Softening of the Clayey Seabed Foundation due to Earthquakes

Abstract

Offshore structures are subjected to repeated loads from earthquakes and waves which may cause softening of the clayey seabed foundation. Carrying out a series of model tests on a shaking table, the following results are obtained. Settlement and inclination of a model of the base-part of the structure occur when the excess pore water pressure beneath the model rises to about 5 percent of the initial confining pressure. The earthquake response analysis even taking the nonlinearity of the soil into account cannot predict the results of the model test when the pore water pressure does generate and accumulate. Model tests show that the values of the pore water pressure are about twice as large as those predicted by calculation. From these results, rough evaluation of earthquake stability of the clayey seabed under offshore structures are obtained.