PREDICTING THE PHENOMENON OF BURYING THROUGH GRAVITY IN PURELY COHESIVE SEDIMENTARY SEA BEDS

The phenomenon of gravitational burying of solid bodies laid on a silty or clayey sedimentary sea bed is largely due to the plastic flow of the material composing this sea bed. Consequently it can be rationallly quantified in the theoretical framework of limit analysis. In this study, the solid bodies are cylinders laid on their generatrix that are sufficiently long to justify the assumption of plane strain. When the nature of the contact prohibits any parting at the body-sediment interface, a general relationship covering the different parameters governing the phenomenon can be solved by studyiing a single unit system. This study was carried out numerically using plasticity finite element programs that were able to take into account precisely the geometry of the body, the characteristics assigned to the sea bed to define the heterogeneity of its cohesion, and its anisotropy, as well as two extreme behaviors at the interface. The results obtained were validated by a series of experimental results from in situ and laboratory tests.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/00168505
• Corporate Authors:

  Thomas Telford Limited

  London,   United Kingdom 
• Authors:
  • Pastor, J
  • Turgemon, S
  • Avallet, C
• Publication Date: 1989-12

Media Info

• Features: Appendices; Figures; References;
• Pagination: p. 625-639
• Serial:
  • GEOTECHNIQUE
  • Volume: 39
  • Issue Number: 4
  • Publisher: Thomas Telford Limited
  • ISSN: 0016-8505

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Clay; Cohesive soils; Finite element method; Gravity; Ocean bottom soils; Offshore structures; Plasticity; Sediments; Silts
• Old TRIS Terms: Burying; Finite elements; Sea floor; Sedimentary clays
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Geotechnology; Highways; I42: Soil Mechanics;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00490797
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jan 31 1990 12:00AM