Tube-Cell combiwall

Tube-Cell combiwall

Kampshof, G.

Van Tol, A.F. (mentor)
Brinkgreve, R.B.J. (mentor)
Gresnigt, A.M. (mentor)
Lengkeek, H.J. (mentor)

Civil Engineering and Geosciences

Geoscience & Engineering

2014-01-24

Quay walls are costly structures. The still growing sea transport market asks for more, bigger and more cost efficient quay walls. In this research, a new type of quay-wall is investigated: the ‘Tube-Cell Combi-Wall’. The Tube-Cell combi-wall consists of relative large diameter piles with flat sheet piles in between. The large diameter piles are the primary elements and are placed with relative large center-to-center distances. The flat sheet piles are the secondary elements and places in an arch shape, so that they will act as a kind of chain. The soil strength, in this research described by the ultimate lateral soil resistance (ULSR), is extensively considered. The Tube-Cell combi-wall is considered as a pile row, loaded in both lateral and axial direction. A new model that calculates the ULSR based on wedge failure of a pile row, subjected to both lateral and axial loads, is developed: the Rough wall Wedge Method for pile Rows (RWMR). In contrast to the current wedge models, this model includes an analytical approach to the influence of overlapping of wedges and vertical loading of the pile row. The model is validated using three dimensional finite element analyses. For computing the lateral soil resistance, the nodel interface stresses presented by Plaxis 3D are integrated over the area of the pile-soil interface. Plaxis 3D shows that the RWMR needs to be corrected due to occurrence of two phenomena: 1) curved slipsurfaces and 2) lateral shaft friction. It is observed that curved slipsurfaces occur, while straight are assumed by the RWMR. Further, the finite element analyses show that the ULSR is made up of two components: a normal- and a lateral shaft friction force. Therefore, increasing the vertical shaft friction will result in a decrease in lateral shaft friction capacity. On the end, it is observed that a vertical force will increase the ULSR of pile row, but not all shaft friction capacity can be used by the vertical component. The steel stresses are verified based on strains instead of stresses. It is concluded that the Tube-Cell combi-wall results in a reduction of the amount of steel of 7% compared to a traditional combined wall. Based on this result, it is concluded that the Tube-Cell combi-wall has potential to compete with the traditional combined wall for the EMO quay-M5. It needs to be noted that the production, transportation, installation and reliability of the Tube-Cell combi-wall is not considered.

quay wall
passive earth pressure
laterally loaded pile
pile row
wedge failure
ultimate lateral soil resistance
lateral soil stiffness
influence of vertical load on lateral soil resistance
local buckling
strain based design verification

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:21a0eb07-95b5-4722-af9c-2c398ef41f38

Student theses

master thesis

(c) 2014 Kampshof, G.