Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Studies on Suction-Assisted Installation Behavior of Suction Caissons in Clay Under Various Undrained Shear Strengths

  • Published:
China Ocean Engineering Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Suction caissons are widely used for anchoring floating platform and offshore wind turbines. Penetration of the suction caisson into the desired position under the combination of its self-weight and applied suction resulted from pumping out the encased water is integral to practical engineering. Model tests were carried out to investigate the suction-assisted installation of suction caissons in clay under various undrained shear strengths. It was found that there exists a critical penetration depth value. When the penetration depth is smaller than the critical value, the soil plug undrained shear strength is higher than intact clay (i.e., clay prior to installation). However, when the penetration depth is greater than the critical penetration depth, the undrained shear strength of soil plug is lower than intact clay. The critical value decreases with the increasing consolidation time and undrained shear strength of clay. During suction-assisted installation, cracks occur around suction caissons. The installation way has little effect on the crack formation. The influence range (i.e., the maximum distance between the crack and the suction caisson edge) was found to increase with the increasing friction coefficient of interface between the suction caisson wall and soil and decreases with the increasing soil undrained shear strength. In addition, the drained condition of the clay during installation is dominated by the caisson aspect ratio, the undrained shear strength and the friction coefficient between the caisson wall and clay. Equations to estimate the penetration resistance and the required suction to install the suction caisson are summarized.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Achari, G. and Joshi, R.C., 1994. A reexamination of the permeability index of clays: discussion, Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 31(1), 140–141.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Al-Tabbaa, A. and Wood, D.M., 1987. Some measurements of the permeability of kaolin, Géotechnique, 37(4), 499–514.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Andersen, K.H., Murff, J.D., Randolph, M., Clukey, E.C., Erbrich, C. T., Jostad, H.P., Hansen, B., Aubeny, C.P., Sharma, P. and Supachawarote, C., 2005. Suction anchors for deepwater applications, in: Cassidy, M.J. and Gourvenec, S. (eds.), Proceedings of the International Symposium on Frontiers in Offshore Geotechnics, CRC Press, The Netherlands, pp. 3–30.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen, W. and Randolph, M.F., 2007. External radial stress changes and axial capacity for suction caissons in soft clay, Géotechnique, 57(6), 499–511.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feld, T., 2001. Suction Buckets, A New Innovative Foundation Concept, Applied to Offshore Wind Turbines. Ph.D. Thesis, Aalborg University, RAMBOeLL, Virum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Finnie, I.M.S. and Randolph, M.F., 1994. Punch-through and liquefaction induced failure of shallow foundations on calcareous sediments, Seventh International Conference on the Behaviour of Offshore Structures, Pergamon, Massachusetts, pp. 217–230.

    Google Scholar 

  • Houlsby, G.T. and Byrne, B.W., 2005a. Design procedures for installation of suction caissons in sand, Geotechnical Engineering, 158(3), 135–144.

    Google Scholar 

  • Houlsby, G.T. and Byrne, B.W., 2005b. Design procedures for installation of suction caissons in clay and other materials, Geotechnical Engineering, 158(2), 75–82.

    Google Scholar 

  • House, A.R. and Randolph, M.F., 2001. Installation and pull-out capacity of stiffened suction caissons in cohesive sediments, Monde Chinois, 40(4), 71–81.

    Google Scholar 

  • House, A.R., Randolph, M.F. and Watson, P.G., 2001. In-situ assessment of shear strength and consolidation characteristics of soft sediments, Proceedings of the OTRC 2001 Conference, Austin, TX, 52–63.

  • Jara, V. and Alberto, F., 2006. Model Testing of Foundations for Offshore Wind Turbines. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Oxford, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Khilar, K.C., Fogler, H.S. and Gray, D.H., 1985. Model for piping-plugging in earthen structures, Journal of Geotechnical Engineering, 111(7), 833–846.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koh, K.X., Hossain, M.S. and Kim, Y., 2017. Installation and monotonic pullout of a suction caisson anchor in calcareous silt, Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 143(2), 04016098.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li, D.Y., Ma, S.L. and Zhang, Y.K., 2019. Undrained pullout capacity of modified suction caisson in clay by finite element limit analysis, Marine Georesources & Geotechnology, 37(3), 291–300.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li, D.Y., Ma, S.L., Zhang, Y.K. and Chen, F.Q., 2018. Lateral bearing capacity of modified suction caissons determined by using the limit equilibrium method, China Ocean Engineering, 32(4), 461–466.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li, D.Y., Wang, D.L., Zhang, Y.K. and Gao, Y.F., 2020. Model tests on penetration and extraction of modified suction caissons in clay, Chinese Journal of Geotechnical Engineering, 42(03), 568–575. (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Li, D.Y., Zhang, Y.K., Feng, L.Y. and Gao, Y.F., 2015. Capacity of modified suction caissons in marine sand under static horizontal loading, Ocean Engineering, 102, 1–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li, D.Y., Zhang, Y.K., Gao, Y.F. and Song, Y.J., 2012. Model tests on penetration of suction anchors in medium-coarse sand, Chinese Journal of Geotechnical Engineering, 34(12), 2277–2283. (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Nagaraj, T.S., Pandian, N.S. and Narasimha Raju, P.S.R., 1993. Stress state-permeability relationships for fine-grained soils, Géotechnique, 43(2), 333–336.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pane, V., Croce, P., Znidarcic, D., Ko, H.Y., Olsen, H.W. and Schiffman, R.L., 1983. Effects of consolidation on permeability measurements for soft clay, Géotechnique, 33(1), 67–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Randolph, M.F., Gaudin, C., Gourvenec, S.M., White, D.J., Boylan, N. and Cassidy, M.J., 2011. Recent advances in offshore geotechnics for deep water oil and gas developments, Ocean Engineering, 38(7), 818–834.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, L.Z., Yu, L.Q., Guo, Z. and Wang, Z.Y., 2014. Seepage induced soil failure and its mitigation during suction caisson installation in silt, Journal of Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering, 136(1), 011103.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watson, P.G., Senders, M., Randolph, M. and Gaudin, C., 2006. Installation of suction caissons in layered soil, in: Ng, C.W.W., Zhang, L. M. and Wang, Y.H. (eds.), Physical Modelling in Geotechnics, Taylor & Francis, Hong Kong, China, pp. 685–692.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wu, Y.Q., Li, D.Y., Zhang, Y.K. and Chen, F.Q., 2018. Determination of maximum penetration depth of suction caissons in sand, KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering, 22(8), 2776–2783.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu, Y.Q., Wang, Z.T., Yang, Q. and Li, D.Y., 2019. Theoretical studies on penetration resistance of suction caissons in clay, Marine Georesources & Geotechnology, 37(5), 558–567.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu, Y.Q., Zhang, Y. and Li, D.Y., 2020. Solution to critical suction pressure of penetrating suction caissons into clay using limit analysis, Applied Ocean Research, 101(3), 102264.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xu, K., Gao, X. and Zheng, Z.Y., 2017. Experimental research of undrained strength with the increasing of consolidation degree, Journal of Hebei University of Engineering (Natural Science Edition), 34(4), 19–22, 36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zeng, L.L., Hong, Z.S., Cai, Y.Q. and Han, J., 2011. Change of hydraulic conductivity during compression of undisturbed and remolded clays, Applied Clay Science, 51(1–2), 86–93.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zeng, L.L., Hong, Z.S. and Chen, F.Q., 2012. A law of change in permeability coefficient during compression of remolded clays, Rock and Soil Mechanics, 33(5), 1286–1292.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, Y.K., Li, D.Y. and Gao, Y.F., 2017. Model tests on installation and extraction of suction caissons in dense sand, Marine Georesources & Geotechnology, 35(7), 921–929.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou, M., Hossain, M.S., Hu, Y.X. and Liu, H.L., 2016. Installation of stiffened caissons in nonhomogeneous clays, Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 142(2), 04015079.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhu, B., Kong, D.Q., Chen, R.P., Kong, L.G. and Chen, Y.M., 2011. Installation and lateral loading tests of suction caissons in silt, Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 48(7), 1070–1084.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Civil Engineering Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266590, China

    Da-yong Li, Xin-yu Hou, Yu-kun Zhang & Shi-li Ma

  2. College of Pipeline and Civil Engineering, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao, 266580, China

    Da-yong Li

  3. College of Civil Engineering, Weifang University, Weifang, 261061, China

    Shan-shan Li

Authors
  1. Da-yong Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Xin-yu Hou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Yu-kun Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Shi-li Ma
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Shan-shan Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yu-kun Zhang.

Ethics declarations

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Foundation item: This research is financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 52371301, 51879044 and 51808325) and the Shandong Natural Fund (Grant No. ZR2020QE258).

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Li, Dy., Hou, Xy., Zhang, Yk. et al. Studies on Suction-Assisted Installation Behavior of Suction Caissons in Clay Under Various Undrained Shear Strengths. China Ocean Eng 37, 989–999 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13344-023-0082-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13344-023-0082-7

Key words

Search

Navigation