Nonlinear seismic soil-pile-structure interaction analysis of fixed offshore platforms

A nonlinear seismic soil-pile-structure interaction (SSPSI) analysis of fixed offshore platforms constructed on pile foundations including both vertical and battered piles is presented. The analysis is carried out in time domain and the effects of soil nonlinearity, discontinuity at pile soil interfaces, energy dissipation through soil radiation damping, formation of soil layers on bed rock, structural material nonlinearity and geometrical nonlinearity are considered. A combination of FEM approach and BNWF approach is used in modeling pile (substructure), platform structure (superstructure) and soil media. Gapping in clay is modeled by a special connector configuration. To find out the ground motion of soil layers caused by earthquake excitations at bed rock, a nonlinear site response analysis is performed. The effects of soil-pile-structure interaction on nonlinear seismic analysis of offshore platforms are discussed. A comparison of SSPSI model and pile stub modeling is investigated and it is generally concluded that considering soil-pile-structure interaction causes higher deflections and lower stresses in the platform elements due to soil flexibility, nonlinearity and radiation damping and leads to a more feasible and realistic platform design. The sequence of generation of plastic zones in the structure and their distribution are also investigated. Results show that this nonlinear behavior is started at brace elements and then propagated to leg elements as earthquake last.