Numerical simulation and analysis of seismic offshore breakwater with finite element method (FEM)

Dynamic analysis of earth embankments is even now a matter of concern among geotechnical engineers due to the difficulties exist in the appropriate selection of analysis method, constitutive model, and material properties. The LNG port, that is currently being constructed at the northern bank of the Persian Gulf at Tombak, involves an L shaped (top-down view) breakwater. Site investigations showed that there is a liquefiable sandy silt layer beneath the breakwater. Although, simplified liquefaction analyses revealed that the susceptible layer will not experience complete liquefaction during the design earthquake, earthquake-induced generation of pore water pressure and the subsequent softening of the layer has been a major concern in the design procedure. In the present study, several fully nonlinear analyses were performed by FLAC finite difference program in order to estimate the permanent deformations of breakwater and to study the effects of input material properties on the amounts of deformations. The Mohr-Coulomb constitutive model coupled with Byrne (1991) pore pressure buildup model has been employed in the analyses.

کلیدواژه ها:

Breakwater. ، Numerical model ، Liquefaction ، Numerical simulation ، Finite Element Method