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Thesis (Professional Degree)--University of Missouri, School of Mines and Metallurgy, 1939. / The entire thesis text is included in file. Typescript. Title from title screen of thesis/dissertation PDF file (viewed April 27, 2010) Includes bibliographical references (p. 60).

Cellular cofferdams have primarily been used as temporary systems which serve to allow construction of facilities in open bodies of water. Applications for these structures have been increasing and today they may serve as permanent retaining walls or as navigation or waterfront structures. Conventional design methods for cellular cofferdams are based on semi-empirical approaches largely developed in the 1940s and 1950s. None of the available traditional procedures are capable of predicting cofferdam deformations, a parameter of key importance to the cofferdam performance, and which is often observed during construction for purposes of safety monitoring. Also, there is evidence that much of the conventional design technology is conservative, in some cases predicting loading by more than twice that which actually occurs. Recently, the finite element method has shown promise as a tool which can be used to help resolve some of the outstanding problems with cofferdam design. There are three primary objectives of this work: (1) enhance existing finite element program to allow for more accurate and refined analysis of cellular cofferdams, (2) use the enhanced finite element programs to assess the degree of conservatism in conventional design methods for cofferdams founded on sandy soils, and (3) use the results of parametric studies of cofferdams founded on sandy soils to develop a simplified procedure to predict cofferdam movements and determine potential for internal failure. The first of the objectives involves adding better bending elements to the program SOILSTRUCT to represent the sheet pile system In axisymmetric and plane strain analyses. Also, in the case of the plane strain program, a new method is developed to allow shear transfer through the sheet pile system. Through case history and theoretical analyses, the enhanced programs are demonstrated to yield accurate and realistic results. Parametric studies using the axisymmetric program show that conventional design methods overpredict, in some areas strongly, the interlock forces which develop during filling of the cofferdam. Parametric studies using the plane strain program suggest that there is also considerable conservatism in design methods to predict internal stability of the cofferdam. A new, simplified method is proposed for this type of analysis. In addition, it is shown that the deformations of cofferdams on sand follow consistent trends and can be set into a nondimensionalized context which can be used to predict future cofferdam movements. / Ph. D. / incomplete_metadata

A finite element program for analyzing the nonlinear behavior of moving contact problems has been developed and used for the analysis of a single sheet pile interlock (Chan and Barker (1985), Wu and Barker (1986). In this study, the program is modified to simulate a sheet pile pull-out test with a new finite element mesh. The improved mesh contains a full-length sheet pile with both of its interlocks connected to two half-length sheet piles. The results are presented and compared with the results of the pull-out tests which were conducted by O'Neil and McDonald at WES (1985). The comparison is not completely satisfactory because the initial slack between interlocks is not modeled. Nonetheless, the general behavior of sheet piles under tensile load is correctly predicted by the finite element program. For easier interpretation of the output from the finite element analysis, the computer graphics software AutoCAD (Auto desk, 1986) is adopted to serve as a postprocessor. Several features of AutoCAD such as overlaying, zooming, and macro instructions are utilized to serve this purpose. Some intermediate programs are also developed for the communication between the finite element program and AutoCAD. / Master of Science

Conventional design of cellular cofferdams is largely based upon semi-empirical concepts derived from classical earth pressure theories. Recent studies have suggested that most existing design methods are excessively conservative. In part, this derives from an inability to fully describe the true, relatively complex soil-structure interaction process which occurs in the flexible cellular cofferdam. In addition to the apparent conservatism in the conventional theories, they provide no means to predict movements of cofferdams. This deficiency has become more important with time, since performance and safety monitoring systems are largely oriented towards measuring deformations, and it is not possible to define reasonable levels of movements before construction. Further, finite element analysis techniques are being developed which are designed to predict cofferdam deformations, but the means for verifying the predictions are not definitive because of the lack of a broad data base on cofferdam performance. This investigation is directed towards providing a data base through the documentation and comparison of five case histories where instrumentation was used to monitor the behavior. Primary consideration was given to the response of the cofferdams under differential loading. In the course of the investigation, the response of each cofferdam was documented and dissected in terms of the behavior at each stage of the differential loading. A strong correlation is found to exist between the lateral cell deflection and the level of differential loading, with the exact nature of the correlation depending on certain key parameters including cell foundation, cell fill material, cell width to height ratio, presence of a stabilizing berm, and nature of loading. It is found for conservatively designed cells that the response falls into a predictable pattern which can be characterized in terms of non-dimensionalized parameters for both normal and more severe levels of loading. In addition to deformations, information is provided on interlock tensions where available. The results are believed to provide a baseline for cofferdam behavior that can be useful in gaging the expected behavior of other cofferdams and for verifying the accuracy of new forms of predictive tools such as the finite element method. / M.S.

A cellular cofferdam represents a challenging soil-structure interaction problem. The cellular system consists of a combination of a flexible structure formed from interlocking sheet piles that is filled with soil. In the past, the cellular cofferdam has been viewed as a temporary structure, and the design procedures have been based on empirical concepts. Basic to these approaches are assumptions of soil and structural behavior that have, at best, only a rough accounting for soil-structure interaction. In the last decade, work on cofferdams has improved our understanding of the behavior of these systems. Documentation of performance has increased, and in a few cases major instrumentation efforts have been undertaken. Concurrently, finite element methods have been introduced for the analysis of cofferdams. Where the finite element models have been properly calibrated by field performance, they have reasonably predicted the principal aspects of cofferdam behavior. Results of the finite element models have also served to help explain some aspects of the soil-structure interaction process in the cofferdam system. Two finite element programs are used in this research, AXISHL and GPS. The first of these is an axisymmetric analysis tool which is applicable to the case of filling of a main cell. The second program provides a simplified means of analyzing the main/arc cell and common wall system. Both programs are used in a series of parameter studies with the objective to provide information that will allow improvement of the state-of-the-art of design for cofferdams. An analytical solution is proposed which allows an insight to be developed as to how the clamping effect at the dredge line affects the behavior of the system. A simplified calculation procedure which has some of the characteristics of the finite element analysis is developed to supplement the need for a finite element analysis. / Ph. D.

The conventional design methods for sheet-pile cellular cofferdams were developed in the 1940's and 1950's based on field and limited experimental observations. The analytical techniques of the day were unable to account for the complexities involved. The procedures used only rudimentary concepts of soil-structure interaction which do not exhibit the true response of the cofferdam for most circumstances. During the past decade it has been demonstrated that with proper consideration of the soil-structure interaction effects, the two-dimensional finite element models can be powerful tools in the investigation of cellular cofferdam behavior. However, universal implementation of the findings of these analyses was difficult to justify, since uncertainties remain about the assumptions made in arriving at the two-dimensional models. The only way to address these uncertainties was to perform a three-dimensional analysis. This investigation has focused on the study of the three-dimensional behavior of Lock and Dam No. 26 (R) sheet—pile cellular cofferdam. The work involved the development of a new three-dimensional soil-structure interaction finite element code for cellular cofferdam modeling, and the application of the new code to the study of the behavior of the first- and second-stage cofferdam at Lock and Dam No. 26 (R). The new code was used to study the cell filling process where the main cell is filled first with the subsequent filling of the arc cell. The finite element results show that interlock forces in the common wall were 29 to 35 percent higher than those in the main cell which are less than those calculated by conventional methods and compare well with the observed values. After cell filling, the new code was used to model the cofferdam under differential loading due to initial dewatering of the interior of the cofferdam and changes in river levels. The finite element analysis results show that increasing differential water loads cause the confining stresses in the cell fill to increase which results in a decrease in the level of mobilized shear strength in the cell fill. This explains why the cellular cofferdam can withstand extremely high lateral loads and lateral deformations without collapsing. / Ph. D.

Inflatable dams are flexible membrane structures, pressurized with either air, water, or both, which have been used in recent years as a means of temporarily impounding water. A number of procedures have been developed to investigate the static behavior of the dams, but the dynamic behavior has been largely neglected. The few studies that have been done on dynamic behavior have used the simplifying assumption that the weight of the membrane was negligible. In this study, equations of equilibrium and equations of motion were derived for an air inflated dam impounding no water, but loaded with its own membrane weight. It was assumed that the effect of membrane extensibility is negligible in the analysis. Derivatives required in the equations of motion were approximated using finite difference equations. Computer programs were written to find solutions for the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the equations of motion. The computer program plotted the mode shapes of vibration associated with the four lowest eigenvalues, as well as the static shape of the dam. The eigenvalues obtained were the square of the frequencies of the system, so the effects of a series of membrane weights on the frequencies of dams of various base lengths could be analyzed. / M.S.