Influence of barrier effect on barrier sheet pile wharf

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the barrier effect of front wall-soil-barrier interactions in barrier sheet pile wharf structures. Berth 32 of the Jingtang Port was taken as the prototype structure, and the prototype observation experiment, centrifugal model test, and numerical calculation analysis were performed to study the influence of the length of the barrier pile, the spacing D between wall piles, and the net spacing L of the barrier pile on the barrier effect. The results show that, to maximize the barrier effect, the ratio N of the pile length of the full barrier pile to the depth of the front wall should be between 1.0 and 1.1. To maximize the barrier effect, the top elevation of the semi-barrier pile should not be excessively low. When the bottom elevation is fixed, the ratio of the length of the semi-barrier pile to the depth of the front wall is approximately N= 0.7. The change in the wall pile spacing D has a considerable impact on the barrier effect. Moreover, D has a logarithmic relationship to the horizontal displacement of the front wall. When D exceeds 3 m, the change in the barrier effect can be ignored. The part of the earth pressure shared by the sea and land sides of the barrier pile to the soil between the barrier pile and the barrier pile has a logarithmic relationship to the net spacing L of the barrier pile. The smaller the L, the better the barrier effect. When L exceeds 2 m, the earth pressure shared by the two parts tends to be average, and the barrier effect can be ignored.