Cyclic Behaviour of Sand Under "Partially Drained" Conditions

Offentlig prosjektsammendrag

The project will improve understanding and modelling of sand and permeable silt under "partially drained" conditions from the cyclic loading due to ocean waves and wind. The results of the research will be used to optimize the design of offshore installations in sands and permeable silts. The key parameter to measure or assess is the permeability. A special in situ device will be developed to measure permeability at the same time as one runs cone penetration tests. The development of a seismic measurement in conjunction with seismic cone testing is also under consideration. The interpretation of high resolution geophysical data will be also studied in order to correlate geophysical measurements to permeability or porosity in the sand. Laboratory tests under partially drained conditions are also underway to quantify the cyclic behaviour of the sand under such conditions. Numerical analyses will be developed to model appropriately and reliably the behaviour of pervious materials under partially drained condtions. Example design optimisation will be done for skirted foundation for oil and gas exploitation and for the foundation of offshore wind turbines.