Breakout failure mechanism of jackup spudcan extraction

Abstract

A centrifuge model study was carried out to simulate the extraction of a jackup spudcan foundation in normally consolidated clay. The soil movements during extraction were visualized and subsequently analyzed using the particle image velocimetry technique, a recently developed image processing technique for geotechnical modeling. The observed soil displacement field demonstrates that the breakout of spudcan in soft clay was associated with the shear failure of a soil column directly above the spudcan and a reverse bearing capacity failure of the soil beneath the spudcan. © 2006 Taylor & Francis Group, London.