Practices, 2, pp. 1578-1606.
Roesen, H. R., Thomassen, K., Srensen, S. P. H., and Ibsen, L. B.,
2010. Evaluation of Small-Scale Laterally Loaded Non-Slender
Monopiles in Sand DCE Technical Report No. 91, Aalborg
University. Department of Civil Engineering.
Roesen, H. R., Ibsen, L. B., and Andersen, L. V. 2012. Small-Scale
Testing Rig for Long-Term Cyclically Loaded Monopiles in
Cohesionless Soil, Proceedings of the 16th Nordic Geotechnical
Meeting, Copenhagen, 9-12 May, 2012, vol. 1/2, p.435-442..
Wichtmann, T., Niemunis, A. and Triantafyllidis, T. 2008. Prediction of
long-term deformations for monopile foundations of offshore wind
power plants. 11th Baltic Sea Geotechnical Conference:
Geotechnics in Maritime Engineering, Gdansk, Poland.

2394

Pieu sous charge latrale : dveloppement de lois de dgradation pour prendre en

compte leffet des cycles
Pile cyclic lateral loading: Development of degradation laws for describing the cyclic effect
Rosquot F.

Laboratoire LTI (AE3899), Amiens, France

Thorel L., Garnier J., Chenaf N.

LUNAM Universit, IFSTTAR, Nantes, France

RSUM : A lorigine, le dimensionnement des pieux sous une charge latrale supposait que le sol est entirement ltat de rupture
(calcul aux tats limites). Les mthodes de calcul ont progress et le dimensionnement est maintenant ralis en dplacement mais
sans possibilit de tenir compte de leffet des cycles de chargement (sauf dans le cas des ouvrages offshore). Pour corriger cette
lacune, nous proposons deux mthodes : une mthode globale base sur le dplacement en tte de pieu et sur le moment maximum, et
une mthode locale base sur les courbes P-y. Pour la mthode globale, nous montrons que leffet des cycles sur le dplacement est
essentiellement li au rapport entre lamplitude de la charge cyclique et la charge maximale. Nous proposons une loi de type
logarithme donnant le dplacement relatif en fonction du nombre de cycles. On notera que leffet des cycles sur le moment maximum
est faible. La mthode locale est base sur linteraction entre le sol et le pieu permettant de relier directement la raction latrale du
sol P et le dplacement du sol y. Nous introduisons un coefficient dabattement qui permet de prendre en compte leffet des cycles en
modifiant la raction des courbes P-y statiques.
ABSTRACT: Generally, the design of pile under lateral cyclic loads supposed that the soil is completely in the state of failure (limit
states calculation). However, the calculation methods progressed and the design can be executed in displacement and at maximum
bending moment. To analyse the cyclic effect we propose two methods: the global method is based on pile head displacement and
maximum bending moments and local method is based on P-y curves. For the global method, we purpose an empirical law to evaluate
pile head displacements at application point. A simple power function of DF/F and a logarithm function of the number of cycles are
proposed to calculate pile head displacements under cyclic loading from the displacement values under applied monotonic loads. We
show that the effect of the cycles on the bending moments is weak. Local methods are based on the soil reaction profile, P and the pile
lateral displacement, y called P-y curves. We purpose a reduction coefficient then applied to the monotonic P-y curves to take the
cyclic effect on the soil degradation into account.
MOTS-CLES : Comportement sous chargements cycliques Sismes
KEYWORDS: Pile under lateral cyclic load Seism
1

INTRODUCTION

Le chargement latral cyclique des pieux est gnralement le

rsultat des sollicitations mcaniques engendres par les vagues,
le vent sur des structures offshore, l'amarrage de bateaux sur des
quais, des surcharges variables ou des dilatations thermiques. Il
est caractris par quatre paramtres qui sont la charge
maximum applique F ; lamplitude de la variation de la charge
DF ; le nombre de cycles n et le type de chargement (nonaltern ou altern).
Lutilisation des modles rduits de pieux permet de raliser
des tudes paramtriques et ainsi amliorer notre
comprhension de ces phnomnes multiples variables. Une
meilleure connaissance et quantification de la rponse des pieux
sous charge latrale cyclique permettra doptimiser leurs
dimensionnement pour ce type de sollicitation mcanique.
La modlisation physique des structures gotechniques en
centrifugeuse est une technique assez rpandue (Garnier 2001)
et a dj t applique ltude de pieux sous charge latrale
cyclique dans le sable (Rosquot 2004, Rakotonindriana 2009)
ou dans largile (Khemakhem 2012). La centrifugation des
modles rduits est indispensable pour assurer le respect des
conditions de similitude qui imposent quun modle lchelle
1/n soit test sous une acclration centrifuge gale n fois la
gravit terrestre.
Un important programme de recherche est en cours en
France sur les pieux sous charge cycliques (Projet national
SOLCYP). Les travaux dcrits ci-dessous sintgrent dans ce
programme et concernent les charges latrales cycliques. Le but
final de ces tudes est de proposer une mthode rationnelle de

dimensionnement des pieux soumis de telles sollicitations et

dvaluer linfluence du chargement latral cyclique sur les
lments qui permettent de dimensionner le pieu, cest--dire le
dplacement horizontal en tte y, le moment maximum M ou
encore les relations entre la raction du sol P et le dplacement
horizontal du pieu y, appeles courbes P-y .
Ltude se limite aux cas o les cycles dgradent la raction
du sol et aux charges cycliques de service. Le pieu modlis
peut tre considr comme un pieu souple. La partie du pieu
situe une profondeur suprieure 3 fois la longueur de
transfert l0, na thoriquement plus dinfluence sur la rponse
due une charge en tte (Frank 1999). De fait, dans cette tude,
on admettra que leffet des cycles se manifeste essentiellement
dans les couches de surface, des profondeurs infrieures 4 ou
5 fois le diamtre du pieu. A titre de comparaison, lAPI (2002)
fixe cette profondeur limite z/B = 2,625 pour des sables, soit
1,89 m dans notre cas.
2

DISPOSITIF ET MTHODE EXPRIMENTALE

Les essais ont t effectus dans des massifs secs homognes de

sable de Fontainebleau NE34 de poids volumique 16 kN/m3
(indice de densit ID = 86 %) reconstitus par pluviation. Le
pieu modle au 1/40me est mis en place 1g par battage dans
les massifs pralablement reconstitus. Ce pieu modle est test
sous une acclration de 40 g. Il reprsente un pieu grandeur
relle de 0,72 m de diamtre, de 12 m de longueur de fiche
ayant une rigidit la flexion de 476 MN.m (Figure 1). Il est
instrument par 20 paires de jauges de dformation colles sur

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Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

deux gnratrices diamtralement opposes permettant de

dterminer tout moment le profil des moments flchissants.

Figure 1. Pieu modle instrument de 18mm de diamtre.

Un servo-vrin horizontal plac sur un bti rigide fix sur le

conteneur dessai permet dappliquer le chargement 40 mm
au-dessus du sol. Deux capteurs de dplacement (dune course
de 100 mm) fixs par lintermdiaire dune rotule 20 mm et de
65 mm au dessus du sol permettent de connaitre le dplacement
au point dapplication de la charge (Figure 2). L'effort est
mesur l'aide d'un capteur de force, dune capacit maximale
de 500 daN. Pour le chargement unidirectionnel non altern
(traction uniquement), un cble assure la liaison entre le capteur
et le pieu modle.

Figure 2. Dtail du dispositif de chargement avec les capteurs de

dplacement.

Dans le cas dun chargement cyclique de type non altern,

leffort est toujours appliqu dans le mme sens, la charge
variant entre F et F DF.
MTHODE GLOBALE

3.1

Tableau 1. Estimation de b et de lincertitude b associe.

Essai
Nombre de F
DF
b
cycles
(kN)
(kN)
(.)
P33
14
960
960
0,082
P344
14
960
960
0,081
P36
18
960
720
0,078
P347
40
960
720
0,075
P32
15
960
480
0,071
P318
25
960
240
0,044
P346
40
960
240
0,049

Dplacement en tte

0,1

Leffet des cycles sur lvolution du dplacement en tte au

point dapplication de la charge (figure 3) est fortement
dpendant de lamplitude des cycles (DF) et du chargement
maximal (F).
1,30

P33 ; DF = 600 N

(.)
0,019
0,017
0,017
0,01
0,021
0,017
0,01

Valeur prototype
ID = 86 %
F = 960 kN

0,08

0,35

DF
b 0,08
F

0,06

R2 = 0,98

0,04

P344 ; DF = 600N

Il apparat (Tableau 1), que le coefficient b est

strictement croissant avec lamplitude DF. Il est possible de
reprsenter les variations de b par une fonction puissance.
La figure 4 montre la courbe dvolution du coefficient b en
fonction du rapport entre lamplitude et la charge maximale
applique (DF/F), permettant ainsi de rendre adimensionnelle
lamplitude des cycles.

b (.)

y
n 1 b ln n

(1)
y
1
o yn est le dplacement au cycle n, y1 le dplacement la fin
du
chargement
statique,
b un
coefficient
positif
adimensionnel et n le nombre de cycles (Figure 3).
Linterpolation des courbes est ralise par la mthode des
moindres carrs. Pour tous les cas tudis, les valeurs
exprimentales sont proches de la loi logarithmique choisie
(coefficient de corrlation R2 = 0,98). Le coefficient b
dpend de lamplitude des cycles. Lorsque lamplitude des
cycles DF tend vers 0, nous sommes dans le cas dun essai de
fluage puisque la charge est constante et gale F. Nous avons
observ que le dplacement induit par le fluage peut tre
nglig, par consquent, le coefficient b , est dans ce cas
proche de 0.
Lvolution du dplacement relatif en fonction du nombre de
cycles, pour chaque essai ralis, peut tre caractrise par ce
coefficient b . On note b lincertitude lie la mesure de ce
dplacement. En supposant que les incertitudes sur le
dplacement relatif soient toutes de mme amplitude nous
pouvons calculer les incertitudes sur la constante b de la
fonction logarithmique (Rosquot 2004).

0,02

1,25
P347 ; DF = 450 N

Dplacement relatif (.)

1,20

P36 ; DF = 450 N

P32 ; DF= 300 N

1,15

P346 ; DF = 150 N

1,05
Valeur modle, ID = 86 %

10

15

20
25
30
Nombre de cycles (.)

35

0,2

0,4

DF/F (.)

0,6

0,8

Figure 4. Evolution du coefficient b en fonction de DF/F.

P318 ; DF = 150 N

1,10

1,00

40

Figure 3. Evolution des dplacements relatifs sous la charge maximale

(F = 960 kN) en fonction du nombre de cycles pour diffrentes
amplitudes DF.

Comme dj observ par dautres auteurs, une loi

logarithmique reprsente trs correctement la relation entre le
dplacement relatif et le nombre de cycles (Eq. 1) :

2396

Lexpression du coefficient b dfini sur la figure 4 en

fonction de DF/F permet de complter lquation (2) pour ainsi
donner le dplacement en tte pour un cycle n donn.
0 , 35
yn
DF
1 0,08 ln n
(2)

y1
F
Le tableau 2 prsente les valeurs proposes dans la littrature
pour le paramtre b, que lon peut appeler paramtre de
dgradation.

Technical Committee 209 / Comit technique 209

Tableau 2. Plages des valeurs de b proposes dans la littrature.

Paramtre de
Auteurs
Sol
Pieux tests Nombre
de cycles
dgradation
Hettler
(1981)
Bouafia
(1994)

Sable
sec
Sable
sec

Rigides / 1g
Rigides
Centrifugs

0,18 < b < 0,25

Lin et Liao
(1999)
Verdure et al.
(2003)
Rakotonindriana
(2009)
Li et al.
(2010)
Peralta
(2010)

Divers
sables
Sable
sec dense
Sable
sec dense
Sable
sec dense
Sable
sec

Pieux
in situ
Flexibles
Centrifugs
Flexibles
Centrifugs
Rigides
Centrifugs
Flexibles 1-g

100

0,02 < b < 0,24

50

0,04< b < 0,18

Tableau 3 : Estimation de a et de lincertitude a associe (F = 960 kN,

ID = 86 %).
a
Essai
Nombre de DF/F
a
(.)
cycles
(.)
(.)
P33
14
1
0
/
P344
14
1
0
/
P36
18
0,75
0,0047
0,0038
P347
40
0,75
0,0069
0,0052
P32
15
0,5
0,019
0,017
P318
25
0,25
0,026
0,014
P346
40
0,25
0,025
0,006

500

0,12

100
1000
10000

0,17< b < 0,25

Comme dj propos par plusieurs auteurs et adopt dans les

rgles API, nous admettons quil est possible de modliser
leffet des cycles, sur les courbes P-y, par une diminution de la
raction P (pour un dplacement y donn) dans les couches de
surface. Cette approche prsente lavantage de pouvoir tre
mise en uvre avec tout logiciel de calcul de pieu sous charge
latrale statique. Pour quantifier linfluence des cycles sur la
dgradation du sol nous introduisons un coefficient
dabattement rc qui dpend a priori de cinq paramtres : la
profondeur z, le dplacement du pieu y, le nombre de cycles n,
la charge applique F et lamplitude des cycles DF.

0,2

0,21

Au regard des expressions de b proposes dans la

littrature et des rsultats des tudes ralises par Rosquot
(2004) et Rakotonindriana (2009), nous retenons une valeur
moyenne de b de 0,1. Finalement nous proposons pour
lexpression de lvolution du dplacement en tte en fonction
du nombre de cycles et de lamplitude (Eq. 3) :
0 , 35
yn
DF

1 0,1 ln n
(3)

y1
F
3.2

Moment maximum

Le moment maximum est lun des paramtres

dimensionnant et il est important dexaminer son volution lors
de chargements cycliques (Figure 5).
Valeur modle ID = 86 %

1,1

MTHODE LOCALE

4.1

Mthode itrative pour dterminer un coefficient

dabattement rc

Le coefficient dabattement rc des courbes P-y statiques va tre

dtermin laide dun calcul itratif par calage progressif entre
les donnes exprimentales (tat du pieu au 15me cycle) et les
donnes calcules par le logiciel Pilate (courbe P-y statique
abattues dun coefficient r).
-10
0,0

P318 ; DF = 150 N
P346 ; DF = 150 N

Dplacement (mm)
50
70

110

90

85 mm = 4

2,4

1,06

Profondeur (m)

P347 ; DF = 450 N

1,04
1,02

P36 ; DF = 450 N
P344 ; DF = 600 N

10

20
30
Nombre de cycles (.)

4,8

22 mm =

6,0
7,2
8,4
9,6

P33 ; DF = 600 N

50 mm = 2

3,6

P32 ; DF = 300 N

Valeur prototype
Essai P36
ID = 86 %

10,8
40

12,0

Figure 5. Evolution des moments maximums relatifs en fonction du

nombre de cycles pour diffrents rapports DF/F.

Comme pour les dplacements relatifs, il est possible

dinterpoler lvolution du moment maximum relatif en
fonction du nombre de cycles par une fonction de type
logarithmique (Eq. 4) :
M
n 1 a ln n
(4)

M
1
Leffet des cycles sur le moment maximum savre faible,
infrieur 8 % pour 15 cycles (Rosquot, 2004) et 12 % pour
75000 cycles (Rakotonindriana, 2009). De plus, nous avons
montr que les valeurs du coefficient reprsentant leffet des
cycles sur le moment maximum sont du mme ordre de
grandeur que lincertitude sur ce coefficient (tableau 3). Par
consquent, dans le cas dun sable sec et dense, nous proposons
ce stade dappliquer une majoration forfaitaire de 10% au
moment maximum observ sous la charge statique F (solution
conservative).

Figure 6. Evolution du dplacement en fonction de la profondeur.

Pour une profondeur comprise entre 0 et 3,6 m, si lon note le

dplacement du pieu au niveau de la couche comprise entre 2,4
et 3,6 m, on constate que le dplacement est proche de 2 entre
1,2 et 2,4 m et 4 entre 0 et 1,2 m (Figure 6).
-10
0

40

Dplacement (mm)
90

140

Profondeur (m)

Moment maximum relatf (.)

30

1,2

1,08

0,98

10

4
6
8
10
12

En surface z = 0 m

y1Exprimental
1,16
y1Pilate
y15Exprimental
1,16
y15Pilate

Valeur prototype
P36 ; F = 960 kN ; DF = 720
kN
15 cycles
Id = 86 %
Pilate : charge statique
Exprimental : charge statique
Pilate : charge cyclique
Exprimental : charge cyclique

Figure 7. Evolution du dplacement en fonction de la profondeur.

Dans un premier temps, les coefficients dabattement rc sont

dtermins par calage sur les donnes exprimentales obtenues
sur le dplacement de la tte du pieu en fonction du nombre de
cycles. Pour reprsenter leffet des cycles, les courbes P-y

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Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

statiques de surface (jusqu 3,6 m) sont affectes dun facteur

rc sur la raction P infrieur 1 et croissant avec la profondeur.
Compte tenu du constat tir de la figure 6, on impose que le
coefficient r soit gal 1 - 4 entre 0 et 1,2 m ; 1 - 2 entre 1,2
et 2,4 m et 1 - entre 2,4 et 3,6 m (avec un coefficient
strictement positif tel que 1 - soit infrieur ou gal 1).
Par itration, nous recherchons la valeur de qui conduit au
rapport correct entre le dplacement au 15me cycle y15 et le
dplacement du pieu sous la charge maximum y1 (Figure 7).
La mme procdure a t utilise pour les autres cas, de
charge maximum de 960 kN, damplitude des cycles variant
entre 960 et 240 kN. Il est possible dexprimer le coefficient r
en fonction du rapport damplitude de la variation de la charge
sur la charge DF / F, pour les couches de surfaces entre 0 et 5B
(Figure 8).
1
3B<z<5B

0,95

1,5 B < z < 3 B

0,9
0,85

r (.)

0 < z < 1,5 B

0,8
0,75
0,7

0,2

0,4

0,6
DF / F (.)

0,8

Figure 8. Evolution du coefficient rc en fonction de DF / F (pour 15

cycles).

Lextrapolation des courbes de la figure 8 permet de

dterminer des expressions simples du coefficient rc en fonction
du rapport DF / F pour les trois couches de surfaces (Tableau 4).
Tableau 4 : Extrapolation par des droites de lvolution du coefficient rc
en fonction de DF / F (pour 15 cycles).
Expression de rc en fonction de DF / F

Profondeur z

0 z 1,5B
1,5 B z 3B
3B z 5 B

DF
F
DF

r 0,94 0,058
F
DF

r 0,97 0,029
F

r 0,87 0,12

COMPARAISON MTHODE GLOBALE / MTHODE

LOCALE POUR LE DPLACEMENT EN TTE.

Un exemple de comparaison entre les deux mthodes est donn

sur la figure 9 pour lessai sur un pieu dans un sable dense (ID =
86 %) et des cycles caractriss par F = 960 kN et DF = 720 kN.
Dplacement (mm)

-2
-10
0

Profondeur (m)

2
4

40

90

140

190

240

Valeur prototype
P36 ; F = 960 kN ; DF = 720 kN
15 cycles
Id = 86 %
Abattement courbe P-y (entre 0 et 3,6 m)

6
8

Mthode locale : Pilate

Exprimental : charge cyclique

10

Dplacement en tte (mthode global)

12

Dplacement en tte (exprimentale)

Figure 9. Evolution du dplacement en fonction de la profondeur.

Lcart entre la mthode globale dduite de la relation

prsente dans le tableau 4 et la courbe exprimentale est de 2%
soit de lordre de grandeur de lincertitude sur la mesure du

2398

dplacement (lincertitude sur le dplacement est de 0,104 mm,

lcart entre mthode locale et exprimentale est de 0,112 mm).
6

CONCLUSION

Une nouvelle analyse de ltude paramtrique ralise

lIFSTTAR sur un pieu soumis une charge latrale cyclique
dans un sable sec et dense (Rosquot 2004) et complte par la
suite (Rakotonindriana 2009, Khemakhem 2012) permet de
proposer de nouvelles mthodes de dimensionnement des pieux
sous chargement latral cyclique. Une mthode globale, base
sur une loi logarithmique en fonction de DF/F permet de donner
le dplacement en tte pour un nombre de cycles n donn. On
notera que leffet des cycles sur le moment maximum, dans le
cas dun sable sec et dense, est ngligeable.
Une mthode locale base sur labattement des courbes P-y
statiques a t ralise. Des calculs itratifs ont permis de
valider la modlisation de leffet des cycles sur le dplacement
et sur les moments par une modification des courbes P-y dun
facteur rc croissant entre 0 et 5B (soit entre 0 et 3,6 m). Des
expressions simples ont t proposes permettant de dterminer
ce facteur rc partir du rapport DF / F.
On note, pour finir une bonne concordance des rsultats
obtenus par les deux mthodes. Toutefois si la mthode globale
est utilisable pour un trs grand nombre de cycles (> 500), la
mthode locale nest valide que pour une quinzaine de cycles et
pour des chargements cycliques non alterns.
7

REFERENCES

API - American Petroleum Institute. 2002. Recommended Practice for

Planning, Designing and Constructing Fixed Offshore Platforms Working Stress Design. RP 2AWSD, Washington, DC.
Bouafia A. 1994. Etude exprimentale du chargement latral cyclique
rpt des pieux isols dans le sable en centrifugeuse. Canadian
Geotechnical Journal, Vol. 31, n5, 740-748.
Frank R. 1999. Calcul des fondations superficielles et profondes.
Editions Technique de lIngnieur et Presse des Ponts et Chausses.
Paris.
Garnier J. 2001. Modles physiques en gotechnique I-Evolution des
techniques exprimentales et des domaines dapplication. Revue
Franaise de Gotechnique. N97. 3-29.
Hettler. A. 1981. Verschiebungen starrer und elastischer
Grndungskrper in Sand bei monotoner und zyklischer Belastung.
Institut fr Boden-und Felsmechanik der Universitt Karlsruhe,
Heft Nr. 90.
Khemakhem M. 2012. Etude exprimentale de la rponse aux charges
latrales monotones et cycliques dun pieu for dans de largile.
Thse de Doctorat. Ecole Centrale de Nantes Universit de Nantes.
336 p.
Lin S.S. & Liao J.C. 1999. Permanent strains of piles in sand due to
cyclic
lateral
loads.
Journal
of
Geotechnical
and
Geoenvironemental Engineering, Vol. 125, n9, 798-802.
Li Z. Haigh S. K. & Bolton M. D. 2010. Centrifuge modelling of
mono-pile under cyclic lateral loads. 7th International Conference
on Physical Modelling in Geotechnics. Zurich. Vol. 2, 965-970.
Peralta P. and Achmus M. 2010. An experimental investigation of piles
in sand subjected to lateral cyclic loads. 7th International
Conference on Physical Modelling in Geotechnics. Zurich. Vol. 2,
985-990.
Rakotonindriana M. H. J. 2009. Comportement des pieux et des groupes
de pieux sous chargement latral cyclique. Thse de doctorat. Ecole
Nationale des Ponts et Chausses. 381p.
Rosquot F. 2004. Pieu sous charge latrale cyclique. Thse de
Doctorat. Ecole Centrale de Nantes Universit de Nantes. 305 p.
Verdure L. Levacher D. & Garnier J. 2003. Effet des cycles sur le
comportement dun pieu isol dans un sable dense sous chargement
latral. Revue Franaise de Gnie Civil. 7/2003. 1185-1210.

Behavior of marine silty sand subjected to long term cyclic loading

Comportement du sable limoneux marin soumis une charge cyclique de longue dure
Safdar M., Kim J.M.

Pusan National University, Busan, South Korea

ABSTRACT: The foundations for offshore wind turbines are demanding due to the dynamic nature of the offshore loading. A greater
understanding of the behavior of wind turbine foundation soil, will certainly lead to the stable construction of foundations which in
turn, will make offshore wind farms a more feasible part of the solution to the global energy problem. This paper presents the results
of cyclic direct simple shear test (CDSS) to explain the long term cyclic behavior of marine silty sand. Cyclic behavior of marine sand
are based on the number of loading cycles, cyclic shear strain amplitude, relative density, and cyclic stress ratio. These results are
modeled and can be applied to design offshore wind turbine foundations.
RSUM : Les fondations pour les oliennes offshore sont principalement exigeante en raison de la nature dynamique du chargement
offshore. Une meilleure comprhension du comportement de l'olienne des sols de fondation, va certainement conduire la
construction des fondations stables qui leur tour, feront de parcs oliens en mer un rle plus possible de la solution au problme
mondial de l'nergie. Ce document prsente les rsultats d'essai de cisaillement cyclique directe simple (CDSS) pour expliquer le
comportement cyclique long terme de sable limoneux marin. Comportement cyclique de sable marin sont bass sur le nombre de
cycles de charge, cyclique d'amplitude de contrainte au cisaillement, la densit relative et du taux de contrainte cyclique. Ces rsultats
sont modliss et peut tre applique la conception fondations d'oliennes off-shore.
KEYWORDS: Cyclic Loading, Offshore Wind Turbine, CDSS, Cyclic Stress Ratio
1

INTRODUCTION

Understanding the behavior of offshore marine sand subjected

to long term cyclic loading is very vital in solving several
offshore geotechnical problems. Several researchers have
studied behavior of clay and sand subjected to cyclic loading.
(Vucetic et al. 1988) studied the degradation of marine clays
under cyclic loading. (D. Wijewickreme et al. 2005) studied the
cyclic loading response of loose air-pluviated Fraser river sand.
(K.H. Andersen 2009) investigated in detail, the bearing
capacity of the soil under cyclic loading, and stated that the
cyclic shear strength and the failure mode under cyclic loading
depend on the stress path and the combination of average and
cyclic shear stresses. Safdar et al., 2013, studied the cyclic
behavior of marine silty sand subjected to symmetrical cyclic
loading. Different approaches have been made as an attempt to
include cyclic loading in the design procedure of offshore wind
turbine foundation (Soren et al. 2012).
1.1

normal load within a wire-reinforced membrane (in this study)

or a stack of thin rings that provide lateral confinement.
Once consolidation is complete, a horizontal shear force is
applied to one end of the sample. The sample height is
continuously maintained during shear to ensure constant
volume. Rather than measuring pore pressures, which would
require complete saturation of the sample, the pore pressure
response is inferred from the change in vertical stress which is
monitored throughout the test (Baxter et al 2010). In this way
changes in applied vertical stress (v), which are required to
keep the sample height constant, are assumed to be equal to the
excess pore water pressure (u) that would develop if the test
were truly undrained with pore pressure measurements (Finn,
1985, Dyvik et al. 1987).

Stress controlled CDSS test

Constant volume direct simple shear (DSS) test is a reliable

method for measuring undrained shear strength of undisturbed
or compacted soil samples. The DSS test is most similar to the
CU triaxial test in that samples are consolidated prior to
shearing. The simple shear is the test condition that only normal
and shear stress acting on top face of a specimen is defined,
whereas the displacement constraints exist for the other
boundaries: The bottom face of specimen is theoretically fixed,
and the radial strain on specimen is zero.
The CDSS test procedure is based on that of a constantvolume direct simple shear testing of soils, which has been
studied extensively for half a century and is described in the
standard ASTM D6528-07. The sample is consolidated under a

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Figure 1 Simple Shear Condition, (Dyvik et al 1987)

Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

Figure 2 (a). Wire Reinforced Membrane (b). Stacked Rings

(Baxter et al 2010)

The cyclic shear response of natural low-plastic Fraser

River silt was investigated using constant-volume direct simple
shear (DSS) testing (Wijewickreme 2010). Maria V. Sanin et
al., (2011) studied the cyclic shear response of undisturbed and
reconstituted Fraser River Silt. A soil can be subjected to many
different stress conditions, being purely cyclic stress, static or
average stress, or a combination of both. Andersen (2009)
shows this clearly in a study on Drammen clays at the NGI.
Drammen clays samples are tested in cyclic triaxial and cyclic
simple shear conditions for different combinations of static and
cyclic shear stresses. In this study cyclic simple shear tests have
been performed with static or average shear stress, = 0 or
symmetrical cyclic loading.
1.2

Figure 3 Stress-path responses of NC Fraser River silt under constant

volume cyclic DSS loading (v = 97 kPa; CSR = 0.20; =0; OCR =
1.0) (Maria V. Sanin et al., 2011).

Sample Preparation

Air Pluviation with dry compaction approach was developed to

produce samples of the silty sand with consistent heights and
initial relative densities. The equipment used consists of the
shear box having bottom cap, two o-rings, wire-reinforced
membrane, top cap, triaxial pressure panel, and compacting
hammer. Sample diameter is 63.5mm and height is varied from
20 to 25 mm to maintain height to diameter ratio less than 0.4,
in order to fulfill the ASTM D6528-07 criteria. In this study
marine silty sand is obtained from the West coast of South
Korea. Specific gravity of material tested is Gs =2.65. Marine
silty sand has minimum voids ratio of 0.74 and maximum voids
ratio of 1.18. Details of properties of soil tested are given in
Table 1.

Figure 5 Constant volume cyclic DSS test on undisturbed Fraser River

Delta silt. (v = 100 kPa, CSR = 0.14) (Maria V. Sanin et al., 2011).

Table 1 Properties of marine silty sand.

Figure 5 Stress-strain behavior under different loading conditions

(Andersen, 2009)

1.3

Testing Program

The laboratory testing program for this study was designed to

analyze the behavior of marine silty sand when subjected to
cyclic loads for different combinations of parameters such as
cyclic stress ratio, no. of loading cycles and relative density.
For marine silty sand, the tests were performed at a
frequency of 0.1 Hz. Effect of Relative Density (Dr %) for 65,
and 70 percent is studied for various CSR and no. of loading
cycles. Marine silty sand has minimum voids ratio of 0.74 and
maximum voids ratio of 1.18. Specific gravity of Gs=2.65.
To produce in-situ (K0) stress conditions, a vertical
consolidation stress must be applied to the sample prior to
shearing. Applied vertical stresses simulate the loads from
overburden material located over the soil sample. For marine

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Technical Committee 209 / Comit technique 209

silty sand, a normal consolidation stress of 100 KPa was applied

in one step for all the specimens.
1.4

Cyclic Direct Simple Shear test results

Several researchers have used different shear strain failure

criteria such as 3%, 4%, 5% and 7.5%. A shear strain failure
condition was used for tests performed on marine silty sand and
the failure criterion was established as 4% double amplitude
shear strain. The results of a test are shown in Figure 6, 7 and
8.Figure 8 shows the applied cyclic shear stress of +/- 12 kPa
(CSR = 0.12). Figure 6 shows the development of shear strain
throughout the test, which reaches 4% double amplitude shear
strain at nearly 205 cycles.
8 CDSS tests were conducted, 4 tests at voids ratio of 0.898
(Dr 65%) and CSR range of 0.10, 0.12, 0.14, and 0.16. 4 tests at
voids ratio of 0.847 (Dr 70% and CSR range of 0.10, 0.12, 0.14,
and 0.20. All the tests were conducted at nominal initial
effective confining stress of 100 kPa to provide a basis for
comparison between tests. In case of 70% relative density,
Figure 6 shows the degradation curve and development of shear
strain with increasing number of cycles. In a general sense,
marine silty sand specimens seem to exhibit gradual increase in
shear strain and degradation of shear stiffness with increasing
number of load cycles. Typical stress paths and stress-strain
curves of tests conducted on marine silty sand specimens are
presented in Figures 7 and 8 respectively.

Figure 8 Stress-strain response of marine silty sand under constant

volume cyclic DSS loading (v = 100 kPa; Dr (%) = 70, CSR = 0.12;
= 0.0; OCR = 1.0).

In case of 65% relative density, Figure 9 shows the

degradation curve and development of shear strain with
increasing number of cycles. Typical stress paths and stressstrain curves of tests conducted with 65% relative density on
marine silty sand specimens are presented in Figures 10 and 11
respectively.
It was observed that specimens having higher relative
densities require higher no. of loading cycles to reach 4%
double amplitude cyclic shear strain and specimens having
lower relative density reach to failure in smaller no. of loading
cycles. In case of higher cyclic stress ratio (CSR) the soil
samples reached the failure criterion in few no. of loading
cycles.

Figure 6 Peak-Peak Shear Strain vs No. of Loading cycles for (v = 100

kPa, CSR=0.12 and Dr (%) = 70).

Figure 6 shows that samples having relative density of 70%

reached 2% cyclic double amplitide cyclic shear strain after 42
cycles and 205 to reach failure.

Figure 9 Peak-Peak Shear Strain vs No. of Loading cycles for (v = 100

kPa; Dr (%) = 65, CSR = 0.12; = 0.0; OCR = 1.0).

Figure 9 shows that samples having relative density of 65%

reached 2% cyclic double amplitide cyclic shear strain after 15
cycles and 57cycles to reach failure.

Figure 7 Stress Path During constant volume cyclic DSS loading of silty
sand for (v = 100 kPa, CSR=0.12 and Dr (%) = 70).
Figure 10 Stress Path During constant volume cyclic DSS loading of
silty sand for (v = 100 kPa; Dr (%) = 65, CSR = 0.12; = 0.0; OCR =
1.0).

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Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

Samples having 70% relative density and subjected to CSR of

0.12 reached cyclic double amplitude of 4% shear strain at
nearly 205 cycles. In case of samples having 65% relative
density and subjected to CSR of 0.12 reached cyclic double
amplitude of 4% at nearly 57 cycles.
2

Figure 11 Stress-strain response of marine silty sand under constant

volume cyclic DSS loading (v = 100 kPa; Dr (%)= 65, CSR = 0.12; =
0.0; OCR = 1.0).

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

The constant volume cyclic shear response of marine silty sand

was examined using data from CDSS tests.
The intent was to compare the shear response of the silty sand
specimens under different relative densities.
samples having higher value of cyclic stress ratio and/or low
relative density fail at a small number of loading cycles. It is
found in this particular study that the number of loading cycles
required to reach the threshold strain is not much different for
two relarive densities after 300 loading cycles. The trends are
little different from the previous study reported in which the
curves are almost parallel even in high number of cycles.
3

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This research is supported by the Ministry of Land, Transport

and Maritime Affairs, Korea 2010 research grant (2010
Construction Technology Innovation Program, 10-CTIP-E04).
4

Figure 12 CSR versus No. of Loading cycles to reach double amplitude

shear strain of 4% for marine silty sand

Figure 12 shows the number of loading cycles versus cyclic

stress ratio that reach shear strain of 4%. As expected, samples
having higher value of cyclic stress ratio and/or low relative
density fail at a small number of loading cycles. It is found in
this particular study that the number of loading cycles required
to reach the threshold strain is not much different for two
relarive densities after 300 loading cycles. The trends are little
different from the previous study reported (Fig. 13) in which the
curves are almost parallel even in high number of cycles.

Figure 13 Effect of stress densification on cyclic resistance of loose airpluviated sand (Wijewickreme et al., 2005)

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Andersen K.H 2009. Bearing capacity under cyclic loading- offshore,

along the coast, and on land. The 21st Bjerrum
Lecture presented in Oslo, 23November 2007. NRC
Research Press Web site (www.cgj.nrc.ca)
Baxter C.D.P, Bradshaw A.S., Ochoa-Lavergne M. and Hankour
R. 2010. DSS Test Results using Wire-Reinforced
Membranes and Stacked Rings. GeoFlorida 2010 ASCE.
Boulanger R.W & Seed R.B. 1995 . Liquefaction of sands under
Bidirectional monotonic and cyclic loading. Journal of
Geotechnical Engineering ASCE Vol. 121, No. 12 pp. 870878.
Bjerrum, L., and Landva, A. 1966. Direct simple-shear tests on a
Norwegian quick clay. Geotechnique 16(1), 1-20.
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Comparison of truly undrained and constant volume direct
simple shear tests. Geotechnique 37(1), 3-10.
Idriss, I. M., and Boulanger, R. W. 2008. Soil liquefaction during
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Research Institute, Oakland, CA.
Maria V. Sanin, Wijewickreme D. 2011. Cyclic shear response of
undisturbed and reconstituted Fraser River Silt. Pan-Am CGS
Geotechnical Conference.
Safdar M., Kim, J.M. (2013). Cyclic Behavior of Marine Silty Sand
Electronic Journal of Geotechnical Engineering (EJGE)
Vol.18A, pp. 209-218.
Soren K. N., Amir Shajarati, K.W.Sorenson, L.B. Ibsen 2012.
Behaviour of Dense Frederikshavn sand during cyclic
Loading. DCE Technical Memorandum No. 15
Vucetic M. & Dobry R. 1988. Degradation of marine clays
under cyclic loading. Journal of Geotechnical Engineering
ASCE Vol. 114, No. 2 pp. 133-149.
Wijewickreme D. 2010. Cyclic shear response of low plastic Fraser
River silt. Proceedings of the 9th U.S. National and 10th
Canadian conference on Earthquake Engineering
Wijewickreme D., Sanin M.V. and Greenaway G.R. (2005)
Cyclic shear response of fine-grained mine tailings.
Canadian Geotechnical Journal Vol. 42 pp. 1408-1421
Wijewickreme, D., Sriskandakumar, S., and Byrne, P. 2005.
Cyclic loading response of loose air-pluviated
Fraser River sand for validation of numerical models
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42(2), 550-561.

2402

Influence des chargements cycliques axiaux dans le comportement et la rponse de

pieux battus dans le sable
Influence of cyclic axial loads in the behaviour and response of driven piles in sand
Silva M., Foray P.

Laboratoire 3SR, Grenoble, France

Rimoy S., Jardine R.

Imperial College London, London, UK

Tsuha C.

University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil

Yang Z.

Zhejiang University, Zhejiang, China

RSUM: Cet article prsente un nouveau diagramme de stabilit cyclique pour le frottement latral ainsi que leffet sur la capacit
en traction des pieux modle instruments soumis des chargements cycliques axiaux suite une large srie dessais en chambre
dtalonnage dans du sable siliceux. Les mesures locales des contraintes dans le sol (verticales, radiales et orthoradiales) diffrentes
distances de laxe du pieu, ainsi que les mesures tangentielles et radiales l'interface sol-pieu, permettent une analyse dtaille de
lvolution des chemins de contraintes locaux autour du pieu et au sein du massif lors des chargements cycliques et post-cycliques.
ABSTRACT: This paper presents a new cyclic stability diagram for the lateral friction and the effect on the tensile capacity of
instrumented model piles subjected to axial cyclic loading across a wide range of calibration chamber testing in silica sand. Local
measurements of stresses in the soil mass (vertical, radial and orthoradial) at different distances from the axis of the pile, as well as
shear and radial stresses at the soil-pile interface, provide a detailed analysis of the evolution of local stress paths around the pile and
the soil mass during cyclic and post-cyclic loading.
MOTS-CLS: Chambre dtalonnage, chargement cyclique axial, interaction sol-pieu, diagramme de stabilit cyclique.
1

INTRODUCTION

Des fondations sur pieux de plateformes de ptrole/gaz et des

turbines olienne/marmotrice peuvent tre soumises des
chargements cycliques de trs longue dure en raison des
conditions environnementales. Les longs pieux battus, installs
par des cycles de charge-dcharge, subissent une dgradation
svre du frottement lors de leur installation (Lehane et al.
1993, Kolk et al, 2005). Celle-ci peut tre compense par un
phnomne de cicatrisation avec le temps ( ageing ),
observ dans des expriences in-situ (Chow et al 1998, Jardine
et al. 2006). Selon leur finalit (fondation douvrages offshore
ou doliennes), ces pieux sont ensuite souvent soumis des
sollicitations cycliques de service (houle, vibrations) qui
affectent galement leur frottement. La rponse cyclique de
linterface sol-pieu a t tudie en laboratoire laide de pieux
modle dans des chambres dtalonnage pressurises (Chan &
Hanna 1980, Al-Douri & Poulos 1994, Chin and Poulos 1996,
Le Kouby et al. 2004). Ces essais ont montr que la contrainte
de cisaillement dcrot dautant plus que lamplitude des
dplacements tangentiels augmente. Jardine et al. (2006) ont
montr partir des essais in-situ raliss Dunkerque (Chow et
al. 1998) qualors que des cycles de grande amplitude
dgradaient la capacit du pieu en frottement, des cycles non
alterns de faible amplitude acclraient les effets bnfiques du
phnomne de cicatrisation (augmentation de la capacit avec
le temps). Le Kouby et al. (2004) donnent des rsultats
similaires sur un pieu modle de 20 mm de diamtre.
Ltude prsente ici a pour but de donner une meilleure
comprhension, une chelle de laboratoire et dans un
environnement contrl, des rsultats obtenus sur des pieux
rels Dunkerque par Jardine & Standing (2000), en mesurant,
grce une instrumentation exceptionnelle de la chambre
dtalonnage et du pieu, les chemins de contraintes locaux, le
long du pieu et au sein du massif lors des diffrentes phases
dinstallation, de repos et de chargement statique et cyclique du
pieu. Ce travail fait partie dun programme de recherche

commun entre le laboratoire 3SR et Imperial College London,

ainsi que du projet National SOLCYP.
2
2.1

DISPOSITIF EXPRIMENTAL
La chambre dtalonnage

La grande chambre dtalonnage du Laboratoire 3S-R a t

adapte de faon matriser les conditions environnementales
(temprature, pression, alimentation lectrique) sur des priodes
de longue dure (plusieurs mois), afin de pouvoir mesurer les
phnomnes de cicatrisation du frottement aprs cyclage et
aprs une longue priode de repos. Une isolation complte de la
cuve ainsi quun systme de chauffage/refroidissement des
parois ont t raliss de faon minimiser les variations de
temprature dans la cuve. La pressurisation des membranes a
t conue pour fonctionner en cas de panne du rseau.
La chambre dtalonnage de Grenoble est compose de trois
lments cylindriques de 50 cm de hauteur et dun diamtre
interne de 1.2 m. Le fond de la chambre et le couvercle
suprieur sont constitus de plaques rigides d'une paisseur de
100 mm. Une pression verticale denviron 150 kPa est impose
par une membrane en caoutchouc remplie deau, qui est fixe
sous le couvercle suprieur et contrle par un systme
dinterface eau/air.
Une membrane en latex de 2 mm
d'paisseur a t installe sur la paroi interne de la chambre afin
de mieux fournir des conditions K0 au bord de la cuve. Une
couche de graisse de silicone entre cette membrane et la paroi
de la chambre permet de rduire le frottement entre le mur et la
masse de sable et d'assurer une meilleure homognit des
contraintes l'intrieur du sol.
Un systme disolation thermique form de serpentins en
cuivre autour de la cuve permet de travailler avec une
temprature presque uniforme entre 18 et 19 degrs.

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Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

Verin electric
Cellule de
charge
Systme de guidage
Niveau de rfrence

100 mm
60 mm

Serpentins en
cuivre autour de la
cuve pour contrle
de la temprature

0.00 m

~990 mm
enfoncement

46R

-0.33 m

18 oC
-1.50 m

Niveau suprieur de
capteurs, h/R=40

-0.52 m
26R

Mini-ICP
-0.79 m

9R
-1.05 m

Membrane infrieure
(non pressurise)

Membrane suprieure

Sable de Fontainebleau

Niveau intermdiaire de
capteurs, h/R=29.4
Niveau infrieur de capteurs,
h/R=14.4

Membrane en latex

-1.30 m

Figure 1: Modifications apportes la chambre dtalonnage du

laboratoire 3S-R.

Pour les essais prsents ici, la chambre d'talonnage a t

remplie avec du sable siliceux de Fontainebleau NE34
commercialis par lentreprise Sibelco. En utilisant une
technique de remplissage par pluviation, nous obtenons une
densit du massif moyennement dense dense, Dr=72%. Le
tableau 1 montre les proprits mcaniques du sable.
Tableau 1: Proprits mcaniques du sable NE34
D10
D50
D60
Gs
emin
emax
(mm)
(mm)
(mm)
2.65
0.150
0.210
0.230
0.90 0.51

max

(kN/m3)
17.2

min

(kN/m3)
14.2

Plusieurs essais pntromtriques ont t effectus sur des

chantillons de sable NE34 sous 150 kPa avec une rsistance en
pointe quasi-constante de 21 2 MPa. Des dtails
supplmentaires sur les proprits mcaniques du sable sont
dcrits dans Yang et al. (2010).
2.2

Le pieu dessai Mini-ICP

Le pieu utilis correspond au pieu modle Mini-ICP dvelopp

par lImperial College London et dcrit par Jardine et al. 2009.
Cest un pieu tubulaire en acier base ferme de 36mm de
diamtre avec un cne solide de 60 sa pointe. Il est compos
de trois niveaux d'instrumentation (ou clusters) identifis selon
leur distance la pointe en: A (9R), B (24) et C(44), R tant le
diamtre du pieu. Chacun de ces clusters contient une cellule de
charge axiale, qui peut tre utilise pour calculer la moyenne de
frottement dans le ft du pieu; un capteur de contraintes en
surface (SST: surface stress transducer) pour mesurer la
contrainte totale radiale et la contrainte de cisaillement; un
capteur de temprature MEMS et un inclinomtre. partir de
l'essai ICP03, une cellule de charge axiale a t ajoute prs de
la pointe du pieu pour mieux sparer les contributions de la
pointe et du frottement latral dans la capacit totale du pieu.
Le pieu a t install jusqu une profondeur finale de 0.98m
par fonage avec des cycles de charge-dcharge en simulant la
dgradation des efforts radiaux comme dans une installation par
battage. La vitesse de pntration varie entre 0.5 et 2 mm/s et
lamplitude des cycles denfoncement successifs est de 5, 10 ou
20 mm. La dcharge de chaque cycle a t mene jusqu
obtenir une charge en tte du pieu nulle.
2.3

Mesure des contraintes dans le massif

36 mini-capteurs Kyowa et TML de capacits variant de 500

kPa 7 MPa selon leur distance au pieu, ont t mis en place
sur trois niveaux comportant chacun douze capteurs, de faon
mesurer les contraintes verticales, radiales et orthoradiales sur
des rayons concentriques des distances de 2R 16R. Leur
talonnage sous chargement cyclique a t effectu Imperial
College en suivant le protocole tabli par Zhu et al 2009. La
rponse de chaque capteur est reprsente par une srie de
courbes dhystrsis selon lhistoire de charge prcdente.

PROGRAMME EXPRIMENTAL

Aprs une certaine priode de cicatrisation post-installation, un

premier essai en compression et un essai en traction ont t
effectus pour dfinir la capacit du pieu avant les chargements
cycliques. Plusieurs sries dessais de faible et de haut niveau
de chargement cyclique ont ensuite t effectues, ainsi que des
essais de traction pour valuer l'effet des charges dans la
rponse du pieu l'arrachement.
Les essais cycliques ont t caractriss selon deux
paramtres de charge; Qcyclic et Qmean correspondant
respectivement la moiti de lamplitude de chaque cycle et
la valeur moyenne de charge. Les essais de faible niveau en
charge ont t effectus sous chargement contrl (FC),
uniquement en traction (non altern). Ces essais ont mobilis
jusqu' 60% de la capacit totale du pieu en tension, Qt. Les
cycles de charge de haut niveau alterns (compression et
traction) ont t conduits en dplacement contrl (DC). Les
cycles ont t appliqus une frquence relativement basse,
allant de moins de 0,5 cycles par minute pour les essais alterns,
presque 2,5 cycles par minute pour les essais de faible charge.
Des essais de traction statique post-cyclique ont t raliss,
avec un taux de dplacement de 0,01 mm/s, afin de vrifier les
capacits l'arrachement disponibles aprs chaque chargement
cyclique. Comme indiqu par Jardine et al (2006), les essais
pralables peuvent influer sur les capacits dveloppes lors des
essais ultrieurs. Le tableau 2 rsume les diffrentes sries
dessais cycliques ralises.
Tableau 2: Programme dessais de chargement cyclique
N of
Qcyclic
ID
Description
/QT
cycles
ICP1-OW1 (FC)
1000
0 -4,0 kN
0,22
ICP1-TW1 (DC)
100
-4~5 mm
0,41
ICP2-OW1 (FC)
1000
0 -3,0kN
0,12
ICP2-OW2 (FC)
1000
0 -4,8 kN
0,20
ICP2-OW3 (FC)
500
0 -6,8 kN
0,28
ICP2-TW1 (DC)
100
-2,0 ~ 3,0 mm
0,48
ICP3-OW1 (FC)
100
0 -9,6 kN
0,38
ICP3-TW1 (FC)
287
-5,0 +8,0kN
0,54
ICP3-TW2 (FC)
199
-5,0 +5,0kN
0,40
ICP3-TW3 (FC)
50
-5,0 +7,0 kN
0,44
ICP3-TW4 (FC)
37
-5,0 +10,0kN
0,44
ICP4-OW1 (FC)
7000
0 -3,5 kN
0,15
ICP4-TW1(FC)
600
-4,0 +4,0kN
0,23
ICP4-OW2 (FC)
50
-2,3 -4,6 kN
0,21
OC = cycles non alterns, et TC = cycles alterns

Qmean
/ QT
0,22
0,06
0,12
0,20
0,28
0,15
0,38
0,08
0,06
0,02
0,02
0,15
0,06
0,63

4 RSULTATS DES ESSAIS CYCLIQUES NON

ALTERNS FAIBLE AMPLITUDE
4.1 Evolution des contraintes le long du pieu et au sein du
massif
Les mesures de contrainte effectues au sein du massif et le
long du pieu permettent de prciser les mcanismes conduisant
lamlioration ou la dgradation du frottement. La Figure 2
montre lvolution des contraintes radiales dans le sol
diffrentes distances du pieu. On constate une dcroissance de
ces contraintes radiales avec le nombre de cycles, plus
accentue lors de cycles alterns. La mme situation est vrifie
avec les contraintes radiales le long du pieu, accentue lors des
grands cycles mais avec des amplitudes plus grandes. On
remarque galement dans la Figure 2, que le chargement
statique effectu entre les deux sries de cycles entrane une
nette augmentation des contraintes prs du pieu aprs les petits
cycles (effet de la dilatance).
La distribution des contraintes dans le massif du sol
diffrentes distances de laxe du pieu a t interprte par
Jardine et al. 2012 en utilisant linformation des capteurs.

2404

220
200
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20

Contrainte de cisaillement rz (kPa)

Contrainte (kPa)

Technical Committee 209 / Comit technique 209

r/R=2
r/R=3
r/R=5
r/R=8
r/R=20

ClusterA
ClusterB
ClusterC

200
100

-100
Direction de
chemin de contraintes

-200

10

12

14

16

100

La mesure simultane des contraintes radiales et

tangentielles permet de tracer les chemins de contraintes suivis
par le sol au contact du pieu. Les petits cycles non alterns, tels
que ceux reprsents sur la Figure 3 pour les trois niveaux le
long du pieu, provoquent un dplacement des chemins de
contraintes vers la gauche, traduisant une tendance la
contractance de linterface et donc sa densification. Cest cette
densification qui produit ensuite une augmentation de la
dilatance et lamlioration de la capacit. Lorsque lamplitude
de ces cycles non alterns augmente, les cycles sapprochent de
la droite de rupture en traction (Yang et al 2010).
ClusterA
ClusterB
ClusterC

200
100

'

=27

-100
Direction de
chemin de contraintes

-200
0

100

200

300

400

Contrainte radiale r (kPa)

200

300

400

Contrainte radiale r (kPa)

Temps (heures)
Figure 2: Evolution des contraintes radiales dans le sol : De 0 9.6h :
1000 cycles non alterns de faible amplitude (ICP1-OW1) ; de 10,4
14,7h : 100 cycles alterns de grande amplitude (ICP01-OW1).

Contrainte de cisaillement rz (kPa)

'

=27

500

Figure 4: Chemins de contraintes la surface du pieu. Essai Mini-ICP4.

Cycles alterns de forte amplitude.

4.2

Capacit du pieu larrachement avant et aprs

chargement

Le tableau 3 montre les essais statiques effectus aprs chaque

essai cyclique pour valuer leffet de ceux-ci sur la capacit
larrachement.
Tableau 3: Programme dessais de chargement cyclique
Variation entre
Essai prcdent
Essai
QT (kN)
essais (%)
(selon Tableau II)
ICP1-T1
1re compression
9,2
ICP1-T2
ICP1-OW1
10,8
17,4%
ICP1-T3
ICP1-TW1
4,9
-54,6%
ICP2-T1
1re compression
12,1
ICP2-T2
ICP2-OW1
13,2
9,1%
ICP2-T3
ICP2-OW2
14
6,1%
ICP2-T4
ICP2-OW3
13,7
-2,1%
ICP2-T5
ICP2-TW1
8,7
-36,5%
ICP3-T1
1re compression
12,5
ICP3-T2
ICP3-OW1
10,9
-12,8%
ICP3-T3
ICP3-TW1,2,3,4
4,8
-56,0%
ICP4-T1
1re compression
11,5
ICP4-T2
ICP4-OW1
13,9
20,9%
ICP4-T3
ICP4-TW1
5,5
-60,4%
ICP4-T4
ICP4-OW2
6
9,1%

Comme indiqu, selon lamplitude de la charge cyclique, il

est possible dobtenir une augmentation de la rsistance, ce que
proposent Jardine et al (2006) dans des essais sur le terrain.

500

16

Force d'arrachement (kN)

Figure 3: Chemins de contraintes la surface du pieu. Essai Mini-ICP2.

Cycles non alterns de faible amplitude.

A linverse, les chemins de contraintes des grands cycles

alterns traversent lquivalent dune ligne de changement de
phase et produisent des alternances de dilatance/contractance
et une dsorganisation du sol autour de linterface. On peut
remarquer quon retrouve pour ces chemins de contraintes la
forme en ailes de papillon quon observe lors dessais de
cisaillement cyclique volume constant ou rigidit normale
contrle (Fakharian & Evgin 1997, Mortara et al. 2007).

aprs essais non-alterns

14 de faible amplitude
12
10

avant chargement

8
6

aprs essais de fort

dplacement

4
2
0
0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

LVDT (mm)

Figure 5: Courbes force darrachementdplacement du pieu avant et

aprs application des cycles Essai ICP2.

Les essais darrachement avant et aprs lapplication de

cycles, prsents dans la Figure 5 pour les essais Mini-ICP2,
montrent clairement que lapplication des cycles non alterns de

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Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

faible amplitude amliore la capacit du pieu en raison de la

densification de linterface, alors que les cycles de grande
amplitude avec passage de la traction la compression
produisent une nette dgradation de cette capacit due la
dsorganisation de linterface.

Diagramme de stabilit cyclique

4.3

Une premire partie des rsultats concernant les essais de

chargement cyclique a t rsume par Tsuha (2012). On a
analys lvolution du frottement latral du pieu et sa stabilit
selon le nombre et le type de cycles appliqus (rversibles ou
non rversibles), lamplitude et la valeur moyenne de la charge.
La Figure 6 montre le diagramme de stabilit cyclique tabli
partir de la totalit des essais raliss. Trois zones ont t
identifies pour le comportement du pieu.

Stable, correspondant une zone de faible amplitude

au niveau de la charge et o le pieu peut tre soumis
plus de 1000 cycles sans accumuler une dformation
importante.

Mtastable, correspondant une dformation

importante ou une rupture entre 100 et 1000 cycles.

Instable, correspondant une rupture obtenue en

moins de 100 cycles.
La rupture cyclique a t dfinie comme ; i) un dplacement
permanent atteignant 10% du diamtre (i.e. 3.6 mm), ou ii) un
taux de dplacement montrant une augmentation forte, en
considrant comme lent un taux infrieur 1 mm/104 cycle,
et rapide un taux suprieur 1 mm/100 cycle.
1.0

Nf=

Nf=number of cycles to failure

wa
y

Qcyclic/QT

On
ew
ay

Tw
o

0.8

0.6
5

Unstable
1

10
100

0.4

10

4
165

66

500

0.2

Meta-Stable

580

1000
>1000

0.0
-0.2

Stable

0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
Qmean/QT
Figure 6: Diagramme de stabilit cyclique essais ICP1-4 (daprs Tsuha
et al., 2012)

0.0

lors dun chargement ultrieur et une dgradation de la capacit

larrachement. Ce phnomne est analogue celui conduisant
une dgradation du frottement le long des pieux battus lors de
leur installation.

0.2

CONCLUSION

La mesure des chemins de contraintes le long de pieux

instruments avec prcision, ainsi que ceux au sein du massif de
sol au voisinage du pieu, permet de mieux apprhender les
mcanismes gouvernant la dgradation ou lamlioration du
frottement lors de sollicitations cycliques. Elle permet en
particulier de faire le lien entre les tats stable ,
mtastable et instable dans les diagrammes classiques de
stabilit cycliques et le comportement lmentaire des interfaces
par rapport leur ligne de transformation de phase ou
droite caractristique .
Lensemble des essais effectus jusqu prsent montre que
lapplication dun grand nombre de petits cycles non alterns
produit une densification de linterface sol-pieu, favorisant le
dveloppement dune dilatance lors dun chargement ultrieur
et donc une amlioration de la capacit du pieu larrachement.
A linverse les grands cycles alterns produisent une
dsorganisation de linterface et une diminution de la dilatance

2406

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EntelligenceR.Research Group, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada

Entelligence Research Group, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada.
ABSTRACT: Wind energy is a major source of renewable energy and is projected to capture 11% of the energy generation capacity
for Ontario by 2018. A number of problems that the energy industry currently faces stem from a lack of understanding of cyclic
loading of Ontario soils and a paucity of regional regulatory guidance for site investigation and design methods for wind turbine
foundations. A multi-disciplinary research project is underway to integrate laboratory testing, field monitoring and numerical
modeling of a commercial wind turbine on a shallow foundation. This paper describes an initial part of the study to characterize the
geotechnical properties of the clayey silt till soils on the site. Emphasis has been placed on comparison of different in situ and
laboratory methods, and correlations for determining key geotechnical parameters for wind turbine foundation design.
RSUM : L'nergie olienne est une source importante d'nergie renouvelable et doit permettre de satisfaire 11 % de la capacit de
production d'nergie de l'Ontario d'ici 2018. Un certain nombre de problmes auxquels l'industrie de l'nergie est actuellement
confronte provient d'un manque de connaissances des sols de lOntario sous charges cycliques et de directives rglementaires
rgionales pour les mthodes d'investigation et de conception des fondations doliennes. Un projet de recherche multidisciplinaire est
en cours pour intgrer les tests en laboratoire, linstrumentation et la modlisation numrique d'une olienne commerciale sur
fondation superficielle. Cet article dcrit la partie initiale de l'tude pour caractriser les proprits gotechniques du silt argileux
glaciaire du site. L'accent a t mis sur la comparaison de diffrentes mthodes in situ et en laboratoire ainsi que les corrlations pour
dterminer les paramtres gotechniques cls pour la conception de fondation doliennes.
KEYWORDS: wind turbine, clay, till, shallow foundation, soil-structure interaction, elastic, anisotropy, in situ, geophysical.
1
1.1

INTRODUCTION
Wind energy and turbine design in Canada

Wind is a major source of renewable energy and is projected to

capture 11% of the energy generation capacity for Ontario by
2018 (CANWEA, 2011). However, to achieve this expansion
some major technical and policy issues must be addressed by
the Canadian wind sector. Some of these issues are associated
with the construction and design of foundations for wind
turbines. Foundations for onshore wind turbines usually consist
of large gravity bases and monopiles (e.g. DNV/Ris, 2002).
The geometry and foundation type depends on the wind climate,
power regulation philosophy, physical characteristics of the
machine, uplift criteria, required foundation stiffness and
geotechnical characteristics of the site (Bonnett, 2005). The
critical analyses for design include bearing capacity and
overturning resistance, horizontal and rotational displacements,
and dynamic soil-structure interaction (Harte et al., 2012).
Although there has been much recent research associated
with foundations for offshore wind turbines (e.g. Byrne and
Houlsby, 2003), the literature on onshore systems is still
relatively sparse. Consequently, despite similar issues for wind
turbine foundations across the industry, there is often diverse
interpretation of design codes and understanding of the behavior
of foundations (Morgan and Ntambakwa, 2008). This can lead
to quite different foundation designs on different wind farms
with the same turbines and comparable geotechnical profiles.
This issue is exacerbated in Canada, since there is currently no
regional regulatory guidance for site investigation and design
methods for wind turbine foundations. Hence it is not surprising

that rather generic approaches have developed for site

investigation and design, which are relatively crude and can
lead to quite conservative designs. To capture more wind
energy, the industry is continuing to develop larger turbines and
is considering more marginal sites in terms of geotechnical
characteristics, which will only complicate the current situation.
1.2

Project overview and objectives

A number of the above issues are being addressed as part of a

multi-disciplinary research project that includes an integrated
laboratory testing, field monitoring and numerical modeling
program investigating the behaviour of a fully operational
Canadian commercial wind turbine throughout its service life.
The equipment installed on the turbine will enable an integrated,
life cycle assessment of the wind turbine and its foundation.
This paper describes the portion of the study that involves
preliminary characterization of the geotechnical properties of
the wind farm site. In particular, a comparison between the in
situ testing, laboratory testing and commonly used correlations
are presented. It is anticipated this process will guide future
projects on clayey silt tills in Ontario and provide cost effective
site investigation and design methods for turbine foundations.
2
2.1

SOIL PROFILES & MATERIAL CHARACTERISATION

Wind farm and geological environment

The wind farm is located in a simple geographical and

environmental area in the Great Lakes region of Southern
Ontario. The farm has horizontal axis 2.3 MW turbines with an

2407

Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

80 m hub height and triple bladed rotors with a 93 m diameter.

The tower has a typical tapered tubular steel design and is
founded on a 16 m diameter hexagonal reinforced concrete
shallow foundation at 3.6 m depth. The site is underlain by
carbonate-rich clayey silt tills that are a ubiquitous feature of the
Great Lakes basins and is located at the confluence of four
major geological deposits. These consist of the Port Stanley and
Tavistock tills, glaciolacustrine sand and gravel, and
glaciolacustrine clayey silt. These materials were laid down in
the Port Bruce Stade (c. 14,800 years bp.) during the re-advance
of the Laurentide Ice Sheet of the Late Wisconsin. These
subglacial lodgement tills are calcareous and fine-grained,
suggesting that the ice overrode and incorporated fine-grained
glaciolacustrine sediments deposited during the previous Erie
Interstade. This has created approximately 40-45 m thickness of
clayey silt tills with interbedded glaciolacustrine sediments. The
bedrock is shale with limestone-dolostone-shale interlayers.
2.2

Overview of site investigation

The site investigation was designed to establish detailed

stratigraphic and geotechnical characteristics for the soils
beneath the wind turbine foundation. Forty metre deep
boreholes were drilled on the site to evaluate the soil profile,
perform in situ tests and collect high-quality samples for
laboratory testing. A track-mounted drill was used for the
drilling activities. Three boreholes were drilled 10-16 m
adjacent to the turbine foundation (to ensure minimal stress
change from the foundation). The wash boring method was used
for two of the holes and the PQ coring method for the other
hole. The boreholes were drilled to depths of twice the
foundation diameter and were spaced at 3 m to allow for later
cross-hole geophysical testing. Thin-wall shelby tube sampling
was completed to obtain minimally disturbed samples for the
laboratory testing. In situ testing adjacent/in to the boreholes
consisted of SPT, field shear vane, cross-hole geophysics and
seismic SCPTu, and was conducted to depths of 30 m. To
complement the in situ test results, laboratory tests were
conducted for soil classification and geotechnical properties.
2.3

Soil description and basic properties

This deposit can be separated into three zones: a heavily

weathered oxidized upper crust from 01.5 m, a partially
weathered lower crust that transitions from an oxidized to an
unoxidized state from 1.54.5 m and an unweathered clay till
below 4.5 m to greater than 40 m depth. The intensity of
fissuring in the upper crust is very intense and the deposit
becomes nearly unfissured below 4.5 m. The fissures are
vertically dipping planar joints striking at right-angles. The
fissure spacing at 1.5 m depth is 15 cm and this increases to 0.61.2 m at 4.5 m depth. The variation in moisture contents and the
Atterberg limits with depth are shown in Figure 1.
The upper crust zone of this deposit is weathered, mottled
brown-grey or brown-green with a stiff to very stiff consistency.
This weathered zone generally has higher moisture contents
(22-32%) due to the infiltration of surface water into the fissures
of the clay. The underlying lower crust is prevalently brown in
colour and has a very stiff consistency and relatively lower
natural moisture content (16-20%). At several locations this
layer has clayey silt, sandy clay and silt seams. A soil colour
change occurs from brown to grey between 3 and 4 m below the
ground surface. Below the crust, the unweathered till extends
beyond the maximum depth of sampling. This zone is
characterized by a uniform grey appearance, a stiff to very stiff
consistency and relatively uniform moisture contents (16-24%).
Atterberg test results (Table 1) indicate that the material can
be classified as CL-ML to CL (silty clay or low plasticity clay).
There is an increase in liquid limit and plasticity towards the
upper crust and the clay content is also found to increase near
the surface, leading to little change in activity (0.5).

2408

Figure 1. Moisture contents and Atterberg limits with depth.

The liquidity index (IL) is found to range from 0.2 to 0.4 in the
virgin till, is below zero in the lower crust and ranges from 0.15
to 0.25 in the upper crust. The bulk unit weights of the profile
are generally uniform and range from 20.3 to 21.6 kN/m3.
Table 1. Atterberg Limits and Particle Size Distributions.
Layer

Liquid
Limit (%)

Plastic
Limit (%)

Clay
(%)

Silt
(%)

Sand
(%)

Upper Crust

46

21

40

45

15

Lower Crust

34

19

29

49

20

Unweathered Till

30

17

31

45

21

Semi-quantitative XRD shows that the unweathered till is

predominantly composed of quartz/feldspar (39%), carbonate
(25-35%), mica/illite (16%), chlorite/kaolinite (7%) and trace
minerals. In the 2 micron range the minerals are dominated by
illite, calcite and chlorite. The lower crust has a similar
composition, with more quartz/feldspar (49%), lower carbonate
(22%), mica/illite (18%), chlorite/kaolinite (7%) and swelling
clay (2%) and other trace minerals. In similar deposits (Quigley
and Obunbadejo, 1974) downwards leaching has removed
carbonates from the near surface and redeposited lower in the
crust. Table 2 shows the values of total carbonates, dolmite and
calcite (from the gas evolution method) in the three zones,
confirming the removal of carbonates from the near surface.
Table 2. Carbonate Contents in the Soil Profile.
Layer

Total
Dolomite
Carbonates (%)
(%)

Calcite
(%)

C/D ratio

Upper Crust

Lower Crust

19.9

6.2

13.7

2.2

Unweathered Till

24.8

6.2

18.6

3.0

2.4

Compressibility and strength properties

In common with other tills around the world the

compressibility, permeability and strength characteristics of this
material are generally a function of the clay content. Estimates
of undrained shear strength (su) using various methods are

Technical Committee 209 / Comit technique 209

shown in Figure 2. All of the profiles show that the values of su

are relatively constant with depth below 7 m and are in the
range of 100-130 kPa. The lower crust material (2-4.5 m)
increases in strength rapidly, in excess of 250 kPa and the upper
crust material has a similar strength to the lower till. The usual
hierarchy of strengths is seen for the different methods, due to
the different modes of shearing. However, the field vane (FSV)
shows higher values than the triaxial compression (CIU) test.
This is likely due to partial drainage and problems rotating the
vane slowly enough for an undrained state. Two estimates have
also been determined from the CPT (Mayne, 2007):
su = (qt - vo)/Nkt

(1)

su = u/Bq.Nkt

(2)

where Nkt is a cone factor (taken as 15), u is the excess pore

pressure and Bq is the ratio of excess pore pressure to the net
cone resistance (qt - vo). The approach based on excess pore
pressures appears to give better estimates for the strengths, but
the cone would be anticipated to provide lower values than CIU
triaxial, since the shearing mode is a complex combination of
triaxial compression/extension and plane strain. The depth of
the foundation base and one base diameter (B) are also shown.

preconsolidation pressure (vp), after Mayne (2007):

vp = 0.33.(qt - vo)
vp = 0.161.Go0.478.vo

(4)
0.42

(5)

where Go is the small-strain stiffness determined from the

seismic cone data, takes a value of 0.85 for silts and qt is the
cone tip pressure. These relationships show similar
characteristics to the previous estimates, with the small-strain
expression closely following the oedometer derived data and the
CIU triaxial derived data following the CPT expression.
Interestingly, the ratio of undrained shear strength to the in situ
vertical effective stress in the upper crust [su/vo] oc shows quite
high values of 2.7-3.4, dropping to 0.3 at depth. This suggests
values of Ko in excess of 1 and as high as 2.4 in the crust.

Figure 3. Overconsolidation ratio with depth.

2.5

Figure 2. Undrained shear strength with depth.

From oedometer testing, average compression index (cc) for the

three layers was found to be 0.072 and average recompression
index (cr) was 0.008, giving a ratio of 0.12, which is in the usual
range in the literature. The values of the two indices are quite
low and are typical for sandy clays/silts, and the values from the
crustal material are lower than those for the weathered till.
The pre-consolidation pressures (vp) from oedometer tests
have been estimated using the method of Boone (2011) and the
corresponding overconsolidation ratio (OCR) is shown in
Figure 3. This shows low OCRs in the weathered till, with a
relatively small increase in the crustal material, up to an OCR of
4. Another estimate of OCR is shown using the relationship of
Ladd et al. (1977), equation (3), with m = 0.8 and the ratio of
undrained shear strength (from CIU triaxial testing) to the in
situ vertical effective stress [su/vo]nc = 0.22:

s u / vo oc
s u / vo nc

OCR

(3)

This shows similar values of OCR at depths below 15 m, but

much higher OCR values for shallower depths, up to an OCR of
15 at 4 m. Two further estimates of over-consolidation ratio
have been made using the CPT data with expressions for the

2409

Small-strain stiffness properties

Small-strain stiffness (Go) is presumed to be a function of the

void ratio, stress history and ratio of horizontal (h) to vertical
stresses (v). It is also thought to be related to the soil macrofabric and can often display cross-anisotropic characteristics
(where the vertical axis is an axis of radial symmetry). The
characterization of cross-anisotropic elastic materials can be
reduced to five independent elastic moduli (Eh, Ev, vh, hh and
Ghh; Pennington et al., 1997). In situ and laboratory estimates of
small-strain stiffness often use measurements of shear wave
velocity (Vs) travelling and polarized in different directions to
determine shear modulus. Hence various methods of
determining in situ elastic moduli provide often provide
different components of the elastic stiffness tensor Go(ij).
Estimates of the small-strain stiffness (Go) from different in
situ tests are shown in Figure 4. This includes cross-hole
geophysics, seismic cone and two correlations; one using
standard CPT output parameters (Long and Donohue, 2010) and
one based on soil properties (Hardin and Black, 1969):
Vs = 1.961.qt0.579.(1+Bq)1.202

(6)

Vs = (159-53.5eo).OCR0.18/2.vo0.25

(7)

where Vs is the shear wave velocity, eo the in situ void ratio,

small-strain shear modulus Go = .Vs2 and is density. The
values of Go appear to generally increase with depth and range
from 50 to 350 MPa, with the majority of values being between
75 and 150 MPa. The cross-hole measurements were made with
an axial hammer system and thus provide estimates of Gohv;
these values are generally constant with depth and give the

Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

highest in situ estimates of shear modulus. The seismic cone

provides estimates of Govh and these values are lower than those
of the cross-hole testing. The Long and Donohue (2010) CPT
correlation (from equation 6) shows comparable variations in Go
with depth and falls between the two other in situ test datasets.
However the Hardin and Black (1969) method based on OCR
and overburden (equation 7) shows much higher estimates of Go
(despite using the lower values of OCR from Figure 3).

The measurement of preconsolidation pressure in tills using

laboratory testing has been found to be quite difficult due to the
high pressures often required to fully define compression curves
and the effects of sample disturbance (which lead to underestimation of vp). The difficulties with this process are evident
in the wide range of estimates for OCR shown in Figure 3.
Stiffness anisotropy is often evident in soils from in situ and
laboratory measurements. The data in Figure 4 shows the
general difficulties in choosing appropriate estimates of the
small-strain stiffness (Go). Indeed cross-anisotropy in till may
be difficult to justify, since sub-glacial shear and consolidation
could have effects on the anisotropy of the in situ stress and
fabric. Rocking stiffness (k) for circular surface loads (radius,
R) is estimated using equation 8, (DNV/Ris, 2002):
k

8R 3 G
3(1 )

(8)

where is Poissons ratio and G is the shear modulus

determined from the shear modulus ratio G/Go that corrects the
stiffness for degradation due to strain level (this is typically 0.25
for the presumed strain levels of 10-3 for wind turbines).
Manufacturers recommend criteria for rocking stiffness to
ensure the natural frequency of the turbine remains above the
main excitation frequencies. The range of small-strain moduli in
Figure 4 indicate rocking stiffnesses from 50 to 170 GNm/rad,
which is in excess of typical requirements of 40 GNm/rad, but
still represents quite a significant range of stiffness.
Figure 4. Small-strain shear modulus with depth.

Similar variations in the elastic shear moduli (Govh and Gohv)

have been observed with in situ tests previously (Pennington et
al. 1997). These would be expected to be equal for a perfectly
cross-anisotropic material. However, the different travel times
may result from the averaging of the shear wave velocity
through layered strata (for vertical travel), compared to lateral
wave velocity through the stiffest layers. This leads to crosshole measurements tending to measure the stiffest layers, rather
than the average stiffness for SCPT measurements.
3

DISCUSSION

The design of gravity base foundations for onshore wind

turbines requires accurate estimates of strength parameters for
bearing capacity and stiffness parameters for displacements,
within at least 1B of the founding level. The adoption of the
most appropriate methods for site investigation to determine
these parameters is debated in the industry and various
published correlations are commonly used. Unfortunately many
of these correlations have been previously developed for
geologically young and relatively simple materials, and their
applicability beyond their original databases can be uncertain.
The different methods of determining the undrained shear
strengths show the crustal materials are quite strong,
particularly near the founding depth, with undrained shear
strength of up to 300 kPa reducing to 100 kPa at the crust base.
Given the relatively high cv (and permeability) and field vane
values, there is a possibility that the CPT and vane estimates
may be artefacts due to partial drainage. The crustal zone also
has fissuring related to drying/wetting and frost action, and field
shearbox tests on similar materials have indicated that bulk
strengths can reduce considerably, and therefore representative
values may be closer to 60-80 kPa (Lo, 1970). However,
whether crustal fissures and associated strength changes are
significant for such large shallow foundations is questionable.
Since overconsolidation ratio is often used as a component of
correlations to determine geotechnical parameters, accurate
estimation is important. Overconsolidation in tills is often
attributed to loads from the overlying ice, however if drainage is
inhibited, then only a small degree of consolidation will occur.

CONCLUSIONS

There is currently little guidance for choosing cost effective site

investigation methods and interpreting the results for this type
of geotechnical structure on glacial tills in Ontario. It is
anticipated that the completion of this project will provide some
of the missing knowledge and insight required in this area.
5

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We wish to acknowledge the support of NSERC, Golder

Associates, Michael Cookson, JJ Davis, and Paul Dawson.
6

REFERENCES

Boone S. 2011. A critical reappraisal of preconsolidation pressure

interpretations using the oedometer test. Can Geo J. 47 (3), 281-296.
Bonnett D. 2005. Wind turbine foundations: loading, dynamics and
design. The Structural Engineer, 83 (3), 4145.
Byrne B. and Houlsby. G. 2003. Foundations for offshore wind
turbines. Phil Trans: The Royal Society, 361 (1813), 2909-2930.
CANWEA. 2011. The Economic Impacts of the Wind Energy Sector in
Ontario 20112018. ClearSky Advisors Inc. Report, pp 46.
DNV/Ris. 2002. Guidelines for Design of Wind Turbines, 2nd Edition.
Hardin B.O. and Black W.L. 1969. Vibration Modulus of Normally
Consolidated Clay; Closure. J. SMF. ASCE, 95 (SM6), 15311537.
Harte, M., Basu, B. and Nielsen R. 2012. Dynamic Analysis of Wind
Turbines Including Soil-Structure Interaction. Engineering
Structures, 45, 509-518.
Ladd C.C., Foott R., Ishihara K., Schlosser F. and Poulos H.G. 1977.
Stress-deformation and strength characteristics: SOA report. Proc.,
9th Int. Conf. on Soil Mech and Found Eng., Tokyo, 2, 421-494.
Lo K.Y. 1970. The operational strength of fissured clays. Geotechnique
20 (1), 57-74.
Long M. and Donohue S. 2010. Characterisation of Norwegian marine
clays with combined shear wave velocity and CPTU data. Can Geo
J. 47 (7), 709-718.
Mayne P. 2007. NCHRP Synthesis 368. 2007. Cone Penetration
Testing, A Synthesis of Highway Practice. National Cooperative
Highway Research Program, TRB: Washington, D.C.
Pennington D. S., Nash D. F. T. and Lings M. L. 1997. Anisotropy of
G0 shear stiffness in Gault clay. Gotechnique. 47 (3), 391 - 398.
Quigley R. M. and Ogunbadejo T. A. 1974. Soil weathering, soil
structure and engineering properties. Soil Microscopy, 165-178.

2410

Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

Cyclic loading of caisson supported offshore wind structures in sand

Cyclic loading of caisson supported offshore wind structures in sand

Chargement cyclique des oliennes offshore soutenues par des caissons succion en sable
Chargement cyclique des oliennes offshore soutenues par des caissons succion en sable
Versteele H.
Cathie Associates SA/NV, Diegem, Belgium (formerly Universit de Lige, Lige, Belgium)
H. Versteele
Cathie Associates
Diegem, Belgium (formerly Universit de Lige, Lige, Belgium)
Stuyts
B., Cathie SA/NV,
D.
Cathie Associates SA/NV, Diegem, Belgium
B. Stuyts & D. Cathie
Charlier
R.
Cathie Associates
SA/NV, Diegem, Belgium
Universit de Lige, Lige, Belgium

R. Charlier

Skirt length

Skirt length

Universit de Lige, Lige, Belgium

ABSTRACT: With the number of offshore wind turbines in Europe growing rapidly, offshore wind farm developers are looking for
support structures which are relatively light, easy to produce and install and are suited for water depths in excess of 30m. Suction
caissons could offer a solution for these requirements. Since cyclic environmental loads form an important part of the loading
conditions, the cyclic degradation of the caisson capacity needs to be evaluated in detail. During storm events, pore pressure build-up
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aux et
pressions
interstitielles
existantes
dans le
modle
numrique.
Linfluence
cyclique et sont
des
examines
dans
un
premier
temps.
Ensuite,
un
modle
numrique
intgrant
les
principaux
mcanismes
de
gnration
et
dissipation de
de
conditions de drainage est value laide du modle lments finis 3D. Enfin, les implications de ces rsultats pour la conception
ces surpressions
du caisson est introduit. L'augmentation de pressions interstitielles rsultants des charges cycliques dues aux
caissons
succionautour
sont exposes.
temptes est estime de manire indirecte sur base des rsultats d'essais cycliques en laboratoire; ces surpressions sont ensuite
KEYWORDS:
suction caisson,
cyclicexistantes
loading, liquefaction
analysis,
offshore
wind turbine,
marine geotechnics
ajoutes aux pressions
interstitielles
dans le modle
numrique.
Linfluence
de lhistorique
de chargement cyclique et des
conditions de drainage est value laide du modle lments finis 3D. Enfin, les implications de ces rsultats pour la conception de
caissons succion sont exposes.
into the soil, while the induced seepage forces and reduced
1 INTRODUCTION
KEYWORDS: suction caisson, cyclic loading, liquefaction analysis, offshore
marine
geotechnics
effectivewind
stressturbine,
near the
skirt tips
facilitate penetration.
Advantages of the caisson include a potentially lower cost
1.1 Suction caisson as foundations for offshore wind turbines
than equivalent piled foundations (Senders 2008) and relatively
The
European Wind Energy Association expects that the
1 INTRODUCTION
pumped
out. Theand
induced
pressure
difference
the caisson
easy
installation
removal,
not restricted
bypushes
water-depth.
installed offshore wind capacity within the EU will increase
into the soil, while the induced seepage forces and reduced
from
tocaisson
40 GWasby
2020 (EWEA
2011) wind
requiring
the
1.1 4GW
Suction
foundations
for offshore
turbines
effective stress near the skirt tips facilitate penetration.
installation of approximately 6000 6MW turbines located ever
Advantages of the caisson include a potentially lower cost
The European
Energy Association
expects Due
that the
the
further
offshore Wind
in consequently
deeper waters.
than equivalent piled foundations (Senders 2008) and relatively
installed offshore
windconditions
capacity within
the and
EU will
demanding
working
at sea
the increase
limited
easy installation and removal, not restricted by water-depth.
from
4GW
to
40
GW
by
2020
(EWEA
2011)
requiring
the
availability of offshore installation vessels, the foundation
installation
of approximately
6000
6MW %
turbines
system
typically
accounts for up
to 25-30
of the located
total costever
of
further
offshore
in
consequently
deeper
waters.
Dueof the
the
an offshore wind farm. This makes the choice and design
demanding anworking
sea and
the limited
foundation
importantconditions
factor in theat overall
cost effectiveness
availability
of
offshore
installation
vessels,
the
foundation
of offshore wind farms.
system
typically
for up to are
25-30
of the total
cost of
Offshore
windaccounts
farm developers
thus%looking
for support
an
offshore
wind
farm.
This
makes
the
choice
and
design
of the
structures which are relatively light, easy to produce and install
foundation
an important
in the
effectiveness
and
are suited
for waterfactor
depths
in overall
excess cost
of 30m.
Suction
of offshore
wind
farms.
caissons
could
offer
a solution for these requirements.
Offshore
farm
are thus
lookingoffor
support
A
suction wind
caisson
is adevelopers
steel structure
consisting
a circular
structures
which
are
relatively
light,
easy
to
produce
and
install
top plate with peripheral vertical skirts (Figure 1). In operation
Diameter
are suited
for water
depths
in excess
Suction
itand
is similar
to a skirted
gravity
foundation,
but of
the 30m.
skirt length
is
caissons could
offer atosolution
for these requirements.
significant
compared
the diameter.
Figure 1: Cross-section sketch of a suction caisson and installation
A suction caisson
a steelisstructure
of a circular
Installation
of the is
caisson
achievedconsisting
in two phases.
After
principle
top plate
with peripheral
vertical
skirts (Figure
1). In operation
initial
penetration
under the
self-weight
of the caisson,
water is
it is similar
a skirted
gravity
foundation,
butpushes
the skirt
is
Diameter
pumped
out.toThe
induced
pressure
difference
thelength
caisson

significant compared to the diameter.

Installation of the caisson is achieved in two phases. After
Figure 1: Cross-section sketch of a suction caisson and installation
initial penetration under the self-weight of the caisson, water is
principle

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Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013
Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

1.2

Loads on offshore wind turbines

The foundation must resist loads caused by the weight of the

structure, the operation of the turbine, currents, wind and wave
action. Incoming waves exert a cyclic horizontal force (and
moment) on the foundation, which in the case of offshore wind
turbines may be a significant proportion of the weight of the
structure. A vertical weight of 6MN and a horizontal wave
loading of up to 3MN are realistic values for a 3.5MW turbine
(Houlsby et al. 2005).
The offshore design standard DNV-OS-J101 (DNV 2011)
specifies that the structure must be able to resist a 50-year
design storm (a storm with a probability of occurrence of 1/50
during one year), where not only the peak loads, but the entire
history of cyclic loading affects the stability of the structure. For
the cyclic loading assessment, the irregular wave loading is
usually converted into an idealized, equivalent design storm.
1.3

Figure 3: Behaviour of sand under cyclic loading (after Andersen and

Berre 1999)

The intensity of cyclic loading is expressed in terms of the

cyclic shear stress ratio, the ratio of cyclic deviatoric stress
amplitude over mean effective stress. This formulation is
convenient for the interpretation of triaxial test results and for
implementation in the finite element procedure.

Structural configuration

Caissons could support offshore wind turbines in two ways,

based on mode of load transfer to the soil (Figure 2). A
monopod foundation consists of a single caisson and is suited
for shallow waters. In deeper water, the increased moments
acting on the caisson would require a very large caisson. In that
case a tripod (three caissons) or quadripod (four caissons)
structure could be economical, as moment loads are converted
into a vertical push and pull action on the individual caissons.

Based on several cyclic tests at different CSR, cyclic shear

strength curves can be established, expressing the number of
cycles required to induce failure Nl as a function of the CSR and
Dr.
The cyclic shear strength depends on the relative density and
the initial shear stress in the sample. The set of curves used in
this study was presented by Lee and Focht (1975) in their
investigation of the liquefaction potential at the Ekofisk site,
North Sea. The curves for this typical dense North Sea sand are
redrawn in Figure 4.

CSR

1
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0

Dr 63%
Dr 77%
Dr 100%

Figure 2: The monopod and multipod concept and reaction forces on the
caissons

1.4

Scope of work

The aim of this paper is to examine the effect of cyclic loading

during a design storm on both the monopod and multipod and to
produce a model which is suitable for engineering practice. The
presented model is still under development, and is considered a
starting point for more sophisticated approaches.
2 CYCLIC DEGRADATION OF SOILS AND
FOUNDATIONS
2.1

10
100
1000
number of cycles to failure Nl

10000

Figure 4: Cyclic shear strength curves for dense North Sea sand at the
Ekofisk site (after Lee and Focht 1975)

The build-up of pore pressure in samples can be described by

the empirically determined pore pressure generation function
given in Eq. 2 and plotted in Figure 5. The empirical constant
depends on the soil properties and is on average equal to 0.7
(Rahman et al. 1977). As it is cyclically loaded, the soil sample
evolves from the initial, undisturbed state at N = 0 to a state of
liquefaction at N = Nl and u = umax.

Pore pressure build up in sand under cyclic loading

Cyclic shearing of sand degrades the soil structure and causes a

tendency to densify. This is the case even for very dense sands
that are dilative under monotonic loading conditions (Seed and
Idriss 1980, Andersen and Berre 1999).
Under undrained conditions, volume changes are prevented
by the low compressibility of water, so normal stresses carried
by the soil will be transferred to the pore water, thus increasing
the pore water pressure in the sample as illustrated in Figure 3.
The decrease in effective stress furthermore causes a
progressive increase in average shear strain. Failure occurs
when the generated pore pressure reaches a critical value umax.

(1)

2.2

(2)

Drainage conditions

In laboratory tests soil samples are brought to failure under

undrained conditions. However, in situ loading conditions may
be fully or partially drained, depending on the combination of
soil permeability, frequency of the loading and drainage
conditions.
For offshore turbines founded on sand, the high permeability
and relatively slow wave loading results in the dissipation or
redistribution of a significant part of the generated pore pressure

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Technical Committee 209 / Comit technique 209

Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

1
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0

= 0.5
= 0.7
= 0.9
0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7

Cycle ratio N/Nl

0.8

0.9

Figure 5: Pore pressure generation function.

2.3

Liquefaction of foundations

The definition of failure of a foundation due to liquefaction

requires special attention. Not all parts of the soil under a
foundation will fail at the same time or will fail at all. Some
intensely loaded zones may liquefy completely or partially,
while other zones may still be intact.
Taiebat (1999) discussed the problem and proposed the
following definitions. Total failure of a foundation-soil system
under cyclic loading is defined as the condition where the soil
mass deforms continuously under the ambient and cyclic loads
applied to the foundation, resulting in bearing capacity failure.
Partial failure involves large permanent displacements during
cyclic loading. Some elements of the soil liquefy and lose their
strength, but overall, the soil mass remains stable.
Due to the complexity of the problem, numerical analysis is
often the preferred method to asses to what extent the
foundation capacity is degraded.
3

EXISTING NUMERICAL METHODS

There are at least two approaches to numerical modelling of

offshore foundation liquefaction. In the first approach an
appropriate constitutive model is used to capture cyclic stressstrain behaviour of the soil. Many such models exist and they
can successfully reproduce soil behaviour in laboratory
conditions (e.g. bounding surface plasticity, multi-surface
plasticity). However, the number of required parameters and
calculation time are two obstacles that up to now have limited
application of these models to analysis of boundary value
problems in engineering practice.
The second approach is simpler and consists of improving a
conventional (possibly slightly modified) constitutive model by
incorporating the effects of cyclic loading separately, based on a
set of laboratory tests. A rigorous review of the work by
researchers who followed this approach to analyze offshore
foundations subjected to wave loading is given by Taiebat
(1999).
4

intervals in the FE analysis. At each node, the pore pressure at

the end of the previous interval (which includes effects of all
previous loading) is converted into an equivalent number of
cycles using Eq. 2. The increase in pore pressure during next
interval (containing a number of load cycles) can then be
calculated from Eq. 2, assuming the CSR is constant during this
interval.
After the pore pressure and effective stress in the FE analysis
are updated accordingly, the dissipation analysis continues over
the length of the considered time interval. This is done in a
coupled Biot-type consolidation analysis in the FE package
Abaqus.
The total design storm consists of a number of load parcels,
during which the cyclic load (and thus the CSR) is assumed to
have a constant average and amplitude. The load parcels are
subdivided in a number of steps and the process of updating the
pore pressure and subsequent consolidation is repeated for every
subdivision, tracing the average pore pressure response
(excluding oscillations within each load cycle) over the entire
load history of the design storm.

In two case studies the influence of cyclic loading history and

drainage effects on the caisson performance is assessed using
the proposed model. Realistic forces acting on the foundation
are estimated from the loads outlined in section 1.2 and a
simplified load histogram is adopted. Corresponding realistic
caisson dimensions are found by applying the bearing capacity
equation (DNV 1992) for the tripod caisson and the formula
proposed by Byrne and Houlsby (2003) for the monopod
caisson. In both cases the sand is represented by an isotropic
elastic material model with Mohr-Coulomb plasticity.
5.1

Leeward caisson of a tripod

5.1.1 Model
Initially the horizontal load, divided over three caissons, is
neglected. The resulting axisymmetric problem only considers
vertical cyclic loading on the individual caisson due to weight
of the structure and overturning moments as this is the most
important load component. The histogram consists of 3 load
parcels of 2000 seconds each, applying 200 load cycles at 60%
of the maximum load in the first and last parcel and 200 cycles
at maximum loading in the middle parcel.
5.1.2 Results
An example of calculated pore pressure response within and
around a 8x8m caisson is shown in Figure 6. First of all it is
clear that the abrupt increases (generation) and gradual
decreases (dissipation) are an approximation for the real
behaviour.
7

under
baseplate,
center line
skirt tip level,
center line

IMPLEMENTED METHOD

The proposed method follows the second approach and is based

on the work by Rahman et al. (1977), Taiebat (1999) and to a
lesser extent Lee & Focht (1975) and Verruijt & Song (1991).
The calculation procedure is as follows: undrained pore
pressure increases are calculated analytically, at regular time

APPLICATION TO SUCTION CAISSONS

Pore pressure [kPa]

Pore pressure ratio u/umax

during the cyclic loading itself. This effect becomes more

important as the soil permeability increases and the loading
frequency diminishes. Not taking into account the simultaneous
dissipation leads to overestimation of the generated pore
pressure and potentially to overconservative design.

skirt tip level,

underneath
skirt

4
3
2
1
0
0

2000

time [s]

4000

6000

Figure 6: Example of excess pore pressure history, tripod caisson

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Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013
Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

The analysis predicts liquefaction of the soil near the skirt

tips and build-up of pore pressure inside the caisson during the
second load parcel. Stress redistribution towards the baseplate
will cause an additional increase in pore pressure inside the
caisson. The abrupt increase at t = 2000s is due to the nonlinear
dependency of generated pore pressure on the CSR, which
increases at the start of the second load parcel. Much of the pore
pressure is dissipated by the end of the last load parcel, even
though cyclic loading continues (at 60% of the second parcel).
As the pore pressure dissipates, settlements due to the cyclic
loading are expected.
The discretization of cyclic loading in load parcels and
subsequently in subdivisions affects the accuracy of the
analysis, but the results seem to converge as the number of
subdivisions is increased. Where short drainage paths or high
CSR values are involved, sufficiently short steps are required.
The rate of pore pressure dissipation is affected by the length of
the skirts. Longer skirts result in slower dissipation and higher
potential for pore pressure accumulation inside the caisson.
5.2

Analysis of the type presented here may be useful to assess

the geotechnical and structural risks related to cyclic loading of
caissons in sand such as:

reduction in caisson bearing capacity due to generated

pore pressures;

caisson foundation stiffness reductions;

pore pressure induced total and differential

settlements for offshore wind turbine structures;

analysis of the effect of scour on pore pressure

gradients.
The model can be improved to reflect more realistic soil
behaviour. As some zones underneath the suction caisson
liquefy, the load is transferred to other parts of the foundation.
This leads to secondary pore pressure increases which are not
yet considered in the presented model.
If sufficient soil data are available, the cyclic shear strength
curves could include dependency on the relative density and
initial shear stresses in the soil.
Finally, a large part of the vertical load on suction caissons is
taken by friction between the caisson skirts and the soil. A
systematic study of the influence on the liquefaction potential
would be interesting.

Monopod

5.2.1 Model
The monopod caisson (20x10m) is subjected to three degree of
freedom loading, including a horizontal and moment load. A 3D
FE model of half the caisson is sufficient, taking advantage of
the plane of symmetry formed by the vertical and the direction
of aligned wind and wave loading. A six hour design storm,
consisting of 2160 waves in five load parcels, was adopted.

The work described in this paper was performed as a part of the

authors master thesis (Versteele 2012), supervised by professor
Charlier (Universit de Lige), whose guidance is gratefully
acknowledged. Development of the model and calculations
were performed at, and with support of Cathie Associates
SA/NV.

Pore pressure [kPa]

5.2.2 Results
The five load parcels are distinguishable in the pore pressure
response plotted in Figure 7 and peak pore pressure occurs right
after the peak of the storm. The permanent horizontal load due
to wind and/or current causes an asymmetric cyclic shearing in
the example, so the observed peak pore pressure (4 kPa) does
not occur on the center line. The consequences, such as
potential differential settlements and tilting of the turbine,
should be examined in a more advanced analysis.
2
1.8
1.6
1.4
1.2
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0

skirt tip level,

center line
skirt tip level,
underneath skirt

3
time [h]

Figure 7: Example of excess pore pressure history, monopod caisson

REFERENCES

Andersen K.H. and Berre T. 1999. Behaviour of a dense sand under

monotonic and cyclic loading. Proceedings of the 12th ECSMGE,
Vol 2, Geotechnical Engineering for Transportation Infrastructure,
667-676
Byrne B.W. and Houlsby G.T. 2003. Foundations for offshore wind
turbines. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond., Vol 361, 2909-2930
DNV 1992. Classification notes No 30.4 foundations. Det Norske
Veritas, Norway
DNV 2011. Design of offshore wind turbine structures, Offshore
Standard DNV-OS-J101, Det Norske Veritas, Norway
EWEA 2011. Wind in our sails The coming of Europes offshore
wind energy industry. http://www.ewea.org
Houlsby G.T., Ibsen L.B. and Byrne B.W. 2005. Suction caissons for
wind turbines. Proc. International Symposium on Frontiers in
Offshore Geotechnics (ISFOG), Taylor & Francis Group, Perth,
Australia
Lee K.L. and Focht J.A. 1975. Liquefaction potential at Ekofisk tank in
North Sea. Journal of Geotechnical Engineering Division, ASCE,
101(GT1), 1-18
Rahman M.S, Seed H.B. and Booker J.R. 1977. Pore pressure
development under offshore gravity structures. Journal of
Geotechnical Engineering Division, ASCE, 103(GT12), 1419-1436
Seed H.B. and Idriss I.M. 1980. On the importance of dissipation effects
in evaluating pore pressure changes due to cyclic loading.
International Symposium on Soils under Cyclic and Transient
Loading, Swansea, 569-570
Senders M. 2008. Suction caissons in sand as tripod foundations for
offshore wind turbines. Ph.D, The University of Western Australia,
Australia
Taiebat H.A. 1999. Three dimensional liquefaction analysis of offshore
foundations. Ph.D. Thesis, The University of Sydney, Australia
Verruijt A. and Song E.X. 1991. Finite element analysis of pore
pressure build-up due to cyclic loading. Deformation of soils and
displacement of structures, Proc. 10th European Conference on Soil
Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, 277-280
Versteele H. 2012. Cyclic loading of suction caisson foundations for
offshore wind turbines. M.Sc. Thesis, Universit de Lige, Belgium

under baseplate,
center line

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

CONCLUSIONS AND FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS

A pore-pressure generation and dissipation model has been

developed to study the effect of cyclic loading on suction
caissons in sand. Example analyses have shown that the
proposed model can be successfully applied to the study of
suction caissons, both in 2D and in 3D. However, the model
needs further improvement to allow prediction of the complete
liquefaction behaviour, including settlements, of a caisson.
The model can be used to predict which areas are prone to
pore pressure build-up, estimate the rate of pore pressure buildup and to some extent how fast this pore pressure is dissipated.

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