Application of Coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian Method to Large Deformation Analyses of Offshore Foundations and Suction Anchors

Finite element analysis (FEA) using the Coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian (CEL) method has gained greater acceptance and increasing application to offshore geotechnical problems involving large deformation. This paper focuses on applying the CEL method to deep penetration analyses of the spudcan foundation and suction anchors. Some well-controlled centrifuge tests available in the literature are selected for the back analyses. A real case of spudcan-subsea template interaction during installation of the spudcan foundation at the Brynhild field is analyzed. Some semi-empirical methods recommended in industry guidelines and the small strain finite element (FE) method with the Press-Replace (PR) technique are also utilized for predicting the spudcan penetration capacity. From a comparison of all the results, it is concluded that combining the CEL method with the modified Mohr-Coulomb constitutive model provides a robust and suitable numerical tool for not only estimating the foundation-bearing capacity but also predicting complex failure mechanisms.