Geotechnical installation design of suction buckets in non-cohesive soils

A reliability-based approach

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Abstract

This study presents a probabilistic analyses of suction bucket installation in cohesionless soils. The spatial variability of soil properties is quantified using a representative survey dataset from practice. Vertical random field modelling is used to model cone resistance variability and probability density functions are fitted using drained parameter estimates. Conventional installation analysis methods are adapted for layered soil deposits. The effect of varying permeability is included through the incorporation of a finite element seepage model. Parametric uncertainties are considered through a Monte Carlo analysis and the results are interrogated through a variety of feasibility and sensitivity studies. Performing such an analysis allows a designer to gain insights into governing failure mechanisms and objectively quantify the impact of uncertainty regarding parameter estimates.