Soil flow mechanisms around and between stiffeners of caissons during installation in clay

2012 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 442-459 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.S. Hossain ◽  
B.M. Lehane ◽  
Y. Hu ◽  
Y. Gao

Structural stiffeners placed inside caissons have created significant uncertainty regarding soil flow mechanisms, side friction, and end bearing, and consequently in the prediction of the underpressure required for installation. This paper describes centrifuge modelling of the penetration of stiffened skirts in overconsolidated clay, identifying the soil flow mechanisms around and between stiffeners and the penetration resistance. The effects of stiffener width and spacing as well as soil strength ratio are discussed. The present guidelines for predicting the point of soil backflow in the gap that forms between the stiffeners are shown to be invalid and a new expression, based on a stability factor (su/γ′B, where su and γ′ are the undrained shear strength and effective unit weight of the soil, respectively, and B is the combined width of the skirt and stiffener close to the caisson tip) is proposed. End bearing at the skirt tip and base stiffener are seen to dominate installation resistance. The normalized installation resistance stabilizes at a value of ∼17.5 at deep penetrations and is shown to be independent of whether the cavity between the stiffeners remains open or is backfilled with a soil–water mixture. This factor of 17.5 is shown to be in good agreement with reported field data and centrifuge test data and hence may be used to obtain a first-order estimate of the installation resistance of a caisson with stiffeners.

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Wei Liu ◽  
Zhihuai Huang ◽  
Mi Zhou

Significant difference between predicted and measured installation resistance of stiffened suction caissons was identified due to the existing uncertainty regarding the mobilized soil flow mechanisms. This paper describes an extensive investigation of square stiffened caisson penetration in nonhomogeneous clays undertaken through large deformation FE (LDFE) analysis to identify the soil flow mechanisms around and between lateral ring stiffeners. A detailed parametric study has been carried out, exploring a range of nondimensional parameters related to stiffened caisson geometry, caisson roughness, and soil strength. The LDFE results were compared with centrifuge test data in terms of soil flow mechanisms, with good agreement obtained. Two interesting features of soil flow inside the caisson were observed including soil backflow into the gaps between the embedded stiffeners and soil heaving at the surface. It shows that the cavity depth can reach ∼5 m. Finally, simple expressions were proposed for estimating the critical depths of soil backflow and cavity formation.


2018 ◽  
Vol 55 (5) ◽  
pp. 698-709 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhifeng Zhao ◽  
Mi Zhou ◽  
Yuxia Hu ◽  
Muhammad Shazzad Hossain

The length of suction caisson anchors has been increasing to support increasing dimensions and weight of floating facilities, which necessitates employing horizontal ring stiffeners at intervals along the inner wall of the thin skirt of caissons to ensure structural integrity. The addition of these stiffeners has created significant uncertainties regarding soil flow mechanisms, in particular soil heave inside the caisson, which may reduce the caisson final penetration depth and influence the process of installation due to the need to avoid inside soil suction in the pumping equipment. This paper reports results of large-deformation finite element (LDFE) analyses investigating soil heave inside stiffened caissons during installation in nonhomogeneous clay deposits, with the corresponding evolution of soil flow mechanisms and penetration resistance profiles reported by Zhou et al. in 2016. The LDFE analyses have simulated continuous penetration of stiffened caissons from the seabed surface. A detailed parametric study has been undertaken, exploring the relevant range of soil strength nonhomogeneity and normalized strength, stiffened caisson geometry, soil effective unit weight, and caisson roughness. Of particular interest is the influence of stiffeners on soil heave and potential penetration refusal. The results have been validated against previously published centrifuge test data in terms of soil heave and penetration resistance profile, with good agreement obtained. It is shown that the soil normalized strength at the mudline and its nonhomogeneity, caisson diameter relative to the sum of skirt thickness and stiffener width, and caisson penetration depth have significant influence on the inner soil heave and its profile across the caisson radius. An expression, based on the LDFE results is proposed to predict the maximum inner soil heave during installation of stiffened caissons in the field.


2002 ◽  
Vol 88 (09) ◽  
pp. 380-386 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dawn Sands ◽  
Andrew Chang ◽  
Claudine Mazurier ◽  
Anthony Hubbard

SummaryAn international study involving 26 laboratories assayed two candidate von Willebrand Factor (VWF) concentrates (B and C) for VWF:Antigen (VWF:Ag), VWF:Ristocetin Cofactor (VWF:RCo) and VWF:Collagen binding (VWF:CB) relative to the 4th International Standard Factor VIII/VWF Plasma (4th IS Plasma) (97/586). Estimates of VWF:Ag showed good agreement between different methods, for both candidates, and the overall combined means were 11.01 IU/ml with inter-laboratory variability (GCV) of 10.9% for candidate B and 14.01 IU/ml (GCV 11.8%) for candidate C. Estimates of VWF:RCo showed no significant difference between methods for both candidates and gave overall means of 9.38 IU/ml (GCV 23.7%) for candidate B and 10.19 IU/ml (GCV 24.4%) for candidate C. Prior to the calibration of the candidates for VWF:CB it was necessary to calibrate the 4th IS Plasma relative to local frozen normal plasma pools; there was good agreement between different collagen reagents and an overall mean of 0.83 IU per ampoule (GCV 11.8%) was assigned. In contrast, estimates of VWF:CB in both candidates showed large differences between collagen reagents with inter-laboratory GCV’s of 40%. Candidate B (00/514) was established as the 1st International Standard von Willebrand Factor Concentrate by the WHO Expert Committee on Biological Standardisation in November 2001 with assigned values for VWF:Ag (11.0 IU/ampoule) and VWF:RCo (9.4 IU/ampoule). Large inter-laboratory variability of estimates precluded the assignment of a value for VWF:CB.


1987 ◽  
Vol 174 ◽  
pp. 209-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Gao ◽  
G. Metcalfe ◽  
T. Jung ◽  
R. P. Behringer

This paper first describes an apparatus for measuring the Nusselt number N versus the Rayleigh number R of convecting normal liquid 4He layers. The most important feature of the apparatus is its ability to provide layers of different heights d, and hence different aspect ratios [Gcy ]. The horizontal cross-section of each layer is circular, and [Gcy ] is defined by [Gcy ] = D/2d where D is the diameter of the layer. We report results for 2.4 [les ] [Gcy ] [les ] 16 and for Prandtl numbers Pr spanning 0.5 [lsim ] Pr [lsim ] 0.9 These results are presented in terms of the slope N1 = RcdN/dR evaluated just above the onset of convection at Rc. We find that N1 is only a slowly increasing function of [Gcy ] in the range 6 [lsim ] [Gcy ] [lsim ] 16, and that it has a value there which is quite close to 0.72. This value of N1 is in good agreement with variational calcuations by Ahlers et al. (1981) pertinent to parallel convection rolls in cylindrical geometry. Particularly for [Gcy ] [lsim ] 6, we find additional small-scale structure in N1 associated with changes in the number of convection rolls with changing [Gcy ]. An additional test of the linearzied hydrodynamics is given by measurements of Rc. We find good agreement between theory and our data for Rc.


1998 ◽  
Vol 507 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Zeman ◽  
R.A.C.M.M. Van Swaaij ◽  
E. Schroten ◽  
L.L.A. Vosteen ◽  
J.W. Metselaar

ABSTRACTA calibration procedure for determining the model input parameters of standard a-Si:H layers, which comprise a single junction a-Si:H solar cell, is presented. The calibration procedure consists of: i) deposition of the separate layers, ii) measurement of the material properties, iii) fitting the model parameters to match the measured properties, iv) simulation of test devices and comparison with experimental results. The inverse modeling procedure was used to extract values of the most influential model parameters by fitting the simulated material properties to the measured ones. In case of doped layers the extracted values of the characteristic energies of exponentially decaying tail states are much higher than the values reported in literature. Using the extracted values of model parameters a good agreement between the measured and calculated characteristics of a reference solar cell was reached. The presented procedure could not solve directly an important issue concerning a value of the mobility gap in a-Si:H alloys.


1940 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandre Rothen

Electrophoretic studies on purified crystalline ribonuclease showed the absence of any impurities differing in mobility from the bulk of material. The isoelectric point of ribonuclease was found by electrophoresis to be at about pH 7.8. Ultracentrifuge studies indicated fair homogeneity of ribonuclease in solution. Only one moving component has been observed. The molecular weight of ribonuclease was found to be 12,700 from rate of sedimentation (S25 = 1.85 x 10–13 in 0.5 M (NH4)2SO4) and diffusion measurement (D = 1.36 x 10–6 in 0.5 M (NH4)2SO4), in good agreement with the average value of 13,000 found from equilibrium measurements. This low value for the molecular weight of a protein would seem to discredit the value 17,600 as representing a universal unit weight for proteins in general.


Six acoustic isotherms have been plotted in the range 4.2–20 K. When thermodynamic temperatures are calculated from their intercepts on the basis of Batuecas’s value of the gas constant ( R = 8.31441 J mol -1 K -1 ), no significant systematic departure from the results of Berry’s gas thermometry is discernible. If one assumes Berry’s work to be thermodynamically correct and the present work to be thermodynamically linear, a value of the gas constant is implied only (7 ± 27 (lσ)) R / 10 6 higher than that of Batuecas, but 152 R / 10 6 lower than that of Quinn, Colclough & Chandler (Q. C. C.). Such a value is close to that expected from a forthcoming revision of the work of Q. C. C. and is in line with recent criticisms of Rowlinson et al . of their value. If this expectation is borne out gas and acoustic thermometry will be in good agreement in this range. Final results are quoted on the basis of Batuecas’s value of the gas constant and in terms of R to facilitate their recalculation as new information on the value of the gas constant becomes available.


Author(s):  
Wen Gao ◽  
Tom Harrup ◽  
Yuxia Hu ◽  
David White

The rapid penetration of one or more of the foundations of a mobile jack-up rig into the seabed is an ongoing major problem in the offshore industry, with the potential to cause major damage to the structure and endangering any personnel on board. A recent example is the jack-up drilling rig Perro Negro 6 incident happened near the mouth of the Congo river in July 2013 with one of the rig’s crew of 103 reported missing and six others injured. This uncontrollable displacement is due to a form of failure known as punch through failure and commonly occurs on stratified seabed profiles. It has been reported that unexpected punch-through accidents have resulted in both rig damage and lost drilling time at a rate of 1 incident per annum with consequential costs estimated at between US$1 and US$10 million [1]. This paper presents the bearing capacity profiles and associated soil flow mechanisms of a common spudcan foundation penetrating into a three layer soft-stiff-soft clay soil through the use of large deformation finite element (LDFE) analysis. The Remeshing and Interpolation with Small Strain (RITSS) [2, 3] technique was implemented in the software package AFENA [4] to conduct the LDFE analysis. Both soil layer thickness and soil layer strength ratios were varied to study their effect on the spudcan penetration responses. The LDFE results of spudcan penetration into the soft-stiff-soft clay soils were calibrated by existing centrifuge test data. A parametric study was then conducted to study the bearing capacity responses and soil flow mechanisms during spudcan large penetrations by varying the soil layer strength ratio and relative layer thickness to the diameter of spudcan. It was found that there were three types of bearing responses during continuous penetration of spudcan: (a) when the top soft layer is relatively thin, the spudcan bearing response was similar to that of two layer soils with stiff over soft clays; (b) when the top soil layer thickness is medium, a peak resistance is observed when spudcan penetrates into the middle stiff layer followed by reduction; (c) when the soil layer is thick, the peak resistance occurs when spudcan gets into the bottom soft soil layer. The critical thickness of top soil layer is a function of soil strength ratio and middle stiff soil layer thickness. The bearing response types were also corresponding to the soil cavity formations during spudcan initial penetration.


Membranes ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 367
Author(s):  
Bouchra Belaissaoui ◽  
Elsa Lasseuguette ◽  
Saravanan Janakiram ◽  
Liyuan Deng ◽  
Maria-Chiara Ferrari

Numerous studies have been reported on CO2 facilitated transport membrane synthesis, but few works have dealt with the interaction between material synthesis and transport modelling aspects for optimization purposes. In this work, a hybrid fixed-site carrier membrane was prepared using polyallylamine with 10 wt% polyvinyl alcohol and 0.2 wt% graphene oxide. The membrane was tested using the feed gases with different relative humidity and at different CO2 partial pressures. Selected facilitated transport models reported in the literature were used to fit the experimental data with good agreement. The key dimensionless facilitated transport parameters were obtained from the modelling and data fitting. Based on the values of these parameters, it was shown that the diffusion of the amine-CO2 reaction product was the rate-controlling step of the overall CO2 transport through the membrane. It was shown theoretically that by decreasing the membrane selective layer thickness below the actual value of 1 µm to a value of 0.1 µm, a CO2 permeance as high as 2500 GPU can be attained while maintaining the selectivity at a value of about 19. Furthermore, improving the carrier concentration by a factor of two might shift the performances above the Robeson upper bound. These potential paths for membrane performance improvement have to be confirmed by targeted experimental work.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 842
Author(s):  
María J. Granados-Muñoz ◽  
José Antonio Benavent-Oltra ◽  
Daniel Pérez-Ramírez ◽  
Hassan Lyamani ◽  
Juan Luis Guerrero-Rascado ◽  
...  

This work evaluates the Lidar-Radiometer Inversion Code (LIRIC) using sun-sky photometers located at different altitudes in the same atmospheric column. Measurements were acquired during an intensive observational period in summer 2012 at Aerosols, Clouds, and Trace gases Research InfraStructure Network (ACTRIS)/Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) Granada (GRA; 37.16°N, 3.61°W, 680 m above sea level (a.s.l.)) and Cerro Poyos (CP; 37.11°N, 3.49°W, 1820 m a.s.l.) sites. Both stations operated AERONET sun-photometry, with an additional lidar system operating at Granada station. The extended database of simultaneous lidar and sun-photometry measurements from this study allowed the statistical analysis of vertically resolved microphysical properties retrieved with LIRIC, with 70% of the analyzed cases corresponding to mineral dust. Consequently, volume concentration values were 46 μm3/cm3 on average, with a value of ~30 μm3/cm3 corresponding to the coarse spheroid mode and concentrations below 10 μm3/cm3 for the fine and coarse spherical modes. According to the microphysical properties’ profiles, aerosol particles reached altitudes up to 6000 m a.s.l., as observed in previous studies over the same region. Results obtained from comparing the LIRIC retrievals from GRA and from CP revealed good agreement between both stations with differences within the expected uncertainties associated with LIRIC (15%). However, larger discrepancies were found for 10% of the cases, mostly due to the incomplete overlap of the lidar signal and/or to the influence of different aerosol layers advected from the local origin located between both stations, which is particularly important in cases of low aerosol loads. Nevertheless, the results presented here demonstrate the robustness and self-consistency of LIRIC and consequently its applicability to large databases such as those derived from ACTRIS-European Aerosol Research Lidar Network (EARLINET) observations.


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