Set Up and Resulting Punch-Through Risk of Jack-Up

Spudcans during Installation

Britta Bienen1 and Mark Jason Cassidy2
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Abstract: This paper addresses a three-dimensional consolidation problem through experimentation in a geotechnical centrifuge. During a dis-
continuous footing installation, which is typical for mobile offshore drilling rigs, periods of consolidation are encountered as part of the instal-
lation process. While this is acknowledged to expose the platforms to potentially severe consequences due to the risk of rapid uncontrolled leg
penetration, to date no method has been established to predict this risk and thus enable its mitigation. The findings of this experimental study
show that while the peak penetration resistance postconsolidation is mainly influenced by the duration of the consolidation period, as is
expected, the load magnitude held during consolidation also significantly influences the severity of capacity reduction postpeak. The consolida-
tion and postconsolidation behavior is discussed for various penetration depths relevant to typical jack-up installations in the field. The key findings
of this study are summarized in nondimensional graphs to facilitate application in practice. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)GT.1943-5606.0000943.
© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
CE Database subject headings: Soil consolidation; Load bearing capacity; Footings; Clays; Offshore construction; Installation; Risk
management.
Author keywords: Consolidation; Bearing capacity; Offshore engineering; Punch-through; Jack-up platform; Footing penetration; Clay.

Introduction dissipation of excess pore pressures. This results in a zone of in-

Mobile offshore jack-up platforms typically operate for a few weeks
to several months at one site before being relocated. Each in-
stallation involves lowering the legs to the seafloor before raising the
hull, both by means of the jacking system located at the leg-hull
connection. As a safety precaution, installations are usually car-
ried out with minimal or no air gap between the bottom of the hull
and the sea level. After the spudcan footings have been subjected to
the full self-weight of the platform, seawater is pumped into the
ballast tanks. This preloading is aimed at subjecting the seabed to
a significantly higher load than the design storm load to induce
a factor of safety against failure during operation. Because the
jacking systems of only a few of the newest platforms can be op-
erated with preload on board, the installation process is typically
discontinuous, whereby the ballast is taken on board, the spudcan
footings penetrate further, and the ballast is periodically dumped to
jack up the hull and reestablish the installation air gap. This process
is illustrated schematically in Fig. 1. Additionally, unplanned delays
may occur as a result of a standby in poor weather, equipment
malfunction, and other causes.
At any stage in which the preloading is stopped, partial con-
solidation of the soil around the spudcan can occur due to the
1
Associate Professor, Centre for Offshore Foundation Systems, Univ. of
Western Australia, 35 Stirling Hwy., Crawley, Perth, WA 6009, Australia
(corresponding author). E-mail: britta.bienen@uwa.edu.au
2
Winthrop Professor, Centre for Offshore Foundation Systems, Univ. of
Western Australia, 35 Stirling Hwy., Crawley, Perth, WA 6009, Australia.
E-mail: mark.cassidy@uwa.edu.au
Note. This manuscript was submitted on March 8, 2012; approved on
April 8, 2013; published online on April 10, 2013. Discussion period open
until May 1, 2014; separate discussions must be submitted for individual
papers. This paper is part of the Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvir-
onmental Engineering, Vol. 139, No. 12, December 1, 2013. ©ASCE,
ISSN 1090-0241/2013/12-2048–2059/$25.00.
creased strength of the soil and an improvement in the bearing ca-
pacity of the spudcan at that depth. However, this may only be
a localized effect. Upon application of higher vertical loads, during
any recommencement of preloading, there is the risk of punching
through this localized zone of stronger consolidated soil into the
softer unconsolidated layer below. Even relatively short delays have
been reported to have resulted in this type of set up. For instance,
during the installation of a jack-up offshore in Indonesia, Brennan
et al. (2006) reported that set up occurred in durations of preloading
holds of around 3–4 h and that this was a contributing factor to the
subsequent punch-through failure.
Punch-through failures can be extremely dangerous and costly,
both for the personnel on board and in lost time and repair cost;
a single leg repair costs on the order of US$10 million and a platform
costs on the order of US$200 million (O. A. Purwana, personal
communication, 2011). Therefore, prior to a jack-up installation
punch-through risk is routinely evaluated in layered soils where
there is potential for the spudcan foundation to plunge from a strong
layer into an underlying weaker layer. Despite the risk and potential
costs involved, this is not the case for the creation or set up of
a punch-through risk as a result of consolidation during an in-
stallation delay. This is because the soil profile may seem in-
conspicuous and the duration or even possibility of an operational
delay is not known. Furthermore, no method has been established to
estimate set up and the resulting punch-through risk.
Most of the published data that report increases in vertical un-
drained bearing capacity following consolidation refer to founda-
tions placed on, rather than penetrated into, the soil [for instance, see
the field tests by Lehane and Jardine (2003) and the numerical
analyses by Bransby (2002) and Zdravkovic et al. (2003)]. However,
the installation method of spudcans is expected to have a significant
effect on the capacity gains postconsolidation because the dissi-
pation of excess pore pressures following the footing penetration
process is expected to result in relatively larger increases in capacity.
The only tests investigating this have been two sole geotechnical

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Fig. 1. Schematic of jack-up installation process: (a) soft pinning; (b) leg-by-leg installation; (c) fully installed platform (Dean 2010, with permission
from ICE Publishing)

centrifuge experiments of discontinuous spudcan penetration
reported by Barbosa-Cruz (2007), in which the footing installation
into normally consolidated kaolin clay was halted at a depth of 0:85D
(where D is the spudcan diameter) in Test 1 and at 0:69D in Test 2.
Approximately 80% consolidation was achieved in Test 1, which
resulted in a doubling of the penetration resistance when installation
was reinitiated, as shown in Fig. 2. The degree of consolidation in
Test 2 was much lower at about 10%, with a subsequent increase in
penetration resistance of 30% compared with the bearing pressure
prior to consolidation. The consolidation phases of both tests re-
sulted in behavior characteristic of punch-through, with the load-
penetration curve exhibiting a peak followed by lower penetration
resistance. Punch-through was not encountered in these experiments
because the penetration was performed under displacement control.
The resulting load-penetration curves suggest that the consoli-
dation phases would have resulted in punch-through distances of
0:5D and 0:2D in Tests 1 and 2, respectively. The Barbosa-Cruz
(2007) study demonstrated that consolidation due to discontinuous
installation can result in the risk of punch-through failure, even for
relatively low degrees of consolidation. The results suggest that both
the increase in penetration resistance and the severity of a punch-
through increase with increasing consolidation, which is expected.
However, with only two tests reported in the literature, further research
is required to reliably quantify the effect of the phases of consolidation
during the installation process.
In light of this research need, a series of centrifuge model tests
has been carried out to investigate set up as a result of stoppage
during spudcan installation, which is reported here. The effects of
various durations of consolidation time, consolidation at vari-
ous penetration depths, and consolidation under various vertical
load levels were investigated. The resulting database allows the
risk of punch-through failure and its severity during discontinuous
spudcan installation to be derived. Practical charts are provided to
assess the increase in bearing capacity caused by consolidation as
well as the potential punch-through distance. The presentation
of the charts in nondimensional form facilitates the use of this

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Fig. 2. Centrifuge experimental results of discontinuous spudcan installation (Barbosa-Cruz 2007, with permission from Edgard Barbosa-Cruz)
Table 1. Centrifuge Scaling Relationships
Parameter Model Prototype
Length, displacement 1 N
Vertical load, V 1 N2
Consolidation time 1 N2
framework in practice, where a wide range of consolidation properties
are confronted.
Experimental Methodology
Geotechnical Centrifuge Testing
The experimental investigation was aimed at measuring the set-up
behavior and resulting punch-through risk during the installation of
a model spudcan. The tests were carried out in a geotechnical cen-
trifuge for the following reasons:
• The self-weight stresses of the soil sample at enhanced gravity
relate 1:1 to the prototype. The scaling relationships between the
prototype and model for dimensions of length or force scale
according to the relationships are provided in Table 1. By using
a centrifuge, the failure mechanisms (shallow general bearing
capacity–type near the surface, deep localized flow around at
large depths, and the transition between them) in the model tests
directly relate to the field behavior.
• At enhanced gravity, consolidation time is significantly short-
ened compared with the prototype situation (1:N 2 , see Table 1,
where N is the level of gravitational acceleration in the centri-
fuge) for the same soil and pore fluid. This allows relatively long-
term consolidation processes to be studied in a fraction of the
prototype time, which permits experimental parametric studies to
be conducted in a relatively short time frame suitable for labo-
ratory experiments. On the other hand, it is not feasible to
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investigate very short periods of consolidation. A few seconds
at an acceleration level of 200g already corresponds to several
days in the prototype. However, the use of dimensionless groups
allows significant insight to be gained from the centrifuge tests.
Here, the experiments were performed on kaolin clay, with the
consolidation phase ranging from 38 s to 4 h in the model,
corresponding to 17 days to 18 years in the prototype. When
viewed in terms of the normalized consolidation time, T
5 cv t=D2 (where cv is the coefficient of consolidation, t is
the absolute consolidation time, and D is the footing diameter),
the findings of this experimental series may be seen as indicative
of the behavior of more permeable soils in the field. That is, for
soils with higher cv values in the field shorter absolute consol-
idation times t result in similar normalized consolidation times T
as in the experiments. As an example, these results may have
more practical application for offshore soils with cv values of
around 602700 m2 =year (clays and silty clays) and holding
times of between 2 and 24 h. Differences in consolidation,
including thixotropic effects in natural soils, would of course
have to be considered before application of these results in
practice.
• Using established scaling relationships (Table 1), not only can
qualitative behavior be observed in the model but the quantitative
measurements can also be related to the field situation. The
resulting database can further be used to validate numerical or
analytical models. Although this provides a high degree of
confidence, validation using field data is still desirable.
Gaudin et al. (2011) provide further details on centrifuge mod-
eling in the context of jack-up platforms, along with examples of
recent research in this area.
Drum Centrifuge Facility
All tests described herein were performed at 200g in the drum
centrifuge facility at the University of Western Australia (UWA) (for
details, see Stewart et al. 1998). The annular channel is 1.2 m in
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Fig. 3. Model spudcan: (a) mounted on the centrifuge; (b) technical drawing (Barbosa-Cruz 2007, with permission from Edgard Barbosa-Cruz)

Table 2. Kaolin Clay Characteristics (Data from Stewart 1992)

diameter and 300 mm in width. A sample 160 mm in depth, tested at
200g, provides a soil surface that is equivalent to 553 3 60 m in Property Value
prototype dimensions, which is ideal for parametric studies such as Liquid limit, LL 61%
this. The central tool table that holds the actuator and mounted Plastic limit, PL 27%
equipment can be moved independently of the soil channel, which Specific gravity, Gs 2.60
allows for the cleaning or changing of tools without disturbing or Angle of internal friction, f9 23
changing the stress level of the soil sample. The Dynaserv motor Void ratio at p9 5 1 kPa on the critical-state line, ecs 2.140
allows radial positioning for the next test, whereas the main actuator Slope of the normal consolidation line, l 0.205
is used to penetrate or extract the footing or site investigation tool, Slope of the swelling line, k 0.044
either at a predetermined rate in displacement control or load control.

Footing Model and Instrumentation

The model spudcan used was the same as that used in Barbosa-
Cruz (2007) and is shown mounted and ready for testing on the
centrifuge in Fig. 3(a) and shown schematically in Fig. 3(b). The
model spudcan was 60 mm in diameter at its widest section and had
a brass porous tip, behind which a pore pressure transducer was
located. When tested at 200g, the model relates to a prototype
foundation diameter of 12 m. The model spudcan was connected to
the actuator by a solid cylindrical aluminum leg section, 15 mm in
diameter. As shown in Fig. 3(a) an axial load cell was attached
between the top of the leg and the actuator. During the test, the
testing time, actuator movements, and pore pressure transducer and
load cell measurements were recorded. Because the leg and spudcan
were very stiff under the imposed axial load, the spudcan displacements
were assumed to be the same as the actuator movements.
Soil Preparation and Characterization
The soil sample was prepared from kaolin clay (the properties are
provided in Table 2) at twice the liquid limit. The slurry was in-
troduced into the drum centrifuge channel at 20g and consolidated in
flight. The free surface at the top and a geotextile at the base provided
two-way drainage. The water table was kept above the soil surface
throughout the duration of the testing program. The sample was

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Fig. 4. Shear strength profile
allowed to consolidate at 200g for 4 days. The final soil sample depth
was about 160 mm. These conditions allowed the spudcan to be
penetrated to a depth of 2D without the base of the soil channel
affecting the measurements, which would have led to a significant
stiffening of the response on approach of the rigid channel base. This
was not observed in any of the tests. In the two similar experiments
performed in the UWA drum centrifuge by Barbosa-Cruz (2007), the
spudcan was also penetrated to a depth of 2D. Further justification
that there is no effect of the base can be found in the visualization
experiments of a vertically loaded spudcan conducted by Hossain
et al. (2005, 2006). Penetrating a half-spudcan against a transparent
window and using the particle image velocimetry technique to
observe soil movement, Hossain et al. (2006) comment that in lightly
overconsolidated kaolin clay “The extent of soil distortion below the
spudcan is small. In Fig. 7(c), soil further than 0.2D below the tip
remains undisturbed by the advancing spudcan.” In the experiments
presented in this paper there was always more than 0:5D below the
spudcan tip to the centrifuge base.
The undrained soil strength,su , was investigated using a 5 3 20 mm
T-bar penetrometer (Stewart and Randolph 1994), which was pen-
etrated into the soil at a rate of 1 mm=s. A factor of NT-bar 5 10:5
(Randolph and Hope 2004) was assumed to relate the penetrometer
resistance to the undrained soil shear strength. The T-bar tests were
conducted at three positions around the sample channel before
commencing the spudcan tests. Their interpretation is presented in
Fig. 4. The undrained soil shear strength may be described as linearly
increasing, whereby su 5 1:1z ðkPaÞ in prototype dimensions
(which is the profile used to interpret the bearing capacity factors for
the spudcan in the results presented subsequently). The average
effective unit weight, g9, which was determined from miniature
piston core samples taken after the testing program, was 7:5 kN=m3 .
This led to a strength ratio of su =s9v0 5 su =g9D 5 0:15, which is
typical for kaolin clay in the centrifuge (Lehane et al. 2009).
Experimental Program and Procedure
A total of 18 spudcan installations were performed to a depth of 120
mm (2D), with the details of the tests presented in Table 3. The
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footing was penetrated under displacement control at a rate v of
0:2 mm=s, which ensured undrained behavior since vD=cv . 30
(Finnie and Randolph 1994). The cv of the soil is provided in Table 4.
The installation was discontinued at three penetration depths (0:5,
1:0, and 1:5D) to investigate the effect of various consolidation
times. When the target depth was reached the centrifuge control
program was automatically changed from displacement to load
control. This allowed the full vertical load just achieved to be held on
the spudcan [there was an exception in one test (T16) when only 50%
of the vertical load reached was held]. The vertical load was held for
times ranging from 17 days to 18 years in the prototype (38 s to 4 h in
the model), or normalized consolidation times T ranging from 0.001
to 0.520. Further penetration of the spudcan was then performed.
Again, this was under displacement control at a rate of 0:2 mm=s. In
the first test (T1), the penetration was not interrupted to provide
a reference case.
Experimental Results and Discussion
The experimental results are presented in a normalized form unless
specific reference to prototype or model dimensions is made. Table 3
summarizes the testing program and all measured and interpreted
results.
Change in Bearing Capacity with Depth
Fig. 5 compares the measured response of a continuous undrained
spudcan penetration (T1) with an example installation that in-
cluded a consolidation stage (T12). The continuous penetration
shows an approximately linear increase in bearing resistance with
penetration [Fig. 5(a), where the bearing resistance is the measured
vertical load divided by the plan area of the spudcan] with the
excess pore pressure exhibiting a similar trend [Fig. 5(c)], both
expected for an undrained installation into a normally consolidated
(NC) clay deposit.
The normalized penetration resistance is also expressed as
a bearing capacity factor, Nc 5 V=ðAsu Þ, in Fig. 5(b), where su is the
undrained shear strength at the current depth of the spudcan’s
reference point (the point in the center of the lowest section with full
diameter, as is the usual case in the jack-up industry). The typical
values of Nc used in the jack-up industry are shown in Fig. 5(b) for
comparison. This includes the classical method of Skempton (1951),
which modifies the solution for a strip footing with the shape and
embedment factors. However, it does not account for increasing
strength with depth under the footing or the spudcan shape and can
be seen to underpredict the capacity when compared with these
experimental results. The measured bearing capacities recorded here
are better compared with the equations presented in Hossain and
Randolph (2009). These are based on large deformation finite-
element (FE) analysis in ideal Tresca soil and Tresca soil modi-
fied for strain softening and strain rate effects. The centrifuge results
here are bracketed by these two results.
The response in Test T12 was very similar until the penetration
was halted at the target penetration of w=D 5 1:0D. The excess pore
pressure dissipation measured at the spudcan tip during this con-
solidation phase is visible in Fig. 5(c). Upon recommencement of the
installation process, significantly increased resistance was evident,
as shown in Fig. 5(a). However, this does not correspond to an
increase in excess pore pressure compared with the continuous
penetration [Fig. 5(c)]; rather, it corresponds to the increased ef-
fective stresses in the soil around the spudcan. The bearing pressure
[Fig. 5(a)] slowly reached a peak over a distance of around 0:12D. A
small drop, labeled punch-through distance on Fig. (5a), was then
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Table 3. Overview of the Experiments

Consolidation Postconsolidation

Prototype time Average Extent of Severity of

Actual applied Dw=D Peak Nc / improved capacity
Target depth 17 2 0.25 0.5 1 2 5 18 pressure (from Peak, w=D Reference Reference zone, reduction,
depth Test w=D 0 (day) (day) (month) (year) (year) (year) (year) (year) (year) T 5 cv t=D2 (kPa) consolidation) Nc (at peak) Nc a Nc Dwez =D K
N/A T1 N/A x N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
0:5D T10 0.46 x 0.005 56.5 0.08 12.15 0.62 9.88 1.23 0.14 25:55
T9 0.48 x 0.010 55.3 0.10 13.00 0.63 9.95 1.31 0.30 27:25
T11 0.49 x 0.019 52.5 0.08 14.38 0.61 9.68 1.50 0.25 215:03
T18 0.49 x 0.343 62.2 0.09 20.40 0.61 9.80 2.08 0.38 217:77
1:0D T4 0.97 x 0.001 127.4 0.05 10.59 1.03 10.48 1.01 0.08 N/A
T15 1.00 x 0.004 146.6 0.08 13.27 1.13 10.62 1.25 0.07 29:47
T12 1.01 x 0.006 144.6 0.10 13.68 1.22 10.47 1.32 0.17 210:09
T3 0.97 x 0.013 126.6 0.08 13.84 1.11 10.45 1.32 0.16 29:22
T14 1.00 x 0.024 145.2 0.08 17.12 1.15 10.51 1.63 0.40 29:99
T16 1.00 x 0.024 75.3 0.01 15.49 1.10 10.44 1.48 0.17 212:03
(50%)
T13 1.00 x 0.050 145.8 0.16 17.91 1.22 10.63 1.69 0.34 213:24
T2 0.98 x 0.119 125.0 0.06 18.21 1.07 10.48 1.74 0.53 211:30

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T5 0.98 x 0.457 131.9 0.17 20.83 1.18 10.54 1.98 0.62 211:47
1:5D T7 1.52 x 0.007 244.3 0.16 13.36 1.74 10.99 1.22 0.07 25:16
T6 1.47 x 0.015 233.7 0.13 14.67 1.63 11.03 1.33 0.29 25:03
T8 1.45 x 0.520 226.0 0.17 22.38 1.67 11.29 1.98 N/A N/A
Note: x 5 prototype consolidation time of that test.
a
The Nc value of the reference case (T1) at the same penetration depth.

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 recorded. The bearing pressure then resumed an approximately
linear increase, consistent with Reference Test T1 and the original
shear strength profile.
In the field a spudcan is progressively preloaded with increasing
vertical load. If there is a reduction in the bearing capacity of the soil
Table 4. Coefficient of Consolidation cv of Kaolin Clay (Data from
Randolph and Hope 2004)
Depth/spudcan diameter, w=D cv ðm2 =yearÞ
0.5 2.6
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the spudcan will penetrate until vertical equilibrium is reestablished
by stronger soil at greater depth. This punch-through scenario is
indicated in Fig. 5(a). In this case the spudcan would have rapidly
penetrated a distance of Dw=D 5 0:17D. Interestingly, while re-
turning to an approximately linear increase, the load-penetration
curve does not rejoin that of the continuous installation (Reference
Case T1). This suggests that the spudcan has a stronger soil trapped
underneath and this is carried deeper as it penetrates. This phe-
nomenon was observed in all tests except one (T4, where the
consolidation was too short to have any measurable effect). Similar
behavior has been observed in layered deposits (Teh et al. 2008; Lee
et al. 2009; Hossain and Randolph 2010; Lee et al. 2013).

1.0 3.5
1.5 4.0
Fig. 5(b) shows the measured response in terms of the bearing
capacity factor. This representation, rather than the absolute bearing

Fig. 5. Experimental results with (Test T12) and without consolidation (Test T1) at 1:0D penetration: (a) bearing pressure; (b) bearing capacity factor;
(c) excess pore pressure

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 pressure (which may be affected by slight differences in the undrained
shear strength), facilitates further comparisons between the tests.
Consolidation will have the following two effects: (1) an increase in
the undrained shear strength and (2) a change in the shape and/or size
of the failure mechanism, brought about by the changes in the soil
strength. If these two effects are separated, the undrained shear
strength profile changes according to the void ratio, while the bearing
capacity factor, Nc , would remain the same unless the shape and/or
size of the failure mechanism changes. However, the bearing pressure
would increase because of either effect, or a combination of the two.
With the preceding acknowledged, the bearing pressure is normalized
by the original undrained soil shear strength at the corresponding
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because the undrained shear strength profile, modified by the con-
solidation, is unknown in the model tests as it would be in the field.
The distance between the peak Nc and its return to an approximately
linearly increasing trend in the NC clay is taken as the extent of the
zone of soil improved through consolidation, as shown in Fig. 5(b).
Fig. 6 illustrates the increase in Nc with increasing consolidation
time at each of the three target penetration depths. Although the
prototype consolidation times in the experiments reported here are
relatively long, similar behavior in shorter absolute time is expected
in more permeable soils (such as more permeable clays, silty clays,
or even silts, the latter of which has been particularly problematic for
spudcan installations, see Erbrich 2005). This can be compared by

depth of the spudcan, resulting in an increased bearing capacity factor discussing the results in terms of normalized consolidation time
Nc that, strictly speaking, silently accounts for both effects. This is T 5 cv t=D2 , as presented subsequently. The following are observed:

Fig. 6. Increase in bearing resistance with consolidation time: (a) at 0:5D penetration; (b) at 1:0D penetration; (c) at 1:5D penetration

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 • Increased consolidation time results in increased bearing capac-
ity. This is as expected and is caused by increases in soil strength
and/or changes in the failure mechanism. The increase in effec-
tive stresses is expected to alter the failure mechanism because it
will always follow the shape that minimizes the work required to
shear the soil. Therefore, after consolidation the mechanism is
expected to involve a larger volume of soil, as shown in numer-
ical analyses by Bransby (2002) and Barbosa-Cruz (2007),
although the failure surface may not entirely bypass the improved
zone.
• Postpeak, the response changes more markedly with additional
penetration the longer the preceding consolidation period. This is
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as the change in Nc over the depth of the improved zone. At 1:0D
[Fig. 6(b)] and especially 1:5D [Fig. 6(c)], long-term consoli-
dation results in a pronounced nose of peak resistance before the
capacity gradually decreases.
• The depth of the improved zone increases with consolidation
time. Although these results are expected, the experimental
database presented here is the first to capture this trend.
Figs. 7(a–d) compare the relative capacity increases between the
various depths at which penetration was halted for periods of
consolidation of 0.25–18 years, respectively. The results are sum-
marized in Table 3 and agree well with the results reported by
Barbosa-Cruz (2007), who shows Nc values at peak resistance of

evident in the postpeak gradient of Nc . This is defined in Fig. 5(b) 130% compared with the reference case after 20 days of stoppage at

Fig. 7. Increase in bearing resistance following consolidation at various depths (prototype consolidation time): (a) 0.25 year; (b) 0.5 year; (c) 1.0 year;
(d) 18 years

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 0:69D and more than 200% of the reference case after 16 years of
consolidation at 0:85D. The two centrifuge tests conducting by
Barbosa-Cruz (2007) were also performed using normally consol-
idated kaolin clay and the same experimental apparatus. However,
the preliminary nature of only two test results from that study did not
allow for any further conclusions to be drawn. The results presented
in this paper enable, for the first time, the influences of penetration
depth and consolidation time to be evaluated.
The test with a lower magnitude of load held during the consoli-
dation phase, Test T16, reveals that a 50% reduction in consolidation
load results in only a 10% lower bearing capacity factor [Table 3;
peak Nc /reference Nc 5 1:63 (T14) and 1.48 (T16), respectively].
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Therefore, from a peak capacity point of view the magnitude of load
held during consolidation is a secondary influence. However, the
same cannot be said for the extent of the improved zone. A 50%
reduction in consolidation load (T16) resulted in an improved zone
that was less than half as deep as in the corresponding test with the
full consolidation load (T14). This is a significant finding, which
affects the punch-through potential, as discussed in more detail
subsequently.
Consolidation Time Histories
Interestingly, the largest increases in penetration resistance for
a given consolidation period do not occur at the shallowest depth,
even though the shorter drainage path would intuitively suggest
faster rates of consolidation, as is observed in numerical studies
(Gourvenec and Randolph 2009). Instead, the largest gains were
measured for consolidation at 1:0 or 1:5D. Only the long-term
consolidation case (18 years) resulted in the highest peak Nc of
208.2% relative to the reference value at a 0:5D penetration. The
reason for this lies in the excess pore pressure ratio, Bq 5 Du=qapplied ,
at the commencement of consolidation, as illustrated in Fig. 8, where
the inset compares Bq to the penetration depth for the continuous
Fig. 8. Time history of excess pore pressure ratio Bq measured at the spudcan tip
JOURNAL OF GEOTECHNICAL AND GEOENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING © ASCE / DECEMBER 2013 / 2057
J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 2013, 139(12): 2048-2059
installation (T1). Although subjected to local variations, the general
trend of Bq was to slightly decrease with depth, such that consol-
idation commenced at different values of the excess pore pressure
ratio depending on the depth at which the penetration process was
halted. The main graph in Fig. 8 shows the curves falling into three
distinct groups, with the excess pore pressure ratios at the start of
the consolidation phase highest at 0:5D penetration, followed by
1:0 and 1:5D. This contrasts with the numerical analyses of surface
and buried (at 0:5D) circular flat footings (Gourvenec and Randolph
2009), where the initial excess pore pressure ratios below the center
of the foundations were found to be about 0.5 and 0.35, respectively.
The soil in these small strain FE analyses was assumed to be elastic
with constant permeability, and the footing installation was not
modeled. In addition, the time histories also differed. In the ex-
perimental results presented here, Bq rises before dissipating, with
shallower penetration resulting in stronger initial increases. In
contrast, the numerical results suggest that the excess pore pressure
ratio of the footing buried at 0:5D rises only slightly, if at all.
The initial rise in excess pore pressure in the experiment resulted in
a lower degree of consolidation at shallower embedment, based on the
pore pressure measurement at the spudcan tip. Tests with the same
absolute consolidation period will have slightly different normalized
consolidation times because of the differing magnitudes of the co-
efficient of consolidation, cv , with depth. However, at larger consoli-
dation times of T $ 0:02 the curves tend to converge. Contrary to the
excess pore pressure dissipation results, the experimental and numerical
results agree that a shallower footing penetration will result in a higher
settlement rate (Fig. 9), a measurement that is averaged over the footing.
Effect of Consolidation
Figs. 10–12 summarize the change in response caused by consol-
idation and may be used to estimate the severity of its effects. Fig. 10
illustrates the increase in bearing capacity factor Nc relative to the
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Fig. 9. Time history of dimensionless consolidation settlement
Dwg9=qapplied
Fig. 10. Increase in bearing capacity factor Nc with normalized con-
solidation time
value prior to consolidation. The trend appears almost linear in
a semilogarithmic scale and independent of the depth at which
consolidation takes place. The values obtained from the two pre-
liminary experiments by Barbosa-Cruz (2007) match well to the
increases observed in this study, providing confidence in the re-
peatability, and therefore robustness of the results. The ratios range
from 1 (meaning the consolidation had no measurable effect) at very
short periods of interruption during the installation process to 2.1
after periods allowing almost full consolidation. The absolute
lengths of time to which these results correspond depend on the
coefficient of consolidation of the soil.
The increase in bearing capacity may seem desirable. However, it
may in fact create the risk of a punch-through failure that did not exist
prior to consolidation. The key to assessing this risk is the severity of
capacity reduction, K, following the peak and the potential punch-
through distance. The capacity reduction postpeak is shown in Fig. 11,
with the inset explaining the definition of K. The determination of
K from the experimental data is somewhat subjective because the
penetration resistance does not return to that of the reference case as
2058 / JOURNAL OF GEOTECHNICAL AND GEOENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING © ASCE / DECEMBER 2013
J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 2013, 139(12): 2048-2059
Fig. 11. Severity of capacity reduction K postpeak
Fig. 12. Extent of improved zone with normalized consolidation time
a result of stronger soil being carried down with the spudcan. This
subjectivity introduces some scatter in the data. Furthermore, the
value of K for the tests with consolidation periods at 1:5D may be
inaccurate because sufficient penetration was not possible postpeak.
However, in all tests, the bearing capacity factor decreased sharply
following the postconsolidation peak, with K ranging from 5 for
consolidation at 1:5D to almost 18 following long-term consolidation
at the shallow depth of 0:5D. The severity of capacity reduction is
also related to the magnitude of the load held. A lower consolidation
pressure results in a sharper capacity reduction (compare T14 and T16
in Table 3); i.e., a more severe punch-through risk because of the
considerably smaller depth over which the soil is improved.
The potential punch-through distance, judged on the basis of the
bearing pressure-penetration curves, is very similar to the extent of
the improved zone based on the profiles of bearing capacity factor Nc
with depth. The extent of the zone of soil improved by the increased
effective stresses resulting from the consolidation process is shown
in Fig. 12. All data points fall within a relatively narrow band, in-
cluding the two inferred from Barbosa-Cruz (2007). The extent of the
improved zone appears to increase linearly (in the semilogarithmic
 scale) with the length of the consolidation period, irrespective of the
depth at which the consolidation takes place.
The combination of Figs. 10–12 provides an indication of the
following:
1. The peak capacity magnitude and its increase compared with
preconsolidation values;
2. The severity of reduction in capacity postpeak; and
3. The potential punch-through distance, following a period of
consolidation, should the spudcan be loaded to a magnitude
near peak capacity.
Therefore, the findings from this research allow the punch-
through risk following set up during the spudcan installation to be
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estimated. However, further research is required to extend these
conclusions to other soils such as carbonate silts, which are not only
more permeable in their in situ state but differ substantially from the
kaolin clay used here in key characteristics such as compressibility.
Conclusions
This paper discusses findings from a centrifuge experimental study
into the effects of consolidation during discontinuous footing pen-
etration into normally consolidated clay. The influences of the du-
ration of the consolidation period as well as the penetration depth at
which the installation process was halted were investigated in detail.
Further insight was provided by varying the load magnitude held
during consolidation.
The key results of increased peak vertical capacity, the severity
of capacity reduction postpeak, and the extent of the improved
zone have all been presented in nondimensional graphs. These are
plotted as a function of the duration of the hold, the diameter of the
spudcan, and coefficient of consolidation of the soil. This allows
ease of implementation of the research findings in practice. This is
critical because the hold time is expected to be shorter offshore
than what could physically be tested in the centrifuge; however,
the coefficient of consolidation of natural soils is potentially
higher.
Acknowledgments
B. Bienen is the recipient of an Australian Research Council (ARC)
Postdoctoral Fellowship (DP110101603). This work forms part of
the activities of the Centre for Offshore Foundation Systems
(COFS), currently supported as a node of the Australian Research
Council Centre of Excellence for Geotechnical Science and Engi-
neering and as a Centre of Excellence by the Lloyd’s Register
Foundation. Lloyd’s Register Foundation invests in science, engi-
neering and technology for public benefit, worldwide. This support
is gratefully acknowledged.
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