Effects of consolidation during spudcan installation in carbonate silty clay: A dual approach

Abstract

Installation of offshore jack-up rigs typically is a discontinuous process, with any pauses allowing for consolidation of the soil beneath the foundation to take place. In some cases, consolidation may be actively sought to limit footing penetration. This paper investigates the effect of consolidation on the response of a spudcan penetrating into carbonate silty clay with a combination of numerical and experimental techniques. Centrifuge experimental results identify the increase in penetration resistance post consolidation and providedata to validate the numerical model. The corresponding numerical analyses require modelling of the coupled effective stress-pore fluid response in a large def..