Geotechnical Reliability of Offshore Gravity Platforms

摘要

The main part of the report is organized into five broad chapters. The first presents an overview of the sources of geotechnical uncertainty in offshore structures, previous quantitative analysis of those uncertainties, and the philosophy of formal methods in geotechnical reliability analysis. The second and third examine the basic uncertain variables, dealing with environmental loads and load effects, and with site characterization and parameter estimates, respectively. Chapter 5 is an extended discussion of the problem of modeling foundation performance, and the uncertainties of that undertaking. Finally, Chapter 6 considers the aggregation of these uncertainties into overall estimates of risk and reliability. To illustrate the analyses and methods developed in the course of the work, a specific site on the southern flank of Georges Bank has been chosen for discussion. Specific information on the site has been introduced as needed throughout the report.