(PAPER) Janbu N. (1985) Soil Models in Offshore Engineerin - Geot.1985.35.3.241

JANBU, N. (1985). G&technique 35, No. 3.
241-281
Soil models in offshore engineering
N. JANBU*
The offshore activities in the North Sea have been a INTRODUCTION

very demanding but fruitful challenge to geotechnical In geotechnical design it has long been recog-
engineering for more than a decade now. It soon
nized that the assessment of soil properties is the
became evident that there was an urgent need for a
better understanding of the behaviour of different most important single task. By comparison the
types of soil under static and cyclic loading, for details of numerical analyses are of much lesser
drained as well as undrained conditions. The experi- consequence. This observation is the major
ence from geotechnical engineering onshore was not reason for the choice of the Lecture topic: soil
sufficient, nor were the available models for soil be- modelling for offshore engineering problems.
haviour readily adaptable to practical applications to The various types of geotechnical problems
this wider range of problems. Since about 1960, the which may be involved in the foundation design
Author has addressed himself to the problem of mod-
of a gravity platform are in principle illustrated
elling soil behaviour within one consistent framework,
namely the classical resistance concept. In particular,
in Fig. 1 by means of a stress path plot.
over the last lo-15 years this concept has been used The initial in situ stress condition before in-
extensively for typical offshore problems. During this stallation (point I) corresponds most often to
time the entire staff of the Geotechnical Division at low shear stress levels (large safety factors). The
the Norwegian Institute of Technology has taken part installation itself may be carried out in a few
in the development of elements of the model. Conse- days, and the stress path of undrained loading is
quently data input comes from a large number of assumed to end up at point U. After stage 1 at
theoretical and experimental theses, many internal constant load (during summer) some drainage
reports and several published papers. The practical
may take place, and the stress path moves to
result of this comprehensive work is the main content
point D, with a larger factor of safety. Environ-
of this lecture.
mental loads (storms) may then expose the
structure to cyclic loads, leading to a cumulative
increase in the pore pressure level, with a tem-
Depuis plus de dix annees les operations au large dans
porary reduction in safety. Practical design re-
la Mer du Nord posent des problemes d’ingenierie
geotechnique d’une facon exigeante mais productive.
quires that the critical position of the stress path
I1 est devenu rapidement evident qu’il y avait un (point C) for the toe region T lies below a
besoin urgent d’une meilleure comprehension du com- specified design level, which may be given as a
portement des sols differents sous des charges stati- reduced level of strength.
ques et cycliques dans des conditions drainees et non- From this brief survey it is evident that most
drain&es. Les connaissances acquises a partir des con- of the knowledge required for design is related
structions geotechniques a terre n’ttaient pas to soil behaviour within the working stress
suffisantes et les modtles disponibles pour l’ttude du range. More specifically, the design requires the
comportement des sols ne pouvaient pas s’adapter
stressstrain-time behaviour under drained and
facilement dans la pratique a ces problemes de plus
grande envergure. Depuis environ 1960 l’auteur a
undrained conditions, for static and repeated
Ctudie la modtlisation du comportement des sols dans loading at different degrees of shear mobiliza-
le cadre exclusif du concept classique de la resistance. tions, both within and outside the preconsolida-
Pendant les lo-15 dernibres annees ce concept a CtC tion stress regime. In this perspective, the uni-
souvent employe en particulier pour des problemes se que assessment of an average failure envelope is
posant typiquement au large. Au tours de cette by far the simplest, least expensive and most
periode tout le personnel de la Division technique de reliable task.
l’institut norwegien de la technologie a participt au
developpement du modele. Par consequent les
don&es proviennent d’une grande quantite de theses Model requirements
theoriques, de beaucoup de rapports internes et de To make a versatile and useful model of be-
plusieurs articles publies. Cette conference presente haviour in practice, several requirements should
principalement des rtsultats pratiques de ce travail be fulfilled.
d’ensemble.
(a) Each element of the model must be simple
and based on classical concepts to the
* Norwegian Institute of Technology. largest possible extent.
241
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242 JANBU
@I The model must be capable of describing resistance of a medium, or of an isolated part of

continuously the soil response to increasing it, can therefore be determined by measuring
stress levels, from zero up to failure, includ- the incremental response to a given incremental
ing the state of failure itself. action, Fig. 2. Therefore, by definition
(cl The basic concepts should be independent
Incremental action
of soil type and boundary conditions. Resistance = (I)
(4 If the model is composed of several ele- Incremental response
ments, each element should be usable alone,
For a non-linear response the resistance is in
in simple forecasts or in a combination with
general defined as the tangent to the action-
others, e.g. in comprehensive computer
response curve. For a linear action-response
programs.
curve the resistance is a constant of proportion-
k) The model should be easily adaptable to
ality, without a change in definition, e.g. electri-
any safety specifications, or any changes in
cal resistance (R or p), elastic resistance (E),
code (say from lumped safety to partial
dynamic resistance (mass), hydraulic resistance
safety coefficients).
(k-l) and heat resistance (C).
(f) It should be possible at any time to benefit
In geotechnical engineering, an enormous
from collected data and past experience of
amount of information is available on failure
case histories.
criteria and strength parameters. By compari-
The 25 years of applied research at the son, little general information about the static
Geotechnical Division at the Norwegian Insti- and cyclic soil behaviour within the design stress
tute of Technology has had, as its long-term range exists. Hopefully, a more consistent use of
aim, the development of engineering models of the resistance concept may, in time, remedy this
behaviour that satisfy most of the above require- unacceptable situation. It is readily admitted
ments. The bulk of this Paper is therefore a that this first attempt to summarize the wide
summary of this model, with examples of appli- applicability of the concept is in many ways
cations to soil testing and design analyses. inadequate. Nevertheless, it is hoped to spur
The basic elements of the model were com- future research and discussion of the concept.
pleted around 1970 for static stress conditions.
The requirements in offshore engineering from MODEL ELEMENTS: DEFINITIONS
the early 1970s have led to the expansion of the
The purpose of this section is to define the basic
model to include cyclic loading. However, this is
elements of the soil model. Each element will be
the first attempt to summarize the elements of
limited to two-dimensional conditions, either
the model in a single paper.
plane strain or axisymmetric, where the
Resistance as a unifying concept oedometer condition (no lateral yield) is a spe-
The classical resistance concept is used consis- cial case.
tently during the build-up of each element of the
model. The resistance is a unifying concept, Shear strength
being widely applied in all fields of engineering, Free water and/or gas bubbles in the voids of
where action-reaction systems require analysis. mineral soils cannot transfer shear. Hence, the
All media possess resistance against a forced >, External action X
w
change of existing equilibrium conditions. The
Fig. 1. lkstration of multistage prob-

’ Externalaction X
w
lems in otfsbore design Fig. 2. Definition of the resistance of a material

SOIL MODELS IN OFFSHORE ENGINEERING 243
Fig. 3. Definition of Linear strength in an ideal material
soil skeleton alone transfers shear stresses. Thus

the effective normal stresses govern the internal
shearing resistance of granular soils, irrespective
of the shear stress level. Therefore the entire
stress dependence of the model is based on the
effective stress. Any departures from this gen-
eral principle must be considered as special
cases of very limited validity; see e.g. Bishop
(1966) and Bishop & Wesley (1975).
The simplest expression for the shear strength
or in terms of the effective stress is represented
by a straight line of the Coulomb form (Fig. 3) Fig. 4. Major modes of failure observed in soils, rock,
concrete and ice: (a) shear failure on conjugate
rr=(u’+a)tan4 (2) planes; (b) tensile strain cracks in the v1 direction
where cr’ = o - u is the effective normal stress, The theoretical case of constant shear strength
tan 4 is the friction of the grain skeleton and a (or= s = c) is obtained from equation (2) by
is the attraction (cohesion c = a tan 4). In prac- means of the following limit consideration
tical applications a two-dimensional model and
linear strength are all that can be handled ade- s = ,ali,m_o(a tan4~) (3)
quately.
The use of attraction, instead of cohesion, In the model this case is therefore covered by
simplifies greatly all the engineering formulae, the condition 4 = 0. Hence, the solution of the
since all the coefficients related to the c terms general case includes the special case.
are redundant (Janbu, 1973a). Theoretically,
attraction acts as an isotropic prestress, similar Modes of failure
to suction; see Sokolovski (1965) and Caquot & In all mineral soils, rocks and concrete two
K&rise1 (1967). major modes of failure occur in test specimens,
Classical (Hvorslev, 1937) and more recent namely
research (Schmertmann, 1976) indicate that it is
logical to expect that cohesion may properly be (a) shear-stress-induced failure, leading to con-
jugate shear planes, forming rhombic failure
considered as a product of friction and stress.
elements with their long axis in the U, direc-
Since c = a tan 4 and c = KP~ in the Hvorslev
tion (Fig. 4(a))
equation, a = Kp, cot 4. It appears therefore that
(b) tensile-strain-induced cracks, in the cri di-
the product K cot 4 is a better constant than
rection, even when the whole stress field is
either K or cot 4 alone.
compressive, as seen from a no-volume-
It should be emphasized, however, that for
change consideration (Fig. 4(b)).
practical engineering purposes it is advantageous
to consider a and tan 4 not as fundamental soil The shear failures are likely to dominate in
properties but curve fitting coefficients. In this plastic (ductile) materials, while the strain-
Paper a and tan 4 are used as effective stress induced cracks dominate in brittle materials.
parameters without any subscripts, bars or Both types of failure may be visible simultane-
primes, as it is felt that these basic symbols ously in a test specimen.
should be reserved unaltered for the effective In dilatant materials (low sensitivity clays)
stress analyses. failure takes time to develop. For instance, in a

244 JANBU
cut slope the soil at the crest may start to crack Excess pore pressure
(giving early warning) and the soil mass may In consolidated undrained tests (CU tests) the
gradually slump for a limited distance and reach total principal stress changes are known and the
a new equilibrium at the displaced position. excess pore pressure is measured. The inter-
In contrast, contractant materials often fail pretation of such tests, in terms of pore pressure
abruptly, without warning and often at small parameters (A and B) was first published in the
strains. The failed soil may lose most of its mid-1950s (Skempton, 1954; Bishop, 1954). To
strength and become a liquid (quick clay slides, include the possible effect of u2 it was later
flow slides) and cause damage far outside the suggested that octahedral stresses be used in the
original failure zones by flowing downhill at very interpretation (Henkel, 1960). However, be-
small gradients. cause T,,, and crd = u, - o3 are nearly propor-
tional, a simple expression can be used to in-
Degree of mobilization clude o2 with sufficient accuracy (Janbu, 1976)
From a theoretical point of view the simp- Au=Aa,-D Aud (6)
lest definition of the state of equilibrium r, in a
T-U’ diagram is of course a straight line with a where D is the dilatancy parameter
slope tan p passing through the same origin as
Aud = Au 1- Au3
the strength line (Fig. 5)
Au, = f( Au, + Au, + Au,)
r,=(u’+a)tanp (4)
For triaxial tests on saturated soils
where tan p is the mobilized friction.
D=j-A (7)
Any Mohr’s circle which is tangent to the
equilibrium line will then have the same max- where A is Skempton’s pore pressure parame-
imum mobilized friction, irrespective of the ter. Rewriting equation (7) D is defined as
stress level, i.e. point C will have to move along
the equilibrium line r, when constant p is as-
sumed.
The (maximum) degree of mobilization f for
such a condition becomes
tan p
f=-.. (5)
tan 4
As an example, the movement of point C along

the equilibrium line may correspond to a
drained oedometer condition, where f0 = 0.5-
0.6.
For a variable p point C will move vectorially,
as indicated by the broken arrows in Fig. 5. The
major part of the experimental results reported
herein is related to the development of these 12Or
vectors, for undrained and drained, static and
cyclic loading conditions. D = Aq,,‘/Ao,
I;e 80 -
5
.m
$
0 4c-
I
0’ 10 20 30 40
Mean effective stress q,,’ kPa
(b)
Fig. 6. Pore pressure parameter D obtained
from compression and extension tests: (a)
data from Bishop & Wesley (1975); (b)
Fig. 5. Definition of the degree of mobiition f data from Law & Holtz (1978)

Hence, D expresses the tendency of a soil to The diagrams in Fig. 7 contain the u’--8 curves
change the mean effective stress when subjected for both loading and unloading (swelling)
to deviatoric stresses under undrained condi- branches from an oedometer test on a normally
tions. In general consolidated clay. The tangent moduli are
shown in the same figure as a function of the
D > 0 for dilatant behaviour vertical effective stress cr’.
D = 0 for elastic behaviour For a low stress level on the loading branch
D < 0 for contractant behaviour the resistance M against deformation is large.
While the stress increases this high resistance even-
It has long been known that the effective tually decreases appreciably owing to partial
stress behaviour of saturated soils is indepen- collapse of the grain skeleton. This breakdown
dent of the manner in which the total stress of the resistance occurs around the precon-
changes are applied to a sample. The important solidation stress level uC’. When the effective
research data of Bishop & Wesley (1975) have stress is increased beyond u,’ the resistance in-
been used to analyse the D parameter as shown creases with increasing effective stress. The be-
in Fig. 6(a), while the results of Law & Holtz haviour in the normal consolidation stress range
(1978) are included in Fig. 6(b). Note that D is can be approximated by a linear oedometer
calculated from the slope of the working stress modulus M,,. Hence, for u’>u,’
path.
MO = ~(a’- CT;) (10)
Normal stress-strain behaviour where m,, is the modulus number (say from 10
For drained tests along the Ko’ line (as in an to 30) and ur’ is the intercept on the u’ axis and
oedometer) the observed stress-strain behaviour is the reference stress.
is completely described by one curve, namely Along the swelling branch the modulus de-
the ur’ = (T’ versus e1 = E curve. To be able to creases almost linearly with decreasing effective
carry out fundamental studies of the nature of stress, and the average slope is equal to the
this curve it must be presented on an arithmetic swelling modulus number mnw, which often is
scale. The tangent modulus to the curve is the 5-10 times ~11”.
resistance against deformation, also called the The definition M,, = du’/de = m&r’- u,I)
constrained modulus (Janbu, 1963)
Klaebu sand, n = 41°h
(9)
M. = ddldE
Soft clay:
Depth =6,4 m
w = 60-6596
s, = 1o-1 2
s,= lo-15 kPa
M, = dd/de
100
1 / 1. Swelling
m
12- 4
m ~60.
M, = mo(a’- u,‘)
2
rb 6- 4
$40. ,d;
Y I
n’4- ,I
2 ,’ 20
4 I
0 0;’ 100 200 300 400 500 tI
Y
Vertical effectwe stress d’ kPa 0' 100 200 300 400 500
Vertical effectwe stress d’ kPa
Fig. 7. Definition of oedometer modulus, e.g. for
Eberg Clay Fig. 8. Oedometer moduli in sand

246 JANBU
stress for a dimensionless modulus number m,.

For sands m,, will often vary between 100 and
500, from a loose to a dense state.
Introducing equation (12) into equation (9)
and integrating from u,’ to (IT’
a = 20 kPa
For normally consolidated sand u,’ = (T,,,’ is the

present effective overburden.
The recompression modulus in Fig. 8 shows
10 10 that the sand had been statically preloaded, and
I oc clay g,-150
Depth i 10.5m 80 the preconsolidation modulus gradually de-
m '= 112 kPa creases when the static preloading is exceeded.
UC
s5 w = 2846f 2% 01 6o A linear swelling modulus of sand is observed
S, = 2-5 40
o as for clays
20
L
M,, = m,,u’ (14)
0 i 10 0 0.5 l,O
Y oh f = tanpltana At times the swelling modulus may intercept the
(aI (bi u’ axis at the reference stress u,‘. The swelling
modulus number msw is often 5-10 times m,,.
Fig. 9. Definition of shear modulus G and shear
modulus number g, e.g. for Barnehagen Clay Shear stress-shear strain behaviour
In triaxial testing the shear stress is gradually
leads to increased from the starting level until failure.
The stress-strain behaviour during such a test
da’ may be plotted in several ways, as shown in Fig.
d.s =
mo(o’ - or’) 9.
From an ordinary r--y plot the tangent shear
When integrated from uC’ to IT’
modulus
1 u’ - u,’
so=-In
mo (cc‘_ cr ’ ) (11) G=Z (15)
is obtained. For a normally consolidated clay, can be obtained where r is the maximum shear
(T,‘= u,,,‘. equation (11) implies that the simple c3 is the maximum deviator strain
and y=cl-
explanation of the past experiences of linear e (often denoted EJ. The G modulus will depend
versus log cr’ plots is that the tangent modulus is
on y as shown in Fig. 9(a).
linearly dependent on the effective stress M = The r--y curve can be transformed into a
mu’, with CT,’= 0. tan p-y curve as shown in Fig. 9(b), where tan p
Historically, it is interesting to observe that is the mobilized friction. The tangent to this
Terzaghi (1925, pp. 94-95) found this observa- curve is dimensionless and is denoted g, where
tion (based on tests on dry powder) to be of
fundamental importance (von Grundlegender d(tan P)
Bedeutung). It is therefore surprising that Ter- g= (16)
dy
zaghi did not come back to this discovery in
later years, except for brief comment. The shear modulus number g decreases with
Figure 8 shows typical curves for preliminary increasing mobilization f as shown in Fig. 9(b).
loading, preliminary unloading, reloading and a Typical values of gi for y = 0 are in the range
second unloading of a medium dense sand tested 50-500. Once g has been obtained, the shear
in an oedometer. The tangent moduli variations modulus G can be expressed in terms of g,’ as
with stress for the entire test sequence are in- follows
cluded.
The virgin modulus curve for sand may fre- G = g&,‘+ a) (17)
quently be approximated by a parabola where g, = g/N:, and N is defined later in equa-
M,, = m&r’(~,): tion (31).
(12)
It is simple to express G in terms of other
where (T, = 100 kPa= 1 atm is the reference stresses, like u7’+ a or u,’ + a, from the general

relationship G = g(a,‘+a) where u,’ is the

effective normal stress on critical shear planes.
Time dependence for static loads

For stepwise loading in oedometers each load
step is applied instantaneously and then left
constant for some time during which the sample
gradually compresses. In total stress terms this is
a rheological phenomenon or creep. Considering
time t as action and strain as response, the time
resistance is automatically defmed as the tangent
to the E--t curve (Janbu, 1969)
ds
Each part of Fig. 10 has an arithmetic scale. The

time resistance R will generally increase with
time as shown in the figure.
For saturated clays it is often found that the
R-t curve near the origin is parabolic, in accor-
dance with the classical theory of primary con-
solidation. During this phase the initial excess
porewater pressure gradually reduces. After
some time the R-t curve approaches a straight
line so that for tat,
Fig. 10. Definition of time resistance R and
R, = rs( t - t,) (19)
creep number r, for a constant load step in
Introducing equation (19) into equation (18) and an oedometer
integrating between t, and t
of the number of load repetitions N. The corres-
ponding curves are shown in Fig. 11 for a test on
rs \t,- t,/
a soft clay from Eberg. Both curves show an
is obtained where e, is the creep strain, or the average cumulative increase and an ‘elastic’ fluc-
so-called secondary consolidation. tuation of E and u around the average cumula-
The empirical observation of a straight z,- tive trend. The width of the bands of fluctuation
log t curve is in mechanical terms equivalent to a is almost constant (AE~ and Au,).
linear time resistance R, = r,t with t, = 0. Considering the number of repetitions N as
The E--t behaviour, Fig. 10, is truly a rheolog- action and E as response the cumulative strain
ical process (creep) both in terms of total and resistance R, against repeated loading is defined
effective stress for all times t 2 tP where tP is the as the slope of the mean curve
time for complete dissipation of excess pore
pressure Au = 0. In most cases, however, t, is
only a fraction of the theoretical value of t,. (21)
Time dependence during repeated loading In most saturated soils R, increases regularly
The principle applied in triaxial tests with with increasing repetitions. For saturated clays
repeated loads using saturated soils and un- the increase with N is nearly linear, as shown in
drained conditions is shown in Fig. 11. The Fig. 11, where
sample is first consolidated to a known state of
effective stress, crlU’ and (Tag’.For crzO= constant R, =r,(N-N,) (22)
the sample is exposed to repeated changes in u1
equal to Aa, = Aad = constant. The intercept N, is difficult to determine pre-
For undrained conditions the soil responds to cisely and in many cases it is advisable to use
load repetitions by changes in the porewater N,=O, if possible.
pressure and changes in the vertical strain. Both If, for simplicity, N, = 0 and R = r,N = dN/de,
effects are recorded continuously as a function ds = dN/Nr, is obtained. Hence, integration

248 JANEW
AU, = repeated N times

at petlod J,
4t
Eberg Clay:
Depth = 6.2-6.3 m
w= 58-5996, A”~ = 20 kPa
vaa = constant
0.3
o-2
m
B B
s
6 Y
0.1
8X105
500
N
Fig. 11. Definition of cumulative strain and pore pressure resis-

tances R, and R, exemplikd by cyclic Load tests on a soft clay
from Eberg
from N = 1 to N leads to the cumulative strain introduction of Au* is to obtain a dimensionless

resistance R,.
E,“=LlN (23) In most soils R, increases gradually with in-
creasing N. In saturated clays the increase is
r,
usually linear, in which case
From the constant width of fluctuation A+
the cyclic shear modulus
R, = r,(N- NJ (26)
GC=-
Au, The dimensionless pore pressure resistance r,
(24)
3 AFT for clays is almost constant for a wide range of
is obtained for Aad= constant. This value is mobilizations, from 0 to 0.8, as will be shown
equivalent to the G,,, used in vibration analyses later.
for small strains. If the R,-N curve is fitted for small N values
The cumulative pore pressure resistance R, so that N,=O, R,=rUN=AuddN/du, or du=
against repeated loading is defined as Acr,dN/N is obtained. Integration leads to
R,=Ao,g u,, = !k?! In N (27)

r,
where N is the action and u is the response. The From the constant width of fluctuation Au, the

Maximum moblllralton f, when

+a, = 45” + p,l2 where tanpc = fc tan
Then
c7,’ + a = A$’ + a)
(0,~ 0,‘)/2 = S(u3’ +a)
Along planes +a,. o,, = gn, rn = Tc
fl” + a = N,, (a, + a) = N,,&T~ J
‘rc = N&T, ~ u3’)
0
I 0.5 1.0
tanpc = f, tan@ tan p, = f, tan@
Fie. 12. Stress ratios and inclination of conjugate shear planes in
a trim&d test
cyclic D parameter For simplicity these formulae are based on re-

ference values of zero (u,) = 0, t, = 0, N, = 0) in
1 Au, interpreting the test results. This simplification
(28)
Dc=5-G d may not always be possible in practice, and the
formulae are then altered accordingly, Appendix
is obtained where Au, = constant.
1.
For other conditions the test results may be
Comments on soil resistances better approximated by non-linear resistances,
For normally consolidated clays the stress re- in which case one could use a generalized rela-
sistance and the time-dependent resistance are tionship as in Appendix 1: as special examples,
often linearly dependent on stress and time re- M = m (a’~,)* for sand and M = mu, = constant
spectively. For example, MO = mOu’ and R = r,t for overconsolidated clays.
are primary and secondary resistances respec- The dimensionless resistance numbers m and
tively. r depend primarily on shear mobilization, as
From cyclic tests on clay linear resistances are well as on the stress regime (overconsolidated
also obtained for the cumulative strain and the versus normally consolidated). Stresses in soil
cumulative excess pore pressure. For example, will therefore be given some consideration be-
R, = r,N and R, = r,N where N is the number fore results of multistage testing are presented.
of repetitions of a constant change in deviator
stress Am+ ELEMENTARY STRESS FIELD THEORY
In Appendix 1 it is shown that a linear resis-
A prerequisite for being able to interpret
tance will always lead to a semilogarithmic rela-
triaxial test results within the design stress range
tionship between response and action, e.g.
as well as along the failure envelope is to have
1 u’ 1 simple expressions for the state of stress at any
Eg=-ln
m0 () 7
mo
ES=-ln
rS
J
0 to equilibrium condition. For this a consistent tool
for stress vectors (or stress paths) which is
equally applicable for either the design stress or
KU =%ln ; G” =lln J
rU ( 0) r, ( 0) failure stress conditions is required.

250 JANBU
Similarly, to judge the range of subsoil stres- where

ses (for which the tests should be run) simple
2
tools are required to express the state of equilib- N,l=-= 1 -sin p (35a)
rium stress in the subsoil. Simple stress field N+l
theories have been developed for this. 2N
Nn3=--= l+sin p (35b)
N+l
Stresses in tiaxial samples
Let the total principal stresses in a triaxial The shear stresses along the conjugate shear
specimen be given as crl > cr2 = cr3 while the pore planes are
pressure is U, Fig. 12. Along a plane inclined at +T, = (a,’ + a) tan p = N,,(a, - u3) (36)
an arbitrary angle (Y the shear stress T_ and the
normal stress a, are well-known expressions where
from classical mechanics. Hence, an expression N+ 1
for the mobilized friction tan p and/or the de- N7d=-=-
gree of mobilization f (Janbu, 1973a) can easily N-t1 2””
be obtained. This mobilization is a function of (Y. These formulae are the basis for stress vector
The maximum value of the mobilized tan p = interpretations of triaxial tests as well as the
f= tan 4 is obtained for OL= (Y,, where basis for stress fields in weightless soils.
(29) Stress zleckms for triaxial test interpretation

or The normal stress criterion, equation (30), is a
simple straight line in a Cartesian co-ordinate
ftan cy, = tan p + (1-t tan’ p)+ system with axes uI’ and u3’. Since u,‘>u3’ the
line of hydrostatic stress ul’ = u3’ represents the
This means that the critical equilibrium condi- lower boundary in Fig. 13, along which tan p =
tion (for maximum mobilization) occurs along 0, i.e. N = 1. The upper boundary (at failure) is
conjugate shear planes as shown in Fig. 4. The defined by the slope Nf where p = 4.
geometry of the rhombic elements bounded by From the slope Nf of the failure line the
these planes changes with changing mobiliza- friction tan 4 can be obtained from the formula
tion, from squares for fc = 0 to the well-known
failure elements with angles 90” f 4 for fc = 1. N,-1
tan4 =I (37)
The maximum mobilized friction tan p can 2N,’
now be determined for any given state of effec-
For an ideal material with constant attraction a
tive principal stress ml’ and c3’=uZ’ from the
over the entire compressive stress range, the
following normal stress criterion
failure line intersects the hydrostatic line at
point 0’ with co-ordinates (-a, -a). This means
a,‘+a =N(a,‘-ta) (30)
that the attraction is in theory the hydrostatic
where tensile strength of the material, Sokolovski
(1965). In stress expressions the attraction acts
1 +sin p as an isotropic prestress. The failure line in-
N=tar?a,=p (31)
1-sinp tersects the u1 axis at point C, where the ordi-
nate OC is the unconfined compressive strength
This state of equilibrium can also be expres- u,. From equation (30)
sed in terms of the maximum shear stress
criterion u, = (Nf- l)a (38)
Similarly, the unconfined tensile strength uUt is
&r1’-CT3’)=S(u~‘+a) (32) defined as the intercept on the ~3) axis, hence
in which
N,-1
uUf=------a
S = +(N - 1) = tan p tan (Y, (33) Nf
The values of N and S as functions of the In the region TOC the principal stresses are
mobilized friction are plotted in Fig. 12. of opposite signs, while in region TOO’ both
The critical normal stress a,’ along the conju- stresses are negative (tensile). It should be
gate shear planes can be expressed as follows emphasized that the combined region COO’T
cannot be fully utilized in practice because
~~‘+a = Nnl(crl’+ a) = N,x(ax’+ a) (34) most materials show non-Coulomb behaviour in

Son. MODELS IN OFFSHORE ENGINEERING 251
q’ + a = N(w3’ + a)
= Unconfined compresswe
= Unconfmed tenslle
a = Attraction = Isotropic
tenstle strength
tanp = (N - 912~”
Fig. 13. Normal stress criterion for two-dimensional stress conditions in ideal
Coulomb materials
tension (anisotropy, brittleness, low tensile

strength). B
tanp = S/(1 + 2s)”
+
The purely compressive region is defined by
the open zone fCOi in Fig. 13. Within the zone
a possible stress vector is indicated, together
with a line of equilibrium for constant p < 4. N
The principal stress diagram in Fig. 13 is

impractical for use in triaxial test inter-
pretations, while the shear (or deviator) stress
criterion is ideal for that purpose, Fig. 14. In the
Cartesian co-ordinate system, (crl’ - a,‘)/2 versus
F
us’, the failure line has an inclination S, from “>’ = +‘3’
which the friction
Fig. 14. Deviator stress criterion for two-
Sf dimensional stress conditions in ideal Coulomb
tan 4 = (1+ 2s$ materials
is obtained. The attraction is equal to the nega- It should be noted that this definition differs
tive intercept on the u3’ axis. Note that the from the conventional K. = u~/u,‘.
ordinate (a,‘-~,‘)/2 is always positive since A combination of a drained K,’ test with a
u~'z=o.< by definition. This means that both subsequent undrained shear test in a triaxial cell
compression and extension test results are lo- led to an oedo-triaxial test, from which drained
cated within the triangle formed by the or line settlement parameters and undrained equilib-
and the uX’ axis. rium shear behaviour parameters are obtained
An arbitrary equilibrium line is also shown in as well as shear strength parameters from the
Fig. 14. In particular, for the at-rest condition same sample.
(Ed = c3 = 0) where the slope of the line is So
1 Total stress field

K,‘=- (41) The basic elements in stress field theories for
1+2s,
weightless soils are briefly summarized in Ap-
is obtained. The definition of Ko’ has to include pendix 2. The case of inclined loads on a hori-
attraction as follows zontal base is used as an example of an applica-
tion.
U3”’ + a Plane strain conditions are assumed. The in-
&‘=-
(42)
cr,o’+a clined load on the base is given by the vertical

252 JANBU
ACtIOn -L-
47 9”
Structure
Response
Surface
3 2 1 5
1 1
Fig. 15. Total stiess fields for inclined loads on weightless soils
component qy and the horizontal base shear ts, where

both uniformly distributed over the width of the r = sin (20,~) (45)
foundation, Fig. 15.
N,=a+l-2w,,+cos(2wo) (46)
The two components qV and t,, represent the
action on the subsoil. The soil responds by Here CO,,is the angle of rotation of the principal
setting up shear and normal stresses. For a axis in zone 1.
weightless soil with a defined shear stress level The equilibrium conditions r,, = t,, and crV= qV
there is just one geometry of the stress field, can be satisfied by means of equations (43) and
which will be statically and kinematically correct (44) by trial and error through r. First, a value of
and in complete equilibrium with the action. r is assumed, leading to T,= t,,/r, and then equa-
This field may be called the critical stress field. tion (44) gives one value of cr.,. By trying several
In Fig. 15 it is assumed that the shear stress values of r and by plotting oV versus r, r = r, can
at any level of mobilization is independent of be determined for u, = qV. The angle (Y<)in zone
normal stress. Moreover, the degree of mobili- 1 is then obtained by
zation is assumed to be constant within the
critical stress field. This means that the critical l-r, i
shear stress on all conjugate shear planes within
the stress field is assumed to be constant and
tana,=
( )-
1 + r,
equal to 7,. For these assumptions the solution for The entire geometry of the critical stress field is
the equilibrium condition (action qvth= reaction known when CY,,is calculated; see Fig. 1.5. The
~“7~) is simple. normal stresses along this boundary are given by
The stress responses from the subsoil are ob- on3 = P + Q-C (zone 3) (48)
tained from the horizontal and vertical equilib-
c”~=~+N~T~ (zone 1) (49)
ria, leading to
rh=PrC (43) where
a,=p+N,r, (44) N1=7r+1-20” (50)

0
Roughness ratior Roughness ratlor
Fig. 16. Stress factors NC and N, and angle of principal stress rotation q,
as functions of roughness ratio r
Fig. 17. Effective stress fields for inclined loads on weightless

soils
In zone 2 the normal stress varies linearly Eflectiue stress fields

along the arch, when folded out. The values of Here, the shear stress on conjugate shear
NC, N, and tan (Ye are shown as functions of I in planes is assumed to be linearly dependent on
Fig. 16. All the formulae are also valid for the effective normal stress on these planes, i.e.
negative o0 between 0” and -45”, corresponding
to a negative fh. T,=(u’+a)tanp (51)

254 JANBU
The degree of mobilization is assumed to be corresponding to no excess pore pressure

constant, i.e. tan p = f tan 4, where f = constant (known stationary, hydrostatic pore pressure
within the entire stress field. condition or u = 0). The derivation of the for-
For a weightless soil, the exact solution for the mulae is briefly shown in Appendix 2. The value
stress field geometry, and the magnitudes of of N, is plotted in Fig. 18 as functions of tan p
stresses within this stress field, is easily obtained and r.
for a given inclined loading condition, Fig. 17. The geometry of the critical stress field is
The horizontal and vertical equilibrium require- uniquely defined by rotation o of the principal
ments lead to stresses in zone 1, when
rh = r(o,‘+ a) tan p
tanw=[l-(tPr’)i]tana,=tano,tana,
o,‘+a =N,(p’+a)
(54)
where
100
0.2
cu,=45”fip
The normal stress along the boundary of the

2O
50
0.4 stress field is given by the formulae
i0 0.5 em1- P = L,(q,- p) (zone 1) (SW
t
Im 0,6 un3- P = L3(qv - P) Gme 3) (55b)
z 20
5 “.7
The coefficients AnI and ,& are plotted in Fig.
19(a) as functions of tan p and r. Along the arch
nm (zone 2) in Fig. 17 o,r’ at point i is calcu-
lated as follows
uni)+ a = (on3’+ a) exp (2i tan p) (56)
Once the normal stress on’ has been deter-
mined along the critical shear surface (CSS) the
critical shear stress r, is given by (a,‘+ a) tan p.
For the analyses of excess pore pressure under
undrained conditions the stress changes Au, and
Acrd are required. Stress field theory gives
Mobillzed frlctmn tanp = f tan@ Au, = A, Aq (57)

Fig. 18. Bearing capacity factor N, ;Au, = A, Aq (58)
Mobillzed frlctlon tanp = f tan@

(a)
Moblllzed frho” ;a;;~ = f tan@ Mobilized friction tanp

Lb)
fC)
Fig. 19. Stress ratios for inclined loads on weightless soils

(a) D = -0.5 (b)
Fig. 20. Excess pore pressure due to a vertical strip load on a weightless soil
In these equations Aq = qV- p and Au, = u, - p.

The values of A, and A, in zones 1 and 3 are
plotted in Figs 19(b) and 19(c), where A, is valid
for uz = (cr, + us)/2 only.
Example
Equations (57) and (58) are used to obtain the
pore pressure ratio Au/Aq for a strip load on
clay, leading to
Au
&= Xm-2!AD
With the aid of Figs 19(b) and 19(c) the values
of A, and A, can be obtained for known values
of r and tan p. For vertical loading, the result is
plotted in Fig. 20. Note that the excess pore Pig. 21. Potential of multistage testing
pressure is usually less than the excess load, say
SO-60% in medium-stiff clays.
(d) an undrained cyclic test, starting at point B
and containing two stress blocks, after which
MULTISTAGE LABORATORY TEST RESULTS an undrained static shear test is performed
Today’s advanced laboratory equipment and from point Bl.
data systems have made it possible to determine
a large number of important soil properties that Multistage triaxial testing has been extensively
10 years ago were out of reach. This applies used for more than 10 years, and examples of
particularly to behaviour parameters within the the results illustrate its potential for future re-
working stress range, for both static and cyclic search.
loading.
The principle of the potential of today’s
laboratory testing and interpretation procedure Static ttiaxial test interpretations
is illustrated in Fig. 21. For illustration idealized The results of four ordinary CIU tests on
stress paths are shown for compacted sand are shown in Fig. 22(a). The
porosity of the samples varied slightly between
(a) an isotropically consolidated undrained
39.7% and 40.5%. Stress paths of the four tests
triaxial test (CIU) starting at point I
are plotted and the ultimate shear strength
(b) an anisotropically consolidated undrained
parameters obtained are
triaxial shear test (CAU) starting at point A
(c) one oedo-triaxial test containing both a
tan 4 = 0.75
drained oedo-path AD and the undrained
shear path CAU starting at point D a = 20-25 kPa

256 JANBU
mOedotrlaxlal - CIU lasts
1.q-100
5’
F, 96
(a) (b)
Fig. 22. Mobifization of f&ion and attraction in dense sand
Moreover, the D parameter is constant in each 75

Rlsvoilan Clay: w = 38%
test and varied between 0.27 and 0.31 in the
uc’ = 215 kPa
test series for strains up to 2%.
Strain levels .sr along each stress path are
illustrated and used to study the mobilization of
friction and attraction during loading. By draw-
ing a line through approximately equal strains
an a value and a mobilized friction tan p can be
determined for the strain level. Their variations
with strain level are shown in Fig. 22(b).
For the CIU tests the mobilized friction in- a=8 0 50 1 0
creases linearly up to about 1.5% strain. Then it 5’
curves towards an ideal plastic flow limit, where (4
tan p = tan 4 for strains beyond 4%. The attrac-

50
tion is high at small strains, and then it decreases
with strain and reaches a constant value for
large strains (a = 20-30 kPa). These findings are
oo-
supported by comparing data in Fig. 22(b) from
01
an oedo-triaxial series reported by Bakken &
Y
Westerlund (1974) and conducted on sand at
similar porosities. 50.
Figure 23(a) illustrates stress path results of

CIU tests conducted on undisturbed Risvollan
Clay. For stress path A the shear modulus 0- 10
number g is calculated for several strain incre- Degree of moblluatm f
ments using equation (16). The friction mobili-
(b)
zation f is also calculated and the variation in g
with f is shown in Fig. 23(b). The interpretation Fig. 23. Undrained shear development in a
of the results along path A is as follows. medium clay
The D parameter is constant at 0.05 for the
failure envelope. Plastic failure occurs for strains path from the KO’ line, and an extension path
between 2% and lo%, with an attraction a = from the same point. Note that (TV= o,‘- u3’ is
8 kPa and a friction tan 4 = 0.56. The sample always positive, since ui’> u3’. Both branches of
contracts throughout shearing. The shear mod- path B terminate at approximately the same
ulus number g decreases with increasing mobili- failure envelope as path A. Moreover, the D
zation from 200 at f=O, through 25 at the Ko’ parameter is nearly the same on average, al-
conditions to zero at f = 1. though it varies along path B.
Figure 23 includes, for the same clay, a com- On the left-hand side of Fig. 24 are shown
posite stress path B, containing a compression stress paths and mobilization curves for CIU

Son. MODELS IN OFFSHORE ENGINEERING 257
tests on Barnehagen Clay (w ~2%30%). The on the same clay. First the undisturbed samples
four tests give a value of tan 4 of 0.58 f 0.02 for were isotropically consolidated to a small stress
an average attraction a = 15 kPa. The lower level (below (T,I). The samples were left to creep
diagrams show g values versus mobilization. The for 2 hours under undrained isotropic stress
curves start from 300 at f= 0 and decrease to conditions. Since the pore pressure decreased
25-35 at K,,’ and zero at f = 1. (the soil dilates) the path moves to the right
The right-hand side of Fig. 24 shows the along the u3’ axis. Then the samples were
results of seven special multistage triaxial tests sheared undrained to the Ku’ line. Here, each
sample was left for 16 hours to creep under
undrained conditions and then sheared to failure
under undrained conditions. The seven multi-
stage stress paths and the corresponding mobili-
zation curves are shown in Fig. 24, together with
the g-f curves, represented by a range of varia-
tion covering all seven tests. From the plots the
0 following observations can be made. The ulti-
y’ %
mate shear strength parameters from the seven
multistage paths are the same as those obtained
from the four ordinary CIU tests. The g-f
curves also correspond from f= 0 to the K,,’
condition. However, the dramatic increase in the
shear modulus that occurs due to the 16 hours
of undrained creep at Ko’ is a very interesting
and fundamental observation.
q’ kPa Shear strength and shear mod&: statistics

For saturated clays obtained from a given
geological region friction is almost uniquely de-
pendent on the natural water content. The at-
traction, however, for a given water content may
depend on several factors, such as preconsolida-
tion, cementation, rate of testing, loading versus
unloading and short-term versus long-term con-
ditions. The consistency of the effective shear
strength parameters from one geological region
is illustrated in Fig. 25. Most Scandinavian clays,
0 0.5 1-o 0 05 1
except perhaps the high plastic organic clays are
Mobillzaflon f Moblluallon f
included in the evaluation. The variation in fric-
Fig. 24. Influence of undrained creep on shear tion is particularly mbderate.
modulus In natural deposits of dense sand and gravel.
100
m
: _Compression
0 20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40 60 80 100
Natural water content’ % Natural water content: %
Fig. 25. Typical variations in attraction and friction for Scandinavian clays

and in compacted granular soils, attraction is It is advisable to present values of friction
virtually an expression for the dilatant behaviour (tan 4 instead of 4) because friction is the
of these soils. In fact, the effect of compaction is mechanical property that is measured, whereas
to increase attraction along with a slight increase the angle is not measured, and it is not a
in friction. mechanical property.
Triaxial test results for dense sand and Figure 26(a) contains typical values of the
compacted crushed rock are often reported in shear modulus number g given as a range be-
diagrams showing secant friction angle versus tween a soft and a dense state for granular soils.
effective stress level. Such a presentation is im- The effect of increasing g during undrained
practical since it assumes a priori that a = 0 (or creep is also illustrated. It should be noted that
c = 0). If the same results are plotted in a conven- further research is needed on this behaviour.
tional T-U’ diagram it is often found that the For instance, it may be possible that the G
strength envelope is slightly curved within the modulus for sand may be more adequately rep-
applicable stress range and in practice can ade- resented by a parabolic dependence on effective
quately be defined by one value for attraction and stress.
friction. Figure 26(b) shows in situ values of G. For
Typical laboratory results obtained for effec- comparison the limits of g = 150-200 are drawn.
tive shear strength parameters of clay, silt and The range of some pressuremeter (PM) tests are
sand are shown in Table 1. These results are also indicated for comparison.
meant as a guide-line for average values and do
not account for the extreme variations. For in- Cyclic triaxial tests
stance, just a small percentage of clay particles In the Author’s opinion the behaviour of soil
in a silty sand may reduce friction substantially. exposed to cyclic loading cannot be rationally
Organic content acts in a similar way. Moreover, explained unless it is interpreted in terms of
the values of attraction are primarily related to effective stress.
compression only. As an example the results of a multistage.
Table 1. Typical effective strength parameters
Soil Attraction (a): kPa Friction (tan 4)
Clay 5-10 15-25 30-60 0.40 0.50 0.60

Silt 0 O-10 10-20 0.50 0.60 0.70
Sand (moraine) 0 o-15 15-40 0.60 0.70 0.80
State Soft Medium Stiff Soft Medium Stiff

Loose Dense Loose Dense
Shear modulus G. MPa
Degree of mobilizatlon. f (b)

(a)
Fig. 26. Shear modulus variations with mobilization and depth: (a) obtained by static
CIU tests; (b) CU tests after cycling

Son. MODELS IN OFFSHORE ENGINEERING 2.59
Sample
Depth = 11.2 m
w = 21%
Tested 1975
0
I
N 1 oao 2000
(b) N
Fig. 27. Multistage static+ydic tests on day Fig. 28. Multistage static-cydic tests on dense
from the Statfjord field sand from the Gullfaks field
static-cyclic triaxial test on an overconsolidated same as the average value found for the same
clay from the Statfjord A field in the North Sea clay from several ordinary CIU tests without
are shown in Fig. 27. The oedo-path (E2= ~3= cycling. Hence, the effective shear strength
0) leads to an almost constant modulus MO= parameters are not changed appreciably by the
13 MPa, and a Ko) value near 1.0 to begin with, cyclic test for this clay. Moreover, the static D
resulting in roughly 0.85 on average. The oedo- parameter after cycling is almost identical with
path stops at an effective stress level less than the dynamic D parameter during cycling.
one-third of the in situ preconsolidation pres- Figure 27(b) shows how the pore pressure and
sure ((~,‘a800 kPa). The sample was then the strain accumulate during the cyclic tests for
exposed to repeated loading under undrained each stress level. The width of the shaded bands
conditions at three different deviator stress represent the fluctuations of u and E about the
increments: Aud = 80 kPa, Acd = 160 kPa and average cumulative curves. In the figure, the
Au,, = 216 kPa. The cyclic period is 10 s within data have been smoothed without altering ap-
each of the three constant stress blocks. The total preciably the engineering results.
value of u3 is kept constant. After the cyclic The dynamic shear modulus drops slightly
loading, in three stages, an undrained shear test with increasing mobilization (from 26.5 MPa via
was performed to failure. Fig. 27(a) contains the 21.5 MPa to 16 MPa). The cumulative strain
oedo-path, the multistage cyclic test paths, the resistance r, drops substantially with increasing
stress path for the final shear test and its mobili- mobilization (from 1840 via 660 to 390), while
zation curve. the cumulative pore pressure resistance in-
Effective shear strength parameters of a = creases (from 6.5 via 21 to roughly 40) because
50 kPa and tan 4 = O-56 are obtained from the the sample dilates more and more as failure is
triaxial test after cycling. This result is nearly the approached. The failure itself is dilatant.

260 JAhBU
__
Mobillzation f Mobilization f
Fig. 29. Variations in cumulative strain and pore pressure resistances
The results of a multistage static-cyclic triaxial

test series on a very dense, well-graded sand
(moraine) from the Gullfaks A field are shown
in Fig. 28. After isotropic consolidation to
200 kPa, the sample was exposed to a drained
cyclic test series, containing 1000 repetitions of
Au, = 155 kPa with a period of 15 s. Approxi-
mately the same deviator stress (150 kPa) was
then repeated 380 times undrained, after which
680 repetitions were carried out with Au,, = 230
kPa, also undrained. Finally, an undrained shear
test to failure was carried out, and its mobiliza-
tion curve is included in the figure.
The mobilization curve shows a stiff be-
haviour, where ideal plastic yield is reached at
approximately 1% shear strain. Accordingly, the
initial static shear modulus is high at 60 MPa,
corresponding to g, ~400, since u,‘+ a i=
150 kPa. The static D parameter is constant at
0.28 along the entire design stress path, and the
effective shear strength parameters are a =
10 kPa and tan 4 = O-76.
The dynamic shear modulus drops from
105 MPa, during drained cycling, via 75 MPa to
65 MPa for the two undrained stress blocks. The
cumulative strain resistance r, is high (greater
than 3000) for all three blocks. The cumulative
pore pressure resistance for the last stress block
is roughly 40. It is quite possible, however, that
more detailed and comprehensive studies of the d: kPa
cyclic behaviour of sand may show that the
resistances can be more adequately approximated Fig. 30. Results of 12 Merent CL tests
by parabolas rather than by straight lines. on Risvounn clay
Examples of typical variations in cumulative
strain and pore pressure resistances are sum- (CL) tests were introduced (e.g. by using con-
marized in Fig. 29, as obtained from the limited stant rate of strain (CRS), constant gradient or a
data available so far, constant ratio between pore pressure and total
stress). The time required for a complete
Oedometer test results oedometer test was eventually reduced from 14
Oedometer testing underwent a silent revolu- days to a few hours, in most cases. The CL tests
tion after about 1970 when continuous loading of today are computer controlled and computer

interpreted. The results are plotted auto- gradually. This means a reduction in all resis-
matically with arithmetic scales. tances, whether related to stress or time be-
An example is shown in Fig. 30 where 12 haviour. The more brittle the grain skeleton is,
of--E, M-o’ and c,-cr’ curves are superimposed the more dramatic the reduction in resistances
from 12 different CL tests on Risvollan Clay around u,’ is.
(reproduced from Janbu, Tokheim & Senneset The Scandinavian quick clays are among the
(1981)). The following main trend is quite clear. most brittle soils in our part of the world. How-
The stress-strain curve, as well as the two resis- ever, the brittleness of the Canadian quick clays
tance curves (for M and c.,), identify the precon- is much more pronounced, as is clearly shown by
solidation pressure u,’ to nearly the same range the two examples in Fig. 31. It is well known
of 220-250 kPa, while oVO’= 1.50 kPa. The bot- that an absolute value of crc’ is difficult to obtain
tom diagram in Fig. 30 shows how the strain since u,’ is somewhat rate dependent, as illus-
rate 6 had to be changed to maintain a specified trated in Figs 30 and 31. The general trend is
constant ratio A = du/dp. This required strain that oc’ increases with increasing rate, but at the
rate increases almost linearly up to u,‘, after expense of a decreasing modulus when u’>u,‘.
which it remains almost constant. Hence, pre- Altogether, these two effects seem partly to
consolidation is also evidenced by the distinct cancel each other in practical applications, when
change in rate behaviour. All resistances are the stress is increased beyond u,‘.
larger within the preconsolidation stress range A large amount of modulus data is now avail-
than beyond. As the preconsolidation stress is able both from oedometer tests and as back-
approached, the grain skeleton starts to collapse calculated moduli from settlement case records.
2-
3
a-
z
St Alban Fort Lennox
Clay CIW
,/
/ ”
I 600
d
Fig. 31. Module variations for two Canadian clays (data from Leahy (1980))
I I I I
40 50
Porosity n %
Fig. 32. Typical modulus numbers for normally consolidated sand, sift and
clay

262 JANBU
Fig, 32 represents a statistical summary of typi- resistance is very large for u’<uc’ and drops
cal stress dependence and modulus numbers for radically as cr’ approaches o,‘, while r, has a
normally consolidated clay, silt and sand, given minimum at ur’ and thereafter increases slightly
for the most common ranges of values. for increasing 0’. Therefore it appears that uf) is
Statistical data for c, are more scarce. For clearly identified from the r,-u’ curve for
Scandinavian clays the general trend of variation natural: see Fig. 34(a).
is illustrated in Fig. 33. The values are obtained Typical variations in rs near r? > u,’ for clays
by conventional interpretation (see later discus- of various water contents are illustrated in Fig.
sion) for stresses slightly above (Jo’. Therefore 34(b).
the diagram indicates the least values of c,, since
it increases with increasing u’>(+~‘. The values ASPECTS OF CLAY BEHAVIOUR
of c, for cr’<c,’ are much larger. The prediction of the in situ behaviour of
The creep behaviour of clays (secondary con- clays is still among the most uncertain tasks in
solidation) is still often determined in oedome- geotechnical engineering, despite decades of re-
ters by step loading (SL) tests. When time resis- search and studies of case records. In particular
tance R = l/t- is plotted against time (on an it is the strain rate behaviour that represents the
arithmetic scale) nearly straight lines are ob- greatest challenge.
tained after t 3 t,. The slope of such a line is the
creep resistance r,. It has long been known that Undrained shear in clays
r, depends on the stress level, as shown in Fig. The result of a multistage CIU creep test on a
34(a) for a medium clay. Generally, the creep soft clay from Eberg is shown in Fig. 35. From
an isotropic effective stress level of u’ = 70 kPa
(c u, ) the shear stress was increased at constant
uq’ under undrained conditions. At constant
shear stress the sample was left to creep un-
drained for several hours along path A. Then
another increase was added to the undrained
nventlonal interpretation shear stress at constant u3’ and again left to
creep along path B for several hours, after which
an undrained shear test was carried out to fail-
ure. The corresponding mobilization curve (tan p
versus y) is also shown in the figure. The curves
for strain and pore pressure versus time for
paths A and B, and the corresponding resis-
tances R, and R,, are also included in the same
figure.
In situ water content w’ %I
It is of particular interest to study the be-
Fig. 33. Typical minimum values of c, haviour in a separate undrained creep test along
for Norwegian clays path C-C. From the strain versus time plot for
Barnehagen Clay
Lm
5s Range of 5 procedures
[” 1000
E
Q
a,
0
%O ac
0 200 400
Effectwe vertical stress’ kPa In situ water content w. %
(a) (b)
Fig. 34. Examples of variations in creep resistances in clays

C-C it is easily seen that the strain rate increases

rapidly when the effective stress path passes the
failure envelope, i.e. when E, 2 1%. Conse-
quently, the strain resistance (l/E) starts to de-
crease as soon as the effective strength envelope
is reached. The pore pressure development
shows a similar time dependence. These obser-
03’: kPa vations are very important for the understanding
I I 4-
of soil behaviour near failure.
In a research programme on the same clay, a
series of drained and undrained triaxial creep
tests was carried out for various mobilizations
(Fredriksen, 1983). A summary of the results
obtained is given in Fig. 36. The most important
finding is that for large mobilizations drained
and undrained creep have roughly equal resis-
tances, and the undrained resistance approaches
2l;moo
“boo
zero for f~0.8. However, near the oedo-
condition (f- 0.5) the undrained creep resis-
tance is 2-3 times larger than the drained creep
resistance.
When testing clays over wide stress ranges it is
found that the pore pressure parameter D is
Time: min Time. min
constant in the normally consolidated and over-
Fig. 35. Example from a multistage test of undrained consolidated ranges. However, when Us’ is pas-
shear and creep in a soft clay sed a gradual change in D is observed as shown
in Fig. 37(a). Similar changes in behaviour are
also observed in load tests in models and in situ,
2ooorrrT-Tl as illustrated in Fig. 37(b). If the slope of the
u-q curve is B,, D can be estimated from the
1500
approximate equation B, = o-8-0.40. As a rule
:: B, =l for u’>IT,I, while B, <<1 for u’< uc’.
1000 Undrained shear strength

Undrained triaxial tests on soft, saturated
clays often show that a maximum level of shear
500 stress can be reached for low strain (E < 1%).
This maximum shear stress does not change
until it reaches a linear effective stress-
0 dependent strength at larger strains (Fig. 38).
Degree of mobllvzatlon f This constant maximum shear stress level can be
Fig. 36. Examples of drained and un- called the undrained shear strength s, of the
drained creep resistance in soft clay clay; for instance s,= 18-19 kPa in Fig. 38.
Kroppan Clay (1972)

A-
1119111
- 1.0 J% I
0 100 200 300 400 500
Applted surface load q
Vertical effective stress: kPa
(b)
(a)
Fig. 37. Laboratory and in situ values of the D parameter below and above a,‘: (a)
laboratory test results; (b) principle of tbe field load test

264 JANBU
Theoretically, undrained shear strength can be cone penetration tests (CPTs)) will in ideal
defined as the level of maximum shear stress cases correspond fairly well to this equation, as
that remains constant during large strain illustrated in principle in Fig. 39(a). The excep-
changes. The one case where this is appropriate, tion is the dry crust, where s, values are higher
according to laboratory tests and field experi- than predicted by equation (59). Part of the
ence, is short-term loading on normally consoli- explanation is the effective stress created by
dated soft clays. capillary suction during the formation of the dry
In such cases the maximum shear stress level crust. For instance, for lasting suctions of the
is theoretically governed by the existing in situ order of magnitude of 100-400 kPa the dry
effective stress before soil sampling, uVO’. The crust strength would become 25-100 kPa, for
maximum in situ shear stress is therefore given 4 = 30” in equation (59).
by the equation For classification and identification the un-
drained shear strength is often determined even
7,,=$(1 -K,‘)(u,‘-ta) in overconsolidated clays. If cc’ is the maximum
When testing an undisturbed normally con- past prewnsolidation pressure, the maximum in
solidated sample, it is theoretically expected that situ shear stress at that time would have been
s, equals the in situ T_. Using Jaky’s formula equal to (1 - K,‘)(~~‘+ a)/2. Hence, the approxi-
K,’ = 1 -sin 4 the approximation mation
s, = +(uVO’+ a) sin f#~ (59) s,=+(cr:+a) sin 4 (60)
is obtained. Laboratory and in situ tests (vanes, is used. For instance, if ~,‘+a = 600-1200 kPa
s, = 150-300 kPa would be expected. This range
Eberg Clay Depth = 5-4-5.6 m, w z 60% of values covers many of the overconsolidated
Very soft clay clay layers found in North Sea oilfields.
Measured values of s, vary considerably even
within a fairly homogeneous layer and particu-
larly for heavily overconsolidated clays. Coeffi-
cients of variation of 0.2-0.3 are not uncommon.
By comparison numerous triaxial tests on the
same clay layer will most often lead to little
uncertainty in the shear strength envelope ex-
pressed in terms of effective stress. For a
selected average attraction, the coefficient of
variation for friction is usually sO.1.
If s, is an expression for past maximum effec-
Effective mnor stress my’ kPa tive shear stress, s, and cc’ must be correlated.
However, there is obviously no correlation be-
Fig. 38. Consolidated, undrained triaxial test on tween u,’ and u”,,‘. Hence, there is no logic in
a soft contractant day using the overconsolidation ratio (OCR=
Undrained strength s,. kPa Values of Us’, s, and uvo’ lor OC clay. kPa
1000 1:1” 0
Range of Us’
’
(a) (b)
Fig. 39. Undrained strength of clays, with examples of typical overall data for normally
consolidated Scandinavian clays onshore and typical ranges for strongly overconsolidated
North Sea days: idesdfzed comparisons

u,‘/u.,~;) in connection with expressions for the Clay data

shear strength of overconsolidated clays. In For d S uc’ =150kPa,M=5-10MPa,r,=1200(600),
c, = 10 m’iyear, q = 50 kPa above Q’ = 50 kPa
practice, the stability of such clays should always
For d > 4’ = 150 kPa. M = i 5(d - u,‘)(u,’ = O-75 kPa),
be analysed in terms of effective stress, whether c,, = 2 m*/year, rs = (150) 250, g = 50 kPa above
long term or short term, or drained or undrained oc = 150
conditions are encountered.
30
Primary versus secondary consolidation OC range t - 21 rn~n
The time dependences of soft clays have al- t = 0.4-2.: iI”

II! t = 0.02-0.10
ways been of great concern in practice, because
the complicated processes are not yet fully un-
derstood. The one-dimensional behaviour will
be discussed at some length here.
For one load step in an oedometer primary
consolidation is by definition due to changes in
effective stress CT’during pore pressure dissipa-
tion. After pore pressure dissipation, when u’ =
constant, continued deformation, i.e. creep or Time. mtn
so-called secondary consolidation, is now time
dependent only.
In reality, the two processes overlap, and in
practice it may be of some interest to study
whether a linkage time t, can be found to sepa-
rate the two processes approximately.
From one-dimensional classical theory of con-
solidation it is well known that the degree of
primary consolidation U, -2(T/rr)i for U, < 0.5,
or T,<O.2. Since U,=E/F, and T,= tc,/d’,
where d is the drainage path length, the follow-
ing formula for primary strain during the first
phase of consolidation is obtained Time mln
(61) Fig. 40. Comparison of strain rates in primary and

secondary consolidation
Hence, the primary strain rate 6,=d~,/dt be-

comes The two strain rates 6, and F, are equal when
their resistances are equal, i.e. R,= R,, at a
linkage time t = t,= TCto. From the formulae
(valid only for T,cO.2)
when to = d ‘Ic,.
The primary strain rate written in terms of the
primary time resistance R, leads to
when T, = t,/t,. From numerous tests it has been

where found that r,/r,=O.15-0.20 on average, when
T,= O-0.5, leading to T,= 0.02-0.15 for lightly
$ M overconsolidated to normally consolidated clays.
r,=-=7F!-
F,, 4 This finding is emphasized by the two numerical
examples in Fig. 40, related to medium clays.
Here, M is the average tangent modulus over The practical conclusion is that the hydro-
the load step q. Equation (63) shows that the dynamic process is present only for a short time
primary time resistance is a parabola, in theory. after loading, corresponding to a degree of con-
By comparison, the secondary time rate (equ- solidation of U, = 15-40%. Thus creep (secon-
ation (19)) is dary consolidation) dominates even the major
part of the primary consolidation in medium
. 1 1 clays. The early dominance of creep is more
“=R,=r,(t-&) pronounced in soft clay.

266 JANBU
Eberg Clay constant o’, the partial derivatives can be omit-

Depth = 6.3 m ted; hence M = do’/de and R, = dt/ds.
w NU 60% For a constant load step q in an oedometer
ccc’ SJ 70-90 kPa
the effective stress becomes u’= ao’+q - u at
Load step 9 = 200 kPa
Prior load = 200 kPa
any arbitrary time. This means that du’/dt =
0W5 MPa -du/dt = -r.i. Hence, equation (67) can be writ-
Ep * 4% ten as
cv w 3 m2/year
to cr70 ml”
+_u+__=-+_ 1 1 1
(68)
t 50 = 14 ml” M Rs R, R
in which R, = -M/C is the time resistance dur-
ing the primary consolidation and R,=dt/ds, is
the time resistance (creep) during secondary
consolidation.
In the expression for R,, the rate of pore
pressure dissipation ri is negative, so that R, is
positive. If u0 is the excess pore pressure at time
t = 0 the rate of pore pressure dissipation can be
k” Time mm
used to formulate a pore pressure resistance R,
in the following manner
R,,+I(O (69)
ri
For a soft clay from Eberg the measured pore

pressure dissipation in Fig. 41 led to the resis-
tance
R, = r, (t - t,) (70)
where r, = -5 and t,= 0 for t < 50 min.
2 Introducing the definition of R, into the R,
280
formula, -M/h
1
1 155 R,= -ER, (71)

1 uo
is obtained. In Fig. 41, for the load step of
IK&z!
OO 50 100
200-400 kPa, M = 5 MPa, u,,= 160 kPa and
(50
Time: mln
to
R,=-5t which leads to R,= 155t, i.e. rp= 155.
The expected parabolic shape of the R,t curve
Fig. 41. Observed strain and pore pres- is almost erased in this soft clay (w ~60%).
sure dissipation compared with theory for The absence of primary consolidation means
a soft clay that the pore pressure dissipation and the strain
rate are faster than predicted by the classical
Strain rates and pore pressure dissipation
theory, as shown in Fig. 41.
The possibility of creep dominance in soft Since both R, and R, have a similar time
clays deserves further study. From the expres- dependence for soft clays (after some small ini-
sion F =f(a’, t) the following total differential tial time) equation (68) can be rewritten to read
de =sdrr’+$dt F = l/R (72)

where
is obtained, which can be written
L=‘,L (73)
do’ dt R R, Rs
ds =z+tR
This combined (total) time resistance is shown in
where M = &r’/& is the tangent modulus and the bottom diagram in Fig. 41. Along the time
R = at/& is the time resistance. axis are marked the theoretical values of to and
By studying M at constant time, and R at tsO= 0.2t,. The R-t curve shows that there is no

distinct parabola, except perhaps near t = 0. For are proportional (t = NT,, when T, is the period
t=O-40minR=155t, after which R= of repetition) it is seen that the two formulae are
280( t - t,) where t, = 20 min. very similar. What is even more astonishing is
This shows that the behaviour is predomin- that the values of r, and r, are of the same order
antly creep of a very simple nature (R = rt) of magnitude for comparable degrees of mobili-
during most of what is termed primary consoli- zation. In other words, the cumulative internal
dation. The classical consolidation process is soil response is primarily a creep process, or it is
limited to a very small time after loading, say governed by the internal creep potential within
t,<O.lt”. Moreover, Fig. 41 shows that the the soil grain structure.
linear creep resistance increases with increasing As a further illustration, the simplest formula
time after loading. This effect has previously for undrained pore pressure build-up during
been observed in research, particularly in soft cyclic loading is
clays and for load steps of long duration.
From the classical one-dimensional theory of (77)
consolidation it is found that the maximum rate
of pore pressure dissipation tib at the impervious
while the build-up of pore pressure during un-
face occurs for T,,,= 0.165, i.e. for t, = O.l65t,.
drained creep in clays exposed to a sudden static
This finding can be used to calculate c, from the
load change of Aud is governed by
observed rate ic, by the theoretical formula
Aad t
u,,=-ln - (78)
c,= 0.54d2 3 (74) r, 0 ro
0 uo max
corresponding to a linear pore pressure resis-
The derivation of equation (74) has not yet been
tance R, = R,t, for t 5 t,,. The similarity between
published in English. This determination leads
the two formulae is again striking, since t = NT,.
to much larger c, values than those from con-
The dimensionless resistances are also of the
ventional procedures based on a selected degree
same order of magnitude. Hence, the pore pres-
of consolidation, say at tsO, t9,, or a constructed
sure generation must be creep dominated.
tloo. For the Eberg clay in Fig. 41 the rate-
Likewise, the pore pressure dissipation in
determined c, is roughly 30-45 m’/year com-
drained tests is closely approximated by a linear
pared with about 2-4 m’/year from conventional
resistance, R, = r,,t, indicating that it is also gov-
interpretations for stresses u’> oc’.
erned by creep rates.
The rate-determined c, often results in
c,= 25-50 m’/year almost independently of the
stress level for several types of clay. It is of Natural versus artificial clays
particular interest to note that this range is
Artificial sediments in research, and very re-
nearly equal to the kinematic viscosity of water,
cent sediments in nature, do not exhibit such
which is about 45-30 m’/year at temperatures of
sharp distinctions in creep behaviour around Up’.
5-25 “C.
This difference is very clearly demonstrated in
Fig. 42(a). For the natural clays tested by Bishop
Response analogies & Lovenbury (1969) the drained creep resis-
In most normally consolidated clays the creep tances r, are in full agreement with our findings.
resistance (when ri = 0) is almost linear (say For instance r,= 1200-1500 for the over-
R, = r,t) over large time intervals (when t 3 t,). consolidated clay and 200-500 for the normally
The corresponding formula for creep (or secon- consolidated clay, when f= f0=0.5-0.6.
dary consolidation) is Moreover, the resistance decreases with increas-
ing degree of mobilization.
1 t
&,=-ln - (75) For comparison, Shibata & Karube (1969)
rs 0 r, tested artificially sedimented clays, where one
test series was performed after stress-induced
Similarly, the cumulative strain resistance for
preconsolidation. Fig. 42(b) shows that there is
repeated loading in clay is most often linear (say
no clear difference in the r, values for the two
R, = r,N for Nz= No). The corresponding for-
series. The reason must be that it is impossible
mula for cumulative strain is
in a few weeks to duplicate the structural rigidity
of an undisturbed natural clay that is 10 000
(76) years old.
This information should indicate the necessity
Since the time and the number of repetitions for great care in correlating test results from

268 JANFKJ
2000
\
\
\ Hendon (UC)
c”
$
-F
I?
1000
%
F
0
0 o-5 1.0
fr = stressratlo Vd/Ud, f, = RatloUdd/Udrn
(4 ibi
Fig. 42. Creep resistances in natural clsys compared with artificial clays: (a) data
from Bishop & Lovenbury (1969); (b) data from Shibata & Karobe (1969)
remoulded, reconsolidated clays to the be- Base pore pressure

haviour of real natural undisturbed clays, par- Ub = u, ~ Ud + “,
u, = lnstallatfon
ticularly for heavily overconsolidated clays.
u,, = Dlsslpated
“, = Storm mduced
GRAVITY PLATFORM ANALYSES: EXAMPLE where
A numerical example concerning a gravity

platform in deep water will be used to illustrate
the application of the various elements of the
soil model proposed in this Paper.
Principle of stability analysis

Most offshore stability regulations today call
for an ultimate limit state (ULS) design. This
means that the environmental loads E are mul-
tiplied by a load coefficient (say yr= 1.3). For
these ultimate loads Err a minimum value of the
material coefficient Y,,, is specified, say ,I
1 *
UtJmax
-yrna 1.2 Base pore pressure ub
for an effective stress analysis and Fig. 43. Stability analyses of gravity platforms:
effective stress principle
Yrn> 1.3
for a total stress analysis. For comparison with

past experiences onshore the lumped safety fac- pressure u,,,. The safety requirement is fulfilled
tor F may also need to be analysed for the if
serviceability limit state (SLS) in which yp= 1. k, s kn,, (79)
This comparison may be most appropriate for
the ordinary total stress analysis in clays (s, Here, the average resulting excess pore pres-
analysis). sure at the foundation base (uJ comprises three
In an effective stress stability analysis the components, as follows
magnitude of the excess pore pressure below the ub= uj-u‘j+u, (80)
platform is as a rule the most important single
variable. This is illustrated in principle in Fig. where ui is the excess pore pressure built up
43. during installation, ud is the dissipated pore
For a given loading condition (say in the ULS) pressure due to drainage between installation
the safety level Y,,, can be calculated for each and the first storm and u, is the storm-induced
assumed state of pore pressure u. Thus a curve pore pressure during the first storm.
showing yrn versus u is obtained. The safety It is often assumed that the first 100 year
requirement (say -y,,,* 1.2) intersects the ULS storm may occur during the very first winter
curve for a maximum allowable state of pore season after installation. This assumption means

SOlL MODELS IN OFFSHORE ENGINEERING 269
normally consolidated
Stiff overconsolldated
Fig. 44. Soil and data pro6le: simplified example
that u,, may be a minimum and u, a maximum; 44, as a basis for the numerical examples to
hence it leads to a maximum possible u,,. follow.
The storm-induced pore pressure contains two
components, one cumulative, u,,, and one static, Loads and load transfer
u,~. Hence The loads on a gravity platform lead to nor-
mal and shear stresses acting along the effective
us = UC”+ r&t (81) contact area between the platform and the sub-
The static component is usually estimated from soil. These contact forces are preferably consi-
total stress field theory for the largest wave in dered as an action-reaction system. The action
the storm considered. system (qV, f,,) is obtained from the loads acting
It has been debated whether a partial coeffi- on the platform, while the matching reaction
cient should also be used for the pore pressure. system (a_ TV) must be generated from stresses
So far this has not been instituted in Norway, mobilized in the subsoil.
partly because the present procedures for ob- In this subsection a procedure is given for the
taining the resultant pore pressure contain a calculation of the action stress system, while
number of conservative components, most of procedures for estimating the soil reaction (the
which lead to an overestimation of u. However, bearing capacity) are given in the next subsec-
there is still room for considerable research in tion
this area. The theoretical foundation level for a gravity
platform may either be taken at mud line (no
Design data in soil profiles skirts) or at a defined baseline (e.g. underside of
In geotechnical engineering offshore a proper skirts); see Fig. 45.
assessment of the subsoil conditions is a time- At the theoretical foundation level the charac-
consuming, expensive and all-important under- teristic values of the loads are as follows
taking. The subsoil investigations are usually
carried out in several stages and at several possi- Q, = vertical load (permanent and live)
ble locations, leading to comprehensive reports
both from the field investigations and from the Qh = horizontal load
environmental loads
laboratory testing programmes. Out of this large M = overturning moment
amount of information the geotechnical en-
gineer has to extract design values for the vari- These characteristic values are obtained as the
ous subsoil layers, preferably accompanied with most unfavourable combination of several types
levels of uncertainty. of loading conditions (gravity, wave, wind, earth-
It is strongly advised to use concentrated data quake).
profiles for the important parameters to be used For gravity platforms with skirts the loads
in the different types of analyses required. An given at mud line are denoted Q,,, Qhm and
idealized example is shown in principle in Fig. M,,,. Buoyancy is accounted for in Q,.,. Hence,

270 JANBU
When using relative eccentricity

-4% :
j+ttttt,r:Mud
. . .
I~ne, AB M
(85)
“=B=SQ,
Skrt depth
the effective width B, = (1 - 2e)B, and the effec-
tive area A, = (1-2e)A. The point of applica-
tion of the resultant forces Q, and Qh is the
centre of the effective area, about which the
moment is zero. The average action stress sys-
tem at the foundation base then becomes
(86a)
SLS 0, = 585 MN, M = 33.500 MNm
ULS: 0, = 825 MN, M = 44.500 MNm
th=Q” (86b)
A,,
Q
0 / 2AB (short or no skirts). In total stress analyses, and
v)
$ loo- I for long skirts, t,,= QJA.
G For the installation conditions
g 200-
Q”0
:
4”O (87a)
g 300.
0 A
m CV ./’
.=
u 400 t)$J= 0 Wb)
tJ -I
’
500 / Using linear elastic theory and ideal plastic
theory for stress distribution along the founda-
Fig. 45. Mud line forces and load transfer to the
tion base, the edge stresses cre can be calculated
foundation baseline
as follows
for horizontal sea level the reference water pres-
sure at mud line is zero, while for waves the
excess wave pressures are fp, outside the heel
(+) and the toe (-) respectively; see Fig. 45. ge PJ_=~(1*4c) (So)
The given loads at mud line are transferred to
the theoretical foundation level (underside of
The possibility of local yield at the edges can
skirts) by means of the following formulae
now be studied. Fig. 45 contains a direct com-
Q, = Q,, + y ‘DA (82) parison for the numerical example herein.
The rotational stability, due to the baseline
Q,, = Q,m,- AQ,, (83) moment (in the ULS) can be estimated approxi-
M = M,+ QhmDs-AMs (84) mately by
in which D, is the depth of the skirts, y’ is the 4e Q, 1
buoyant unit weight of the soil, A is the total rM=--<--rf
aA urn
foundation area, AQ,, is the resultant horizontal
soil reaction along the skirts and AM, is the where rM is the average shear stress required
resultant stabilizing moment due to soil reaction along a semicircle to keep moment equilibrium,
along the skirts. while rf is the average shear strength along the
Initially, the pore pressure is assumed to be same circle. In the example in Fig. 45 rM=
hydrostatic, and the reference value of the pore 33 kPa, which is very low compared with the
pressure is herein taken as zero at the theoreti- available strength. Hence, the rotational stability
cal foundation level. Single base areas, shaped as is very satisfactory.
a polygon, could either be idealized by an equi- For multibase areas it may be necessary to
valent rectangle, with the dimensions BL = A, distinguish between rigid and flexible structures.
or a square with sides B = Ai, as is used below. For flexible multibase structures the stability of
The overturning moment leads to an eccen- each individual support could be analysed sepa-
tricity AB = M/Q,, which means that the effec- rately. For rigid multibase structures, the overall
tive width B, of the idealized area is equal to stability of the whole composite area should also
B,,=B-2AB. be investigated. In both cases an (idealized)

SOIL MODELS IN OFFSHORE ENGTNEERING 271
rc = 0.96
zc = 57/O-96 kPa = 59.4 kPa
Imao = (0,04/i. 96)‘,+ = 0.143
,?,a 0~143x101~5 = 14.5m
S,ZY 75+20 = 95 kPa
ym P 95/59.3 = 1.6
Ym = 75/57 s 1’3 along base
1.0
(b)
Fig. 46. Baseline stresses and an example of the numerical solution

of y, iu an s, analysis with ULS forces
interaction analysis may be required to obtain forces is given by

proper values of Q, and Qh for each separate
area. Ym= l/fc (92)
while for the lumped safety factor for SLS forces
Examples of stability analyses
The purpose of a stability analysis is to obtain F = llfc (93)
the critical average degree of shear mobilization, The analyses are based on satisfying all three
defined as the maximum ratio between the aver- overall equilibrium conditions. Moment equilib-
age shear stress 7, required for equilibrium and rium has already been satisfied by introducing
the average characteristic shear strength 7r the effective area concept, implying that Q, acts
at the centre of Bo. Horizontal and vertical
(91) equilibrium require that the action balances the
reaction, Fig. 46.
Theoretically, the value of fc is obtained for a
very definite shape and location of the shear
surface, i.e. the CSS, the determination of which
is also part of the analysis.
In important cases the distribution of the nor- The geotechnical part of the solution is to estab-
mal stresses (T, and CT,‘, and the shear stress 7, lish the formulae for the soil reactions T,, and v.,.
along the CSS should be determined. For a weightless soil and plane strain, closed
In general, the material coefficient Y,,, for ULS form solutions for o‘, and r,, have been given in

272 JANFWJ
In an effective stress analysis the closed stress

---A
_- 300
:
field solution is applied in the following manner,
once qV, fh and ub are known. Select a value of r
and calculate tan p from the equation
fh=r(qV+a-u,)tanp (98)
,
_- 355 NC clay observing that r tan p = fb, the base ratio, which
oc clay is a constant. From this r-tan p combination N,
is obtained from Fig. 18, from which
au-p’=(N,- l)(p’+a +d,,y’B,,-h,u,)

(99)
where &SO.5 and A,$ 1. In this equation the
effects of unit weight and pore pressure are
included in the stress field solution in an approx-
imate conservative way, compared with the
more comprehensive solutions available (Janbu,
Grande & Eggereide, 1976).
By repeating this procedure for other r values
and plotting a diagram such as Fig. 46 rc is
I t obtained where (T,= qV. This r, value leads to
1:o 200 300 tan p= = fh/rc and hence
Base pore pressure ub kPa
tan pc
Fig. 47. CSSs, and safety level versus excess pore fc = ~ (100)
tan 4
pressure
From f_ Y,,,= l/f= is obtained in the ULS and
F= l/fc in the SLS.
a previous section, together with the geometry
The geometry of the CSS is determined by r,
of the CSS.
and p_ corresponding to weightless soils. The
For gravity platforms on clay an initial esti-
results of the numerical example are shown in
mate of the stability can be made by a simple
Fig. 47, both for the s, analysis and for the a+
total stress (STS) analysis based on the un-
analysis. In particular for the effective stress
drained shear strength values s, obtained with-
analyses it is seen that
out knowledge of the pore pressure, say by vane
tests or CPT tests. In such cases the critical u,,, < 230 kPa
equilibrium analysis is very simple indeed. Step
by step an STS analysis is carried out as follows, to satisfy the code level ~,,,a 1.2. The question
once qV and th have been calculated. Assume a is now: can the base pore pressure u,, reach this
value of r and obtain the corresponding N, level, or will it stay below?
value from Fig. 16 and calculate
Excess pore pressure
7, = t,lr (94) The net load after installation qni = 120 kPa,
a,=p+N,r, and the installation pore pressure can hence be
(95)
estimated from
By repeating this procedure for other values of r
a curve of (T, versus r can be obtained (Fig. 46) ui = (0.8 - 0.4D)qni = 96 kPa
and, where u,= qV, r = rc. This value of rc deter- assuming D = 0. The net mean total stress and
mines both the critical value of T= ?,, as an the net deviator stress after installation are also
average obtained from the idealized stress field theory as
follows
?, = -h (96) (T,, = 0.8q,, = 96 kPa
r,
gd, = 0,4q,, = 48 kPa
and the geometry of the CSS as previously de-
scribed. Along the CSS the average S; is ob- For the ULS loads qn = 184 kPa and r,= 0.95.
tained from which From the stress field theory
cr’,,= 0.92q, = 170 kPa
(97)
a,=0,70q,=129kPa

Hence,
One 6 hour storm
Au, = 74 kPa
Aad = 81 kPa
u,, = Au, - D Aad = 66 kPa
assuming D = 0.1, while ust = 74 kPa if D re-

mains unchanged by cyclic effects.
Since the pore pressure resistance is almost y 10
independent of variations in stress level, the 5
One 24 hour storm
z I
cumulative pore pressure can be estimated from
““‘_.kL
a one-block idealization
(101)
0 5000 10000
with Aud=constant, and corresponding to the Number of waves N
loading condition for the relevant wave height.
In this example Aad= 45-50 kPa is obtained. Fig. 48. Two examples of storm ideafiia-
For a 24 hour storm N = 7200, and since f,, = 8 tions
u,, = SO-55 kPa

come
Hence, the storm-induced pore pressure u, is
6, = E,,H (102)
approximately 120 kPa. Therefore the total base
pore pressure becomes 6, = * ecuH tan w (103)
u,=215- ud kPa where o is the rotation of the principal axis

from the vertical, due to the transformed base
For the conservative assessment of ud = 0 ub= stress system fh and qy, relative to the initial
215 kPa is obtained, corresponding to yrn= condition t,, = 0 and qV= qVo.
1.3> 1.2. When idealizing a storm into one average
stress block, the estimate of cumulative strain is
simply
Storm-induced strains and displacements
1
Two idealized storm conditions are illustrated sCU= -In N (104)
in Fig. 48, namely one 6 hour and one 24 hour r,
storm period, each including at least one 100
Assuming a linear variation of r, with time (and
year wave. Each diagram shows the number of
N) the defining equation can be integrated over
waves N of different degree of wave mobiliza-
N for the whole storm from a starting point r. to
tion fw relative to the 100 year wave.
an end point r,, leading to
The calculation of the cumulative normal
strain is herein based on the resistance concept
(R, = r,N) applicable for a given stress block of EC” (105)
1
constant intensity (AuJ repeated N times. In
practical applications to a stochastic variation For a 24 hour storm (N = 7200) the one-block
only a limited number of equivalent stress average system with ?e = 750 leads to EC,=
blocks can be idealized, or the variation must be 1.2%. For a linear idealization with r,)= 1200
described continuously. Here, two idealizations and r, = 400 (escalating storm), E,, = 0.9%. For
are used, namely a one-block average of Aad the reverse situation (starting with a 100 year
and r, and a continuous linear idealization. wave and decay) corresponding to r. = 400 and
The selection of the proper r, values for rl = 1200, e,,= 1.9% is obtained. Since a com-
different idealizations is done with the aid of an bination of these two calculations is more likely,
experimentally determined diagram showing r, the average F,,= 1.4% is considered more rep-
versus the maximum soil mobilization fm,,, simi- resentative and is slightly larger than the one-
lar to Fig. 29. block result. Since the average depth of the
Once c1 = E,, has been calculated for a layer critical effective stress fields for the significant
of thickness H it is easy to show that the vertical wave height is roughly 10 m, the cumulative
and the horizontal cumulative displacements be- vertical settlement for the 24 hour storm may be

274 JANBU
Years after lnstallatlon

10 20
Increased i due to creeo and
II
cyclic effects wtll reduck time
rate with time
I
sum s, = 68 cm, 6, = 17 cm
(ai (b)
Fig. 49. Estimated settlement and settlement rates
about lo-15 cm. The cumulative effects of later definition

”
storms are reduced with time because of creep-
induced hardening of the grain skeleton. 6,= F dz (107)
I0
and is equal to the area of the E-Z diagrams,
Settlement analyses leading to a,= 68 cm from which Si= 17 cm;
In the following example the compression of hence 6, = 51 cm is due to consolidation. The
the soil within the skirt compartments will not rate of primary consolidation can be obtained on
be analysed, because a lengthy discussion would the basis of the strain-depth distribution proce-
be required for a complete coverage of the dure published by Janbu (1965). The consolida-
important practical problems involved. Fig. tion strain E, = E,- ei is represented by a
49(a) shows the calculated vertical strain versus trapezoid with E, = 22% at -325 m dropping to
depth, from the theoretical foundation level 1.15% at -355 m, with an area of 51 cm. The
-325 m down to -385 m. For simplicity two soil result of this procedure is shown in Fig. 49 by a
layers of approximately 30 m thickness each are broken curve, where creep, or secondary con-
encountered. solidation, is not included. For the time rate
For the normally consolidated upper layer the estimate the upper 30 m of clay is responsible
vertical strain due to primary consolidation is for 6, and the layer is assumed to be double
estimated from the formula drained, so that
1 ’ d2
c,=-ln a (106) to=-=25 years
m ( o,o ) C”
For example at -325 m cr,“‘= 210 kPa and since using c, = 9 m’lyear.
qn = 120 kPa u’ = 210 + 120 = 330 kPa. For If the time rate is considered as creep only
m = 15 equation (106) leads to E,= 3.0%. The with a time resistance R = l/E the settlement
immediate effective stress increase at -325 m rate 8 = EH of a layer of thickness H would
is 0.2q,=24kPa; hence u;1=210+24kPa- become
234 kPa. This means that the initial strain (t = 0) ~=HIR (108)
at -325 m is given by
In layered systems with different resistances
R,= r,t and thicknesses H,
(109)
Calculations of E, and ci have been carried
out at several depths throughout both layers for would be obtained where
an estimated distribution of the net load in-
crease. The strain distribution with depth is plot- (110)
ted in Fig. 49. The vertical settlement is by

SOlL MODELS IN OFFSHORE ENGINEERING 275
Hence, the creep-induced settlement 6, over a according to elastic half-space theory, become
time interval from t, to t becomes
x=-----
AQ,,
(114)
5GR
6=&ln f (111)
0 C AQv
(115)
because 6 = j 6 dt.
'=6GR
To obtain a time rate procedure for a linked while the corresponding rocking angle J, about
primary-secondary consolidation process, it is the foundation centre is
necessary to obtain an estimate of the linkage
time t,. Previous studies indicate that t, is only a &5.% (116)
small fraction of to when 4GR3
2
t”2- (112)
Here, G is the shear modulus of soil and R is
the foundation radius (equivalent circle). The
C"
analogous spring values correspond nearly to
Since more than 95% of 6, is completed for 1, = f for all three cases.
t = to, the approximate relationship For each analogous model the corresponding
natural period of vibration can be estimated
s from
t, = to exp
c-1) 6,
(113)
is obtained from equation (111) when S = 6, is

inserted for t = to. In this example 8, = 51 cm
and 6, = 3000/250 + 3000/2000 cm = 13.5 cm.
Hence, t, = O.O22t, = 0.55 years, because t,, = 25
years for E, = 9 m’/year and d = 15 m assuming (119)
double drainage for the upper layer. Since t,=
0.55 years and S,= 13.5 cm are known, equa-
Here, h is the height of the equivalent centre of
tion (111) is used to obtain the fully drawn S-t
a lumped mass above the mud line.
curve in Fig. 49(b) where it is assumed that the
In the example the value of R = 67.5 m and
‘initial’ settlement 6, = 17 cm is completed in the
mg is assumed to be about 10 000 MN (includ-
course of t, = 0.55 years. Pig. 49(b) also contains
ing the added mass). Since a’+ a = 250-300 kPa
the rate of settlement 6 = 8,/t, which clearly
at 25 m depth below the base and gi= 250,
illustrates that the most uncertain predictions
G = 60-75 MPa for small strains. In the example
are those immediately after platform installa-
G =70 MPa is used. For the environmental
tion. The main reason is that the basic cause of
loads in the SLS static amplitudes of
how the time-dependent process starts (at t = 0)
is unknown. Hence, the continued use of semi-
&x = 2.5 cm +$=4x 1om4
logarithmic plots (containing no origin) should
be discouraged.
are obtained, while the vertical displacements
l y are small because of insignificant variations
Vibrations in Q,. At 400 m above the foundation base the
During a storm periodic changes take place in calculated II, corresponds to a lateral sway of
the vertical force +AQ,, in the horizontal force *16 cm for a rigid platform.
*AQh and in the overturning moment *AM. The corresponding periods are found to be
These force variations will set the platform in
motion. The combined effect of the various
modes of vibration requires very extensive and
complex analyses. when h = 3R. If the G modulus is reduced tem-
However, if each mode of vibration (vertical porarily to 30 MPa, the periods for vertical and
and horizontal translation and rocking) is iso- horizontal vibration increase to roughly 2s and
lated simple analogy models can be used to the rocking period to nearly 7 s. These results
obtain approximate information of considerable indicate the importance of a more detailed study
value. of the vibration characteristics, including the
The static displacement at mud line in the effect of damping and adequate interactive mod-
vertical (y) and the horizontal (x) directions will, elling.

276 JANBU
Use of computer programs resistance diagrams lead to similar values of u,’

The examples given are estimates based on for a given soil.
simplified profiles, average data and elementary Because of non-linear behaviour it is essential
models to illustrate the applicability of the basic that soil samples be tested in the in situ working
concepts. For more comprehensive and sophisti- stress range. To enable a rapid forecast of the
cated numerical handling a large variety of com- average in situ stresses for inclined loads on
puter programs are available. However, to a gravity platforms, simple closed form solutions
large extent our programs use the same basic from stress field theories for plane strain and
soil modelling described in this Paper. weightless soil have been presented.
The theoretical bases for effective stress path
plots have been given. Attention is drawn to the
CONCLUDING REMARKS importance of indicating the strain along the
The general philosophy on which this Paper is stress path, or even better to plot separate
based may briefly be summarized as follows. mobilization curves. This aids judgement of
The design of offshore foundations requires sample quality and proper design strength level.
knowledge about the behaviour of the subsoil A consistent use of effective stress path and
layers when subjected to static, cyclic and mobilization plots leads to simple procedures for
dynamic loads. In a safe design, even the most determining the change in soil resistances with
critically stressed regions in the subsoil must shear mobilizations f. Generally, the resistances
have a certain margin of safety. Consequently, it are large for isotropic stress (f = 0) and decrease
is the soil behaviour within the working stress rapidly with mobilization towards the oedo-
ranges (serviceability limit states) that are most condition (f. = 0.5-0.65), and continue to de-
important to examine. crease to zero as the mobilization approaches
Soil behaviour is determined by tests in which failure (f = I).
a soil sample is exposed to a system of external The shear strength is expressed in terms of the
actions (e.g. changing external stresses). The soil effective normal stress and the correspond-
sample responds to these external actions and ing parameters friction and attraction. The term
the response is measured (such as the strain attraction (a, the intercept on the u’ axis) is
and/or the pore pressure). Interpretation of the preferred instead of cohesion (c’) mainly be-
test results requires that the action-response cause all engineering formulae are thereby simp-
system be systematically modelled. lified, and because its ideal physical meaning is
The tangent to an action-response curve for a clear (a is the isotropic prestress). Theoretically,
material is the resistance of the material. The the undrained shear strength concept, in its clas-
resistance concept is a widely used principle in sical sense, is already included in the effective
classical mechanics, whether explicitly stated or stress expressions, by a limit consideration. Very
not. It was therefore decided about 25 years ago little has therefore been said about the concept,
to try to model soil behaviour with the aid of the also because the theoretical and practical aspects
resistance concept. have recently been covered thoroughly by
Definitions have been given for a number of Wroth (1984).
soil resistances related to stress, strain, time and As examples of the application of the soil
pore pressure behaviour for static and cyclic models, simplified analyses have been carried
loading and for drained and undrained condi- out for a large gravity platform with long skirts
tions. The definitions are independent of the soil in deep water through the softest topsoil layers.
type and independent of external action. Because the subsoil properties and the analytical
All soil resistances are found to depend on the methods are idealized, this numerical example
mean normal stress level and the degree of shear should be considered as an illustration, in prin-
mobilization. All soil resistances are larger ciple, of the type of information required and
within the preconsolidation stress region than in the type of problems which may have to be
the normally consolidated stress region. This analysed. In an actual case, such preliminary
means that the preconsolidation pressure u,’ can analyses are used in predesign, while more
be identified by plotting any one of the meas- comprehensive and detailed analyses, using
ured resistances against effective stress (arithme- computer programs, are employed later in the
tic plots). Around cc’ all the resistances are project design.
reduced owing to structural breakdown and usu- The settlement problem should be particularly
ally reach a minimum value around (T,‘, where- emphasized in connection with this example. It
after the resistances increase or remain constant. brings out the ‘missing link’ of knowledge in the
The resistance concept has therefore led to sev- time rate behaviour of soft-medium clays.
eral simple diagrams for determining cr<‘. All Measurements of time resistance and pore pres-

sure dissipation in oedometers indicate that the Norsk Hydro to use experimental data from
hydrodynamic process often disappears shortly North Sea soils is gratefully appreciated.
after load application, and pure creep behaviour
dominates the settlement process. This means BIBLIOGRAPHY
that the rate of settlement and the pore pressure Bakken, A. & Westerlund, G. J. (1974). Under&else
dissipation in soft clays may be faster than av attraksjonens og friksjonens variasjon med
theoretically predicted immediately after load aksialdeformasionen i sand. Internal Report RI 74.
application, perhaps at the expense of a slower Geotechnical Division, Norwegian Institute of
Technology.
development later. For gravity platforms on
Bishop, A. W. (1954). The use of pore-pressure coeffi-
soft-medium clay this is of vital importance.
cients in practice. Gtotechnique 4, No. 4, 148-152.
From a practical point of view it is advantage-
Bishop, A. W. (1966). The strength of soils as en-
ous to have a rapid initial settlement so that a gineering materials. Geotechnique 16, No. 2, 91-
larger portion of the settlement is completed 128.
before operation. Consequently, it is impor- Bishop, A. W. & Lovenbury, H. T. (1969). Creep
tant to be able to improve the reliability of a characteristics of two undisturbed clays. Proc. 7th
priori predictions. At present various empirical Int. Conf. Soil Mech. Fdn Engng, Mexico City 1,
procedures for linking primary and secondary 29-37.
settlements are available. Real improvements Bishop, A. W. & Wesley, L. D. (1975). A hydraulic
triaxial apparatus for controlled stress path testing.
in the state of the art depend on the results of
GLotechnique 25, No. 4, 657-670.
fundamental research on how the settlement pro- Bierrum, L. (1967). Engineering geology of normally
cess develops immediately on load application. consolidated marine clays as relatedto settlements
For some time, settlement records of embank- of buildings. Gkotechniaue 17. No. 2. 83-118.
ments on clay have been studied by back Caquot, A. k KCrisel, J: (1967). Grundlagen der
calculating the in situ resistances from the Bodenmekanik. (Translated by G. Scheuch.) Ber-
observations. Interesting trends of behaviour lin: Springer.
have already been obtained, but it is too soon Christensen, S. (1985). Behaviour of undrained creep
to draw definite conclusions yet. and its influence on the shear mod& for a medium
clay. Internal Report 08201-08. Geotechnical Di-
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
vision, Norwegian Institute of Technology.
Crawford, C. B. (1964). Interpretation of the consoli-
It would be impossible to write a Paper of this dation test. J. Soil Mech. Fdns Div. Am. Sot. Ciu.
scope and content unless research results ob- Engrs 90, SM5, 87-102.
tained over a long period by a number of past Eide, 0. & Andersen, K. H. (1984). Foundation en-
and present staff members of the Geotechnical gineering for gravity structures in the Northern North
Division, Norwegian Institute of Technology, Sea. Publ. No. 154, l-148. Oslo: Norwegian
could be drawn from. Particular credit is due to Geotechnical Institute.
the senior colleagues, Lars Grande, K%re Sen- Fredriksen, F. (1983). Undersekelse av en leires
krypegenskaper under drenerte og udrenerte forhold.
neset and Erik Hjeldnes, for general contribu-
Diploma thesis, 1-154, Geotechnical Division,
tions of a theoretical and experimental nature, Norwegian Institute of Technology.
and for sharing administrative duties. Grande, L. 0. (1976). Samuirke mellom pel og jord. Dr
Regarding soil modelling important advances ing thesis, Geotechnical Division, Norwegian Insti-
were made during the doctoral studies by tute of Technology.
(chronq!ogically) Fritz Nowacki, Karel Karal, Grande, L. 0. & Eggereide, K. (1976). Effective stress
Mete Oner, Lars Grande, Oddvin Tokheim, stability analysis for gravity structures. Proc. Be-
Geir Westerlund, Arne Skotheim, Torgeir haviour of Ofi-Shore Structures Conf., Trondheim
Dossland, Geir Svan0 and Steinar Nordal. 2, 452-461.
Henkel, D. J. (1960). The shear strength of saturated
About 100 diploma theses have also been in-
remoulded clays. Proc. Am. Sot. Ciu. Engrs Conf.
volved in our long-range research programme Shear Strength Cohesive Soils, Boulder, pp. 533-
on soil modelling. 554.
During the final preparation of the manuscript Hvorslev, M. J. (1937). ii6er die Festigkeitseigenschaf-
helpful suggestions were received from Profes- ten Gestiirter Bindiger Boden, Doctoral thesis,
sor David Sego. Copenhagen.
The yearly financial support from the Nor- Janbu, N. (1957). Earth pressure and bearing capacity
wegian Council for Industrial and Scientific Re- calculations by the generalized procedures of slices.
search has been particularly helpful because the Proc. 4th Int. Conf. Soil Mech., London 2, 207-
212.
conditions for the grants were sufficiently flexi-
Janbu, N. (1963). Soil compressibility as determined
ble to enable research to be directed into the by oedometer and triaxial tests.. Proc. 3rd Eur.
most promising areas at the time. Conf. Soil Mech.. Wiesbaden 1, 19-25.
Finally, permission from Mobil, Statoil and Janbu, N. (1965). Consolidation of clay layers based

278 JANBU
on nonlinear stress strain. Proc. 5th Int. Conf. Soil Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (1985). Regulation
Mech. Fdn Engng, Montreal 2, 83-87. for structural design of loadbearing structures in-
Janbu, N. (1967). Settlement calculations based on the tended for exploitation of petroleum resources. (Un-
tangent modulus concept. Three guest lectures at official translation.) Stavanger: Norwegian Pet-
Moscow State University. Bull. No. 2, Soil Mech. roleum Directorate.
Norw. Inst. Technol., l-57. Nowacki, E. H. F. (1973). Endimensjonal konsolider-
Janbu, N. (1969). The resistance concept applied to ing med spennings- og tidsauhengige materialegens-
deformations of soils. Proc. 7th Innt. Conf. Soil kaper. Dr ing thesis, Geotechnical Division, Nor-
Mech. Fdn Engng, Mexico City 1, 191-196. wegian Institute of Technology.
Janbu, N. (1970). Grunnlag i geoteknikk, pp. l-426. Oner, M. & Janbu, N. (1975). Dynamic soil structure
Trondheim: Tapir Forlag. interaction in offshore storage tanks. Proc. Int. Symp.
Janbu, N. (1973a). Shear strength and stability of soils, Soil Mech., Istanbul, Bull. 9, Geotechnical Divi-
the applicability of the Coulombian material 200 sion, Norwegian Institute of Technology.
years after the ESSAI. In Norsk geoteknisk forening, Roscoe, K. H. (1970). The influence of strain in soil
pp. l-47. Oslo: Norwegian Geotechnical Institute. mechanics. Gkotechnique 20, No. 2, 129-170.
Janbu, N. (1973b). Slope stability computations. Em- SIllfors, G. (1975). Preconsolidation pressure of soft,
bankment dam engineering, Casagrande uolume, high-plastic clays. Doctoral thesis, Chalmers,
pp. 47-86. London: Wiley. Gothenburg.
Janbu, N. (1975). Shear strength of granular soils. Schmertmann, J. H. (1976). The shear behaviour of
Proc. Nordic Geotechnical Meetings 1, 37-50. soil with constant structure. In Lauritz Bjerrums
Copenhagen: Polyteknisk Forlag. - memorial volume, pp. 65-98. Trondheim: Nor-
Janbu, N. (1976). Soils under cyclic loading. Proc. wegian Geotechnical Institute.
BOSS Conf.. Trondheim 2, 373-385. Shibata, T. & Karube, D. (1969). Creep rate and
Janbu, N. (1979a). Mechanism of failure in natural creep strength of clays. Proc. Int. Conf. Soil Mech.
and artificial soil structures. Proc. Int. Symp. Soil Fdn Engng, Mexico City 1,361-367.
Mech. Oaxaca 1, 95-124. Singh, A. & Mitchell, J. K. (1969). Creep potential
Janbu, N. (1979b). Design analyses for gravity plat- and creep rupture of soils. Proc. 7th Int. Conf. Soil
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Janbu, N., Grande, L. 0. & Eggereide, K. (1976). cients A and B. Giotechnique 4, No. 4, 143-147.
Effective stress stability analysis for gravity struc- Skempton, A. W. & Hutchinson, J. (1969). Stability of
tures. Proc. Behauiour of Ofj-Shore Structures natural slopes and embankment foundations. Proc.
Conf., Trondheim 1, 449-466. 7th Int. Conf. Soil Mech. Fdn Engng, Mexico City,
Janbu, N. & Senneset, K. (1981). Settlements due to State of the art volume, pp. 291-340.
drained cyclic loads. Proc. 10th Int. Conf. Soil Skotheim, A. A. (1979). Reliability of some models of
Mech. Fdn Engng, Stockholm 1, 165-170. clay behaviour. Dr ing thesis, Geotechnical Divi-
Janbu, N.,Tokheim, 0. & Senneset, K. (1981). Con- sion, Norwegian Institute of Technology.
solidation tests with continuous loading. Proc. 10th Sokolovski, V. V. (1965). Statics of granular media,
Int. Conf. Soil Mech. Fdn Engng, Stockholm 4, pp. l-270. Oxford: Pergamon.
645-654. Suklje, L. (1970). Rheological aspects of soil
Karal, K. (1973). En energimerode for geotekniske mechanics. London: Wiley.
stabiliseringsanalyser. Dr ing thesis, Geotechnical Svaner, G. (1981). Undrained effective stress analysis.
Division, Norwegian Institute of Technology. Dr ing thesis, Geotechnical Division, Norwegian
Law, K. T. & Holtz, R. D. (1978). A note on Skemp- Institute of Technology.
ton’s A parameter with rotation of principal stress. Taylor, D. W. (1948). Fundamentals of soil mechanics.
Gdotechnique 28, No. 1, 57-64. New York: Wiley.
Leahy, D. (1980). Contribution a I’e’tude du comporte- Terzaghi, K. (1925). Erdbaumechanik auf boden-
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versity of Laval. Tokheim, 0. (1976). A model for soil behaviour. Dr
Mesri, G. & Godlewski, P. M. (1977). Time and stress techn thesis, Geotechnical Division, Norwegian In-
compressibility interrelationship. J. Geotech. Engng stitute of Technology.
Div. Am. Sot. Civ. Engrs 103, GT5, 417-430. Wroth, C. P. (1984). The interpretation of in situ soil
Meyerhof, G. G. (1983). Safety factor and limit states tests. Gtotechnique 34, No. 4, 449-489.
analysis in geotechnical engineering. Can. Geotech.
APPENDIX 1. DERIVATION OF RESISTANCE
J. 11, l-7.
FORMULAE
Mitchell, J. K. (1976). Fundamentals of soil behaviour.
London: Wiley. Let y be the response to the action x on a test
Motzfeldt, E. (1976). Spenningsendringer ued specimen, Fig. 2. By definition, the resistance of the
befastningsendring. Internal Report 0.7602-l. test material is
Geotechnical Division, Norwegian Institute of
Technology.
Nordal, S. (1983). Elasto-plastic behauiour of soils
analyzed by rhe finite element method. Dr ing The test leads to a resistance that is linearly dependent
thesis, Geotechnical Division, Norwegian Institute on the action
of Technology. R = r(x -x,) (121)

Introducing equation (120) into equation (121) For three values of b
1 dx b=O M=mu’ e.g. normally consoli-

dy=-- (122) dated clay
rx-x,
b = 0.5 M = m(a’a,)i e.g. sand
Integration between x,>x, and x leads to b=l M = mo, = constant e.g. overconsolidated
clay
y21n ~ x-x*
r ( xr)
x0-
(123)
The case b = 0.5 corresponds
dimensional compression
closely to the one-
of normally consolidated
For clays a number of linear resistances are often
sands, in which case equation (130) leads to
obtained, exemplified by equations (lo), (14), (19),
(22), (26) and (70).
For instance, for normally consolidated clays M,,=
E 2[(!$(yy]. (132)
m,,~’ and R = r,t for primary and secondary resis-
tance. Hence, from equation (123) where (r, is the reference stress of 100 kPa (approxi-
mately 1 atm).
1 u’
eD=-ln 7 (~‘>a,,‘)
mo ( co ) REFERENCE
1 t Mesri, G. & Godlewski, P. M. (1977). Time and stress
e,=-ln - (t 3 r,) compressibility interrelationship. J. Geotech. Engng
rs 0 t,
Div. Am. Sot. Ciu. Engrs 103, GT5, 417-430.
When compared with conventional semilogarithmic
plots APPENDIX 2. STRESS FIELD THEORY
CC
=-log
The plane strain stress field theory for a weightless
E (124) soil leads to simple closed form solutions for inclined
’ l+e,
strip loads on a semi-infinite body, assuming an ideal
C, t Coulomb material with a constant degree of mobiliza-
E =-log - (t 2 t,) (125)
’ lfe, lo 0 t, tion f. The geometry of the critical stress field (corres-
ponding to maximum f) is given in Fig. 17 for an a&
it is seen that material. The stresses within each of the three zones
1-3 are as follows.
(126)
Zone 3
In zone 3 the surface load p = (TVwhile c, is hori-
(127) zontal. Hence the normal stress (equations (34) and
(35))
where In lO= 2.3. Equations (126) and (127) show (~“3 + a = N,,(P + a) (133)
that both C, and C, are incomplete compressibility
parameters. Hence, statistical data for C, and C, are is constant along the zone boundaries l-n, and n-0.
useless in practice unless e, data are also available.
Zone 2
The ratio
The arch nm in zone 2 is a logarithmic spiral of the
mo-rC (128) form
rs - cc Ri = R, exp (-i tan p) (134)
is often nearly constant (say 0.04-0.06) as also ob- Since the resultant of ani+a and 7i goes through the
served by Mesri & Godlewski (1979). pole 0, moment equilibrium about the pole leads to
When interpreting several types of soil, a (0=7r/2-c0)
generalized resistance may be needed to handle non-
linearity, e.g. a,+a =N,(a,+a) (135)
1-b
where
R=rx,
0If.
XL+
(12% N,=exp[(~-2~)tanpl
and cm = (T,~, and o is the rotation of the principal
(136)
Introducing equation (120) into equation (129) and stress in zone 3. At point i on the arch the normal
integrating between x,, and x stress becomes
y=sFj-(byI
~,~+a =N,(a,,+a) (137)
(130) when
N, = exp (2i tan p) (138)
As an example let the resistance R be the modulus M
and the action (x = cr’) equal the effective stress; then The coefficient N, defines how V” increases from (T,~
the resistance number r equals the modulus number when i = 0 at n to cm when i=e=T/2-0 at m.
m. Hence, from equation (129)
Zone 1
The derivation of the required stress formulae for
(131)
zone 1 will be made with the aid of Fig. 50. In zone 1

280 JANBU
i--a 03
Fig. 50. Mohr circle for the stress conditions in zone 1
the major principal stress must be rotated by an angle ing to

w to obtain vertical (q, = a,) and horizontal (t,, = T,,) cr,+a=N,(p+a) (145)
equilibrium with the normal (u,) and shear (7,) stres-
ses acting on the conjugate shear planes mo and mk, where
Fig. 17.
N, = N,,NJ’L (146)
From Fig. 50 by geometric inspection
N,=$[(N+l)+(N-l)cos(2w)]exp[(n-2~)tanp]
~.,+a =N,(cr,+a) (139)
(147)
is obtained where Hence N, = f(p, r) because o is a function of tan p and

r, equation (144). For r = 0 (vertical load) w = 0, and
1 +sin p cos (2~)
N, = (140) N, = N exp (71tan p) (148a)
co? p
For r = 1 (sliding) o = OL, and
From the slope r tan p defined in Fig. 50
N,=(l+sinp)exp[(~/2_p)tanp] (148b)
r,=r(a,+a)tanp (141)
where For N, values as functions of r and tan p, see Fig.
sin (2~) 18.
r=p (142)
N, cos p
In the defining equation (141) for the roughness ratio r Special case p = 0
it is seen that r = 0 means vertical loading, while r = 1 Theoretically, when p + 0, a tan p + TV. By limit
means sliding along the base ko. The corresponding w considerations, or simple direct solutions (Fig. 15)
values are 0 and (Y, respectively.
Combining equations (140) and (142) a,=p+r, (zone 3)
crrn = U, + (n- ~w)T, (zone 2) (149)
2 tan cx, tan w
r= (143) cr, = cm + cos (~w)T~ (zone 1) I
tan’cx,+ tan* 0
are obtained. Hence, the three equations lead to
which when solved for tan o yields
~,=p+N~r~ (150)
l-(1-?):
tan w = tan 01, (144) where
r
N,= 1+71+cos(2w)-220 (151)
This means that (T, and 7,, are unique functions of r,
tan p and a. and since r = sin (Zw), when -r,, = r7,
N,=v+l+(l-?)i-arcsinr (152)
Solution for inclined loads
Once the stresses have been obtained for all three is obtained. The diagram for N, is shown in Fig. 16 as
zones, it is a simple matter to obtain the bearing a function of r. For r = 0 (vertical loading), N,=
capacity formula, by introducing equation (133) into ~+2=5.14 and for r=l (sliding) N,=(a+2)/2=
equation (135) and again into equation (139), lead- 2.57.

SOIL MODELS IN OFFSHORE ENGTNEERING 281
VOTE OF THANKS based on practical experience.

In proposing a vote of thanks to Professor ‘Most of us here this evening know of and use
Janbu, Professor N. E. Simons made the follow- the Janbu pile driving formula. What is perhaps
ing remarks. not so well known is that Professor Janbu has
‘Having known and worked with Professor worn out more than one pair of gloves working
Janbu for many years, it is a pleasure to have on a piling rig installing driven piles when ob-
the opportunity of proposing the vote of thanks taining practical experience.
to him on the occasion of the twenty-fifth Ran- ‘Professor Janbu has not only made an excep-
kine Lecture. The first Rankine Lecture dealing tional contribution to the practice of geotechni-
with seepage problems under dam foundations cal engineering, but he is also a dedicated
was given by Professor Arthur Casagrande. In teacher. Most of the younger geotechnical en-
his introduction to that first lecture, Professor gineers working in Norway are Professor
Skempton remarked that he “could feel great Janbu’s former students and his book “Grunnlag
satisfaction that what might be called the found- i geoteknikk” is a classic teaching text. The
ation stone of the Rankine Lectures was being parallel between the fist and the twenty-fifth
laid by such a distinguished hand”. Rankine Lecturers is close and that is perhaps
‘In the intervening years, we have seen great not surprising since Professor Janbu worked
practitioners of the art of geotechnical engineer- with Professor Casagrande at Harvard and ob-
ing building on that foundation stone with a tained his doctorate there.
series of outstanding lectures covering a wide ‘Mr Chairman, when a member of our society
variety of important topics and the published is invited to lecture abroad it is usually expected
Lectures in Ge’otechnique provide a unique re- that the lecture will be delivered in English and
cord of the scope of our subject and its develop- that the proceedings also will be conducted in
ment since 1961. English. It is at least consistent that when a
‘Professor Janbu this evening has now made lecturer from overseas speaks here both the
his contribution to that record in an exceptional lecture and the proceedings are again conducted
way. His subject certainly is topical. The current in English. That seems a one-sided arrangement
issue of the New Civil Engineer contains a news so I shall attempt to redress the balance.
item discussing the large settlements which have ‘Nilmar, det er nesten tredve ir siden vi fgrst
been observed under the North Sea oil plat- traff hverandre i Trondheim. Jeg reiste dit for %
forms in the Ekofisk field. Oil was first extracted hjelpe deg med NGI publikasjon No. 16 som
from the North Sea in 1973 and in the same ble utgitt i 1956. Du inviterte meg hjem til
year Bjerrum published his paper “Geotechnical middag og vi hadde det rigtig hyggelig sammen.
problems involved in foundations of structures Siden dengang har vi vaert sammen mange
in the North Sea”. It is therefore timely that the ganger og ved mange anledninger, sist i Stock-
twenty-fifth Rankine Lecture should describe holm i 1981, og det har vaert like hyggelig hver
the contribution that Professor Janbu and his gang. Det er derfor en stor glede for meg 5 ha
Norwegian colleagues have made to solving the denne anledning til H gratulere deg med din
immense geotechnical problems involved in enst%ende fern og tyvende Rankine forelesning
North Sea oil exploitation. og % takke deg pH vegne av den Britiske
‘In the first Rankine Lecture, Professor Geotekniske Forening.
Casagrande stated that he would “make use of ‘Mr Chairman, it gives me great pleasure to
theory to supplement empirical knowledge and propose a warm vote of thanks to Professor
to enhance sound judgement”. That is very Janbu for his outstanding twenty-fifth Rankine
much Professor Janbu’s approach to engineering Lecture .’
practice. He is not only an outstanding exponent The vote of thanks was accorded with accla-
of the analytical method in soil mechanics, but mation.
he also combines this with sound judgement

(PAPER) Janbu N. (1985) Soil Models in Offshore Engineerin - Geot.1985.35.3.241

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JANBU, N. (1985). G&technique 35, No. 3.

Soil models in offshore engineering

The offshore activities in the North Sea have been a INTRODUCTION

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@I The model must be capable of describing resistance of a medium, or of an isolated part of

Fig. 1. lkstration of multistage prob-

lems in otfsbore design Fig. 2. Definition of the resistance of a material

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Fig. 3. Definition of Linear strength in an ideal material

soil skeleton alone transfers shear stresses. Thus

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As an example, the movement of point C along

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stress for a dimensionless modulus number m,.

For normally consolidated sand u,’ = (T,,,’ is the

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relationship G = g(a,‘+a) where u,’ is the

Time dependence for static loads

Each part of Fig. 10 has an arithmetic scale. The

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AU, = repeated N times

Fig. 11. Definition of cumulative strain and pore pressure resis-

from N = 1 to N leads to the cumulative strain introduction of Au* is to obtain a dimensionless

R,=Ao,g u,, = !k?! In N (27)

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Maximum moblllralton f, when

‘rc = N&T, ~ u3’)

cyclic D parameter For simplicity these formulae are based on re-

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Similarly, to judge the range of subsoil stres- where

(29) Stress zleckms for triaxial test interpretation

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tension (anisotropy, brittleness, low tensile

The principal stress diagram in Fig. 13 is

1 Total stress field

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component qy and the horizontal base shear ts, where

a,=p+N,r, (44) N1=7r+1-20” (50)

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Fig. 17. Effective stress fields for inclined loads on weightless

In zone 2 the normal stress varies linearly Eflectiue stress fields

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The degree of mobilization is assumed to be corresponding to no excess pore pressure

The normal stress along the boundary of the

Mobillzed frlctmn tanp = f tan@ Au, = A, Aq (57)

Mobillzed frlctlon tanp = f tan@

Moblllzed frho” ;a;;~ = f tan@ Mobilized friction tanp

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(a) D = -0.5 (b)

In these equations Aq = qV- p and Au, = u, - p.

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mOedotrlaxlal - CIU lasts

Fig. 22. Mobifization of f&ion and attraction in dense sand

Moreover, the D parameter is constant in each 75

curves towards an ideal plastic flow limit, where (4

tan p = tan 4 for strains beyond 4%. The attrac-

Figure 23(a) illustrates stress path results of

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q’ kPa Shear strength and shear mod&: statistics

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Table 1. Typical effective strength parameters

Soil Attraction (a): kPa Friction (tan 4)