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SOIL CONSOLIDATION BEHAVIOR ASSESSED BY SEISMIC VELOCITY MEASUREMENTS*
- Source: Geophysical Prospecting, Volume 29, Issue 5, Sep 1981, p. 715 - 729
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- 27 Apr 2006
Abstract
Large gravity platforms are often used as alternatives to the more conventional pilesupported structures in hydrocarbon exploitation. A gravity structure, as opposed to the piled structure, is sitting on the sea floor by virtue of its weight and base width; as such it poses considerable problems for the site investigation engineer. One such problem is the calculation of the settlement of the structure and its time history; these depend upon the permeability and compressibility of the soil and its drainage conditions. The required data are usually obtained by sampling for subsequent laboratory testing. The collection of an undisturbed sample is beset by problems so that the consolidation behavior of the foundation material can only be inadequately assessed by laboratory testing. However, a series of laboratory consolidation experiments during which seismic velocities have been measured on the sample as consolidation proceeds shows that it is possible to reconstruct the stress‐strain and time‐dependent curves from the seismic data, once the initial void ratio and permeability of the soil are known. This leads the way to an in situ technique for predicting settlement using a combination of geophysical techniques (electrical resistivity and seismic velocities) to obtain the required engineering properties.