Abstract B 160
Suction Caissons: Finite Element Modeling
John L. Tassoulas, Dilip R. Maniar, and L.F. Gonzalo Vásquez
University of Texas at Austin
December, 2005SUMMARY
This Report presents our final account of the development and validation of a computational procedure for finite-element analysis of suction-caisson behavior, highlighting its unique features and capabilities. The procedure is based on a description of soil as a two-phase medium: a water-filled porous solid. Nonlinear behavior of the solid phase is represented by means of a bounding-surface plasticity model while a frictional-contact algorithm is used in handling soil-caisson interaction. Furthermore, specially devised remeshing schemes help track the caisson penetration path and avoid numerical complications with heavily distorted finite elements in the vicinity of the caisson-soil interfaces. The procedure has been applied to simulations of several tests involving caisson installation, set-up and pullout. Computational results and experimental data are in good agreement.