Spudcan–pile interaction in sand-over-clay: centrifuge modelling

Abstract

Large soil movements arising from the installation of jack-up spudcan foundations may induce detrimental effects on piles supporting adjacent permanent jacket platforms. Particularly, in a dense sand-over-clay profile, there is a risk of spudcan rapid penetration due to underlying clay bearing capacity failure, known as spudcan punch-through failure, which can cause further damage to piles in the proximity. This study investigates the foundation interaction between the spudcan and adjacent pile in a sand-overlying-clay soil profile by way of centrifuge modelling. Issues investigated include thickness of the upper sand layer with incidence of sand plug beneath the spudcan and spudcan–pile clearance. The experimental findings reveal that spudcan punch-through hazard and the magnitude of induced pile moments amplifies primarily due to the increase in the thickness of the upper sand. In addition, the magnitude of induced pile moment in a sand-over-clay profile is significantly higher than that in a single clay profile because of the post-peak bearing behaviour observed in stratified soil, yielding to a greater risk to pile integrity. Soil pressure profiles on the piles are also back-analysed. Two generalised induced soil pressure profiles are deduced, with the first profile representing the onset of spudcan punch-through and the second profile denoting the situation of post-punch-through failure.