Mechanical characterization of a hydraulic fill sand and FEM simulation of cellular cofferdams at Carena project

G. RELLÁN; I. GARCÍA MENDIVE; I. EZAMA; F. PAZ WALTHER; I. VERNENGO LEZICA; M. CODEVILLA; D. MANZANAL; A. SFRISO

Buenos Aires

Conferencia; XV Pan-American Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnica Engineering; 2015

ISSMGE-SAIG

The Carena project is located at Puerto Belgrano Naval Base in BahíaBlanca, Buenos Aires Province in Argentina. The project consists of the temporarywatertight closure of dry dock Nº. 2 for maintenance and repair of the dock?sinfrastructure. The closure was effected by means of a cellular cofferdamcomposed of three main cells 21.8m in diameter linked by connecting arcs and twokidney-shaped cells that connect the cofferdam to the wharf wall. The structurewas built with 20m-long driven sheet piles and filled with hydraulic sand whichwas densified by vibration after placement. The soils mechanics laboratory at theUniversity of Buenos Aires performed the physical and mechanicalcharacterization of the Carena sand by means of consolidated drained (CIDC) andundrained (CIUC) triaxial tests at different relative densities and effectiveconfinement pressures. A desktop study was performed that included thecalibration of the Hardening Soil Constitutive Model (HSM) for various relativedensities and the execution of a finite element numerical model of the wholeclosure in Plaxis 3D.