Jacking Penetration Resistance of Bucket Foundations in Silty Sand Using Centrifuge Modelling

Penetration resistance of bucket foundations with skirt wall in the silty sand of the western coast of Korea was analyzed by centrifuge modelling. The penetration resistance is induced when the bucket foundations are jacked into the soil without suction, and is directly related to the self-weight penetration depth. The procedure by Houlsby and Byrne (2005), which takes into account the effect of stress increase by frictional resistance of skirt wall, was utilized to generate the penetration resistance similar to the experimental results. This paper describes the methods by which major parameters such as lateral earth pressure coefficient and friction angle between the skirt wall and the soil are evaluated. The effect of changes in these parameters on the predictions is analyzed. Also, observed soil behaviour during jacking penetration is investigated.