Load carrying capacity of skirted foundation on sand

Abstract

Skirted foundations are considered to be a viable foundation for a variety of offshore applications. Skirted foundations are used widely offshore, either as a single foundation system for gravity based structures or as discrete foundation units at the corners of jacket structures and tension leg platforms Smooth skirted foundations exhibited lesser bearing capacity and settlement values at failure than the rough skirted foundations at similar conditions. The enhancement in bearing capacity of skirted foundations occurred both with the increase in skirt depth and relative density of sand. The ultimate bearing capacity was found to increase with the size of the footing, the length of skirts and the relative density of sand. The failure strain is found to increase with the size of the footings and skirt length but decreases with increase in relative density of sand bed. In horizontal loading test at higher relative density the stress reaches to a peak value at low strain and sudden failure occurs. But at lower relative density the peak stress occurs at relatively high strain.