Proceedings of the 6th International Oshore Site Investigation and Geotechnics Conference:

Confronting New Challenges and Sharing Knowledge, 1113 September 2007, London, UK

SPUDCAN REINSTALLATION NEAR EXISTING FOOTPRINTS

Christophe Gaudin, Mark J Cassidy and Tim Donovan
Centre for Oshore Foundation Systems, The University of Western Australia, Australia

Abstract
The requirement to re-install spudcan foundations close to existing footprints has a signicant and
often detrimental effect both structurally on the jack-up legs load and stability and, geotechnically,
on the bearing capacity of the spudcan. The inuence of an existing footprint on the bearing capacity
and potential horizontal displacement of the spudcan have therefore been investigated experimentally
using a geotechnical centrifuge. The experimental arrangements feature a fully instrumented jack-up
leg, measuring axial forces and bending moments, coupled to a sliding device that allows free lateral
displacement of the spudcan (advancing previous experimental and nite element studies that have
prevented movement of the jack-up leg). This paper presents experimental results obtained by varying
the offset distance between the spudcan and the footprint for normally consolidated clay. Implications
for the reinstallation of jack-ups under these conditions are discussed.

1. Introduction

1.1 Jack-up and spudcan background

Jack-up units are commonly used for oil or gas exploitation in water depths up to 120m (Figure 1). They consist of
a buoyant triangular hull connected to three independent
truss-work legs, with a conical shape foundation (known as
a spudcan) at the base. During installation, the legs are lowered into the seabed independently and usually one after
each other. The loading process includes stages of preloading where additional load (in comparison to the in-service
load) is applied on the spudcan. Once the drilling or workover is complete, the jack-up unit is removed, leaving on
the seabed footprints which may be up to 10m deep and
20m wide in soft clay1 .

bending moment developed in the leg during reinstallation

using centrifuge testing. The parameters investigated were
the stiness of the leg, the spudcan geometry and oset ratio,
and the pre-load level. The results showed similar trends with
a critical oset ratio around 0.5, independent of the exural
stiness of the leg. More surprising was the lack of inuence
of the exural stiness of the leg on the maximum bending
moment developed. One reason advanced by the authors to
explain this result was the xed connection between the leg

Reinstallation of jack-up units nearby pre-existing footprints is one of the challenges currently faced by the jack-up
industry (Figure 2). During the installation process, vertical
load is applied directly though the centre of the spudcan. In
the case of installation near a pre-existing footprint, where
the soil surface is uneven, an eccentric and/or inclined reaction from the soil will be applied to the spudcan. This will
tend to cause tilting of the spudcan that is resisted by the
development of bending moment in the leg, leading potentially to overloading of the legs. Although this problem has
been clearly identied2, 3, there are still no guidelines to assist operators in a safe reinstallation, aside from the recommendation to monitor leg loads via rack phase dierence
(RPD) during installation.
Previous investigations carried out by Clunie-Ross4 and
Stewart and Finnie5 showed that the critical oset ratio, ,
when the maximum leg bending moment is developed is
0.75 (measured as the centre-to-centre oset distance between the two installations, a, divided by the spudcan diameter, D see Figure 2). On the other hand, the highest
horizontal load was recorded at a normalised oset distance
of about 1.25. A more recent study6 aimed to quantify the

Figure 1: Three-legged jack-up

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Table 1: Scale factors in centrifuge modelling

Dimensions

Scale Factors

Density

Length

1/n

Displacement

1/n

Strain

Stress

Bending Stiness

n4

Acceleration

Force

n2

Time (dynamic eects)

1/n

Figure 2: Spudcan reinstallation scenario

Time (consolidation eect)

1/n2

and the experimental apparatus, which prevented any lateral

or rotational movement. Lateral displacements were evaluated using simple rst-order bending theory. However, such
evaluation may be misleading due to the xities of the apparatus which inuences the development of bending moment
and may not be relevant to prototype conditions.

2. Centrifuge Testing

The present study aimed to extend this series of results by

performing centrifuge tests allowing for free lateral movement of the leg during the reinstallation. Although dierent to the prototype condition, this case, like the previously
discussed study, presented extreme assumptions which are
believed to be bound to the real prototype.The investigation
was limited to a circular spudcan and a leg stiness corresponding to a specic jack-up unit. During the test, vertical
load, bending moment at the top of the model leg and vertical and horizontal spudcan displacements were recorded.
The oset ratio, , was the main parameter investigated.
Finally, the performance of a technical solution used to limit
the lateral displacement of the spudcan was assessed.

1.2 Physical modelling background

Self-weight forces are the dominant load in geotechnical

engineering, and the conning pressures generated by them
govern the behaviour of the soil mass (i.e. the behaviour of
the soil is stress dependent). Therefore, to respect the similitude principles (i.e. to observe the same behaviour) between
a full scale structure, (referred to as the prototype case) and
a 1/nth reduced-scale model, it is necessary to replicate the
gravity-induced stresses by testing the model in a gravitational eld n times larger than that of the prototype. A
centrifuge is the most convenient way to apply a high acceleration eld to a model. Applying dimensional analysis to
this particular case7, 8, 9 allows for the scaling of the dimensions of the reduced scale model and the determination of
their values in terms of the prototype dimensions. Table 1
presents the scale factors used for centrifuge modelling.
Centrifuge modelling is now common practice and has been
used with success for many years to study oshore geotechnical structures, including piled structures, gravity-based
structures, suction caissons, shallow foundations, plate anchors and embedded anchors and spudcan foundations10, 11,
12. The University of Western Australia (UWA) hosts a drum
centrifuge, which was used for the present study.

2.1 Experimental setup

All tests were carried out at n = 250g in the drum centrifuge at UWA (Figure 3), as this oered the possibility
of conducting multiple spudcan penetration tests with one
sample. The ring channel of this machine has an outer diameter of 1.2m, an inner diameter of 0.8m and a channel
height (sample width) of 0.3m. When testing at 250g, this
size provides a full-scale testing area of 360m by 75m (with
a depth of 35m). An actuator is mounted on an independently rotating central tool table to which the spudcan leg is
connected prior to each penetration test, thereby avoiding
the need to halt the centrifuge in between tests when the
spudcan must be cleaned. A complete technical description
of this facility is presented by Stewart et al.13
The model spudcan is based on the prototype Mod V A
Class Spudcan. It is a 60mm-diameter (15m prototype) circular spudcan made from aluminium, with a conventional
conical shape with a spigot at its centre (Figure 4). No surface treatment was applied to the spudcan, and the interface
can be considered as smooth. The spudcan was rigidly connected to a model leg made from aluminium, 11.4mm in
diameter and 190mm long (47.5m prototype).
The Mod V A Class jack-up is operational in water depths
exceeding 100m. However, due to space restrictions between the central tool table and the channel of the drum
centrifuge, it was not possible to model the full leg length.
With the model leg length restricted, a reduced scale factor
= 0.5 was therefore applied on the prototype leg length
before applying the centrifuge scale factor. Dimensional
analysis shows that in such a case, the scale factor on the
stiness of the leg should be n4 3(instead of n4) in order to
respect the similitude between the model and the prototype
leg. Hence, although the leg is 190mm, at 250g it replicates
a 95m-long prototype leg. Though the jack-up may sometimes operate with leg lengths exceeding 95m, the length
used is considered to represent average operational conditions. The model and prototype dimensions of the leg and
the spudcan are summarised in Table 2.
The model leg was instrumented by two sets of bending
strain gauges and one set of axial strain gauges to record the

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Confronting New Challenges and Sharing Knowledge, 1113 September 2007, London, UK
Table 3: Properties of UWA Kaolin
Liquid Limit, LL

61%

Plastic Limit, PL

27%

Specic Gravity, Gs

2.60

Angle of Internal Friction,

23

Voids Ratio at p = 1kPa on critical state line, ecs

2.140

Slope of normal consolidation line,

0.205

Slope of swelling line,

0.044

Ratio of pressures on normal compression and critical 2.48

state lines
Coecient of consolidation, cv (at over-consolidation 2m2/yr
ratio = 1 and v = 20kPa)

Figure 3: UWA drum centrifuge

vertical load applied and the bending moment generated
during testing.
The key feature of the device was the sliding displacement
mechanism allowing free lateral displacement of the leg during the reinstallation (Figure 5a). It consists of an immovable rectangular brushed aluminium bracket housing two
highly polished non-friction aluminium shafts installed parallel to each other. This conguration was used to ensure
the leg connection underwent no rotation during the testing
process. The leg itself was attached to an aluminium block
into which the parallel shafts were threaded through. This
restricted the block so that it would slide freely only on the
horizontal plane. A linear displacement transducer (LDT)
was connected to the sliding block to record the lateral displacement. The sliding block could also be locked into
place by four circular discs positioned on either side, hence
preventing any displacement during the initial penetration.
The sliding system featured connections at its bottom and
Table 2: Model and prototype dimensions of the leg and spudcan
Prototype

Model

Length, L

95m*

190mm

Inertia, I

13.8m

Stiness, EI

2.75 x 1015Nm2 88107Nm2

MOD V A Class Leg

4

1253mm4*

MOD V A Class Spudcan

Diameter

15m

60mm

* This was achieved in the model by using an allow tube 11.4mm in

diameter and 1.5mm wall thickness

Figure 4: Model spudcan

top face for connection to the spudcan and the actuator

(Figure 5b). Once setup, the actuator was able to drive the
spudcan into the channel (vertical to the sample) and at
dierent positions within the channel.

2.2 Soil sample preparation and characterisation

Normally consolidated kaolin clay was used as the soil
model (see the properties tabulated in Table 3). The clay
was mixed under vacuum at a water content of 120%
(twice the liquid limit) and poured into the drum channel.
The consolidation process was achieved in the centrifuge
under self-weight at an acceleration of 250g. Pore pressures
at three dierent depths were measured to monitor the consolidation process.
T-bar penetrometer tests14 were performed before each spudcan penetration test at a penetration rate of 1mm/s. This
speed ensured undrained behaviour, and the tests were used
to assess the undrained shear strength. The T-bar is an in situ
testing tool consisting of a cylindrical bar (5mm by 20mm)
attached perpendicularly to the end of a shaft. Strain gauges
located at the connection recorded the bearing resistance,
qT-bar, continuously during penetration of the cylindrical
bar. Using a bearing capacity factor, NT-bar, derived from
plasticity theory of 10.515, the following expression was used
to calculate the undrained shear strength, su,
(1)
Figure 6 presents the undrained shear strength proles obtained over the duration of the spudcan tests. They showed a
good consistency with minimal change in the shear strength
prole over the duration of the tests. The undrained shear
Figure 5: (a) The sliding mechanism and (b) the spudcan and
sliding mechanism connected to the actuator

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tem locked at an oset ratio of 0.5 and 1.0 for comparison

with data obtained previously by Stewart and Finnie5.
During each test, the vertical load, bending moment and
vertical and horizontal displacements were recorded at a
sampling rate of 10Hz.

3. Experimental Results
The adopted sign convention is presented in Figure 8.
Vertical displacement is positive downwards. Positive lateral
displacement is dened as towards the centre of the preexisting footprint. All the gures are plotted in prototype
scale units, unless mentioned otherwise.

3.1 Penetration resistance during reinstallation

Figure 6: Undrained shear strength proles in the sample from

T-bar penetrometer tests
strength, su (in kPa), may be approximate by the following
expression
su = z
(2)
where z is the prototype depth expressed in metres.

2.3 Experimental procedure and programme

A total of eight tests were performed by penetrating the spudcan into the clay at a constant rate of 0.1mm/s, ensuring undrained behaviour of the clay16 . The process was as follows:
1. The rst penetration was carried out, with the sliding system locked in order to prevent any lateral displacement,
up to a penetration depth of 90mm (22.5m prototype),
corresponding to an embedment of 1.5 diameters.
2. The spudcan was immediately extracted at 0.1mm/s and
subsequently cleaned. Note that in the time period necessary to stop the tool table, clean the spudcan and set it
up in position for reinstallation (corresponding to about
1.2 year prototype), the clay had undertaken some reconsolidation at the location of the rst penetration.
3. The spudcan was reinstalled at 0.1mm/s, up to the same
embedment ratio, nearby the initial footprint at an oset
ratio, (dened as the centre-to-centre distance divided
by the diameter of the spudcan), of 0.25, 0.50 (twice),
0.75, 1.00 and 1.25 (Figure 7). For these six tests, the
sliding system was unlocked, allowing for free lateral displacement. Two tests were repeated with the sliding sys-

Figure 9 presents the penetration resistance for all tests

performed with the sliding device unlocked, in comparison to the initial penetration. The displacement origin was
the same for all tests and corresponded to the touchdown
of the spigot during the initial penetration. The depression
created by the footprint was about 2 spudcan diameters in
width (30m prototype) and 3 to 4m deep, meaning that all
reinstallation tests were preformed with diering portions
of the spudcan initially in contact with the footprint. This
was reected in the penetration curves of the reinstallation
tests which exhibited little to no penetration resistance at
the very beginning of the penetration, over a depth increasing with the reduction of the oset ratio. Once the spudcan
was in full contact with the soil, the penetration resistance
increased linearly with depth (as expected in normally consolidated clay). Also expected was the immediate clay backow observed behind the spudcan penetration in all cases.
In addition, the following points are noted:
The bearing capacity factor deduced from the penetration resistance during the initial penetration was about
11.3. This result is consistent with previous results reported by Randolph et al.17
As the oset ratio decreased, the penetration resistance
during reinstallation reduced, illustrating (a) the remoulding of clay and resulting loss of strength during the initial
penetration and (b) that the spudcan is more inuenced by
this remoulding as the reinstallation is closer to the initial
penetration. The maximum reduction was observed for an
oset ratio of 0.25 and corresponded to a reduction of shear
strength of about 33%. This is signicantly lower than that
observed by Stewart and Finnie5 (about 60%), but this
dierence may be explained by the reconsolidation undergone by the clay during the cleaning and repositioning

Figure 7: Spudcan reinstallation process

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Confronting New Challenges and Sharing Knowledge, 1113 September 2007, London, UK
ratio. This was surprising, as the lateral displacement
during the unlocked reinstallation (discussed in the following section) demonstrated the displacement of the
spudcan towards more remoulded clay, which might
have been expected to result in a lower penetration resistance compared to the locked case.

3.2 Lateral displacements during reinstallation

Figure 8: Sign convention for V, H and M loads

Figure 9: Penetration resistance during reinstallation with

depth for the ve dierent osets
of the spudcan before the reinstallation in these tests.
Although the previous tests were also conducted in the
same drum centrifuge, the spudcan re-installation took
place immediately after the initial footprint was produced.
Comparison between unlocked and locked reinstallation (not presented here) did not show any signicant
dierence in penetration resistance for a given oset

The lateral displacement proles during the reinstallation for

all unlocked tests are presented in Figure 10. Interestingly,
they all exhibited the same pattern, with a rapid increase in
lateral displacement starting at a depth increasing with the
reduction of the oset ratio. Beyond a certain depth, the
lateral displacement tended to reach a stationary value. This
behaviour is more pronounced for a high oset ratio, notably for = 1.25, where the limit is reached at a shallower
depth and where the lateral displacement actually reduces
with further penetration.
These patterns are easily explained by the geometry of the
footprint and its interaction with the spudcan. As the oset ratio decreases, the spudcan has less distance to travel
before reaching an equilibrium position, which is close to
the centre of the previous footprint. As the oset ratio increases, the spudcan has a higher distance to travel and it
moves laterally until either the embedment is high enough
to generate enough lateral resistance or the spudcan is no
longer aected by the footprint. Consequently, the highest
lateral displacement is observed for a critical oset ratio of
= 1, where the spudcan is close enough to be inuenced
by the previous footprint and far enough to travel a signicant distance before reaching an equilibrium. This critical
oset, leading to the maximum leg displacement, is in contrast with results obtained by Foo et al.3, Clunie-Ross4 and
Stewart and Finnie5. They observed that for locked reinstallation the critical oset, which led to the maximum leg
bending moment, was smaller, ranging from 0.5 to 0.75.
The evolution of the lateral displacement expressed as a ratio of the spudcan diameter with the initial oset ratio is
presented in Figure 11. The maximum lateral displacement
is observed for an oset ratio of = 1, and is ~5.3m, i.e.
nearly 35% of the spudcan diameter.
Figure 10: Lateral
spudcan displacement comparisons
during reinstallation

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Figure 11: Maximum lateral spudcan displacement during

reinstallation

Figure 12: Typical lateral spudcan displacement curve during

reinstallation with oset, = 1 (prototype scale)

In addition, the following points may be noted:

For the lowest oset ratio, = 0.25, the lateral displacements are initiated after a penetration of 14m. This result seems to show that the lateral displacement is not
only due to the geometry of the footprint, but also to the
dierent soil shear strength between the side close to the
footprint and the one far from the footprint, resulting in
an asymmetric bearing pressure applied at the invert of
the spudcan.
During the extraction, all tests exhibited a specic pattern of movement, as presented in Figure 12 (only the
result for the oset ratio of 1 is presented for clarity).
The lateral displacements tend to decrease with reducing embedment until it increases again at an embedment
ratio of 0.3. This behaviour is consistent for all tests. This
phenomenon is not well understood yet and will require
more investigation. It may result from the specic stress
distribution around the spudcan due to the successive
installation and reinstallation. Note that in all cases, the
spudcan came back to the original position once fully
extracted due to the radial centrifuge force acting on the
apparatus. However, this force cannot be the explanation
of the behaviour described. This force was sucient to
move the spudcan once it did not experienced any lateral
resistance, but was insignicant in comparison to the lateral resistance acting on the spudcan once penetrated.
This is proven by the nearly nil bending moment in the
leg during the locked penetration (see Figure 13).

during reinstallation, which exhibit some erratic variations.

The mechanisms that cause the development of bending moment along the leg of the spudcan depend on the geometry
of the footprint and the heterogeneity in the strength of the
material from the initial penetration. Two mechanisms are
likely to occur, resulting in opposite or additional bending
moments in the leg according to the xity at the top of the
leg. The rst one corresponds to the tilting of the spudcan as
it rests on an uneven surface and only a section of the whole
spudcan invert is in contact with the soil at the early penetration stage. This mechanism generates a positive bending
moment (according to the convention presented in Figure 8)
through an eccentric vertical load that increases with penetration, as more soil comes in contact with the spudcan, until
half of the spudcan is touching the soil.
Once the spudcan becomes fully embedded, a second mechanism takes place. The asymmetry in soil shear strength on
each side of the spudcan generates an asymmetry in the
bearing pressure at the invert of the spudcan, resulting in a
further positive bending moment in the leg, also due to an
Figure 13: Bending moment comparison between the locked
and unlocked reinstallation with oset, = 1 (prototype scale)

3.3 Bending moment proles during reinstallation

Figure 13 presents the bending moment proles for an oset
ratio of 1 for the locked and unlocked cases, in addition
to the prole during initial penetration. During the initial
penetration, the bending moment at the platform level (i.e.
the head of the leg) uctuated around zero. This is likely to be
due to small heterogeneities in the soil resulting in an uneven
penetration resistance along the spudcan and, more importantly, by the small play in the sliding system which does not
provide perfect xity. This defect of the device, unfortunately
inevitable, is highlighted in the bending moment proles

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eccentric vertical load. However, when the leg is free to move
horizontally, this asymmetry generates a horizontal force at
the spudcan level, resulting in a horizontal displacement towards the weaker material in the centre of the footprint, and
a corresponding lateral soil resistance acting on the leg. Both
forces (for which resultant is nil) apply at dierent location
in the structure and create a negative bending moment. The
magnitude of the latter depends on the penetration depth
and the magnitude in lateral displacement.
These mechanisms are clearly observable in Figure 13. Both
locked and unlocked proles feature a rapid increase in
bending moment in the rst few metres of penetration due
to the eccentric load on the spudcan. Once full embedment
is achieved, the proles diverge with a continuous increase
of bending moment in the locked reinstallation, as already
observed by Steart and Finnie5, and a decrease and reversal
of bending moment with depth for the unlocked case,
which reaches its maximum negative value at a penetration
of about 12m before increasing again. It should be noted
that the subsequent decrease and increase of bending moment for the unlocked reinstallation coincides exactly with
the beginning and the end of the lateral displacement, respectively, validating the assumptions regarding the mechanisms presented previously. Another important observation
is the reduction in bending moment magnitude by a factor
of 2 when the leg is free to move horizontally.
Figure 14 presents the bending moment proles of all tests performed with the sliding device unlocked, in comparison to the
one from the initial penetration. The following is observed:
During the rst few metres of penetration, a positive
bending moment is generated, as described earlier. The
amplitude of this bending moment and the depth of its
maximum value depend on the oset ratio, although the
variation is relatively small (between 4.9 and 5.2MNm
over a depth varying from 3 to 4m).
Beyond an embedment of 4m, there is a clear dierence
in behaviour between spudcans reinstalled at an oset
ratio, , lower or equal to 0.75 and those reinstalled at
Figure 14: Bending moment at the platform level during reinstallation at ve dierent osets with unlocked reinstallation
free horizontal movement cases (prototype scale)

an oset ratio, , higher or equal to 1. In the rst case,

the bending moment values reduce to reach eventually a
maximum negative value between 12.5 and 17.5m depth.
In the second case, the bending moment values decrease
before increasing again beyond 12.5m depth to reach a
maximum value at the maximum embedment depth. It
is uncertain at that stage how these mechanisms combine
at deep embedment and if other mechanisms are taking
place as the spudcan penetrates deeper. Further investigations are required to understand these patterns.
From Figure 14, it is concluded that the maximum bending
moment is generated for an oset ratio of = 1.25 at the
maximum embedment depth. This result is in contrast to
that obtained by Stewart and Finnie5, who observed that for
a locked reinstallation, the maximum bending moment
was generated for a penetration equal to half the spudcan
diameter and for an oset ratio of = 1.25.
This dierence highlights the dominant role played by the
horizontal leg restraint in the development of bending moment in the leg. However, it is not possible to conclude
what the exact inuence the oset ratio has on the amplitude of bending moment in the leg for cases of intermediate
restraint, between the xed and free-sliding cases considered
here. A more detailed analysis in term of failure mechanism
during penetration and interaction between the remoulded
zones generated by the initial penetration and the zone affected by the reinstallation would be required. This is however beyond the scope of this paper.

3.4 Technical solution to limit lateral displacements

In order to investigate methods of limiting the lateral leg
displacement during reinstallation, a small thin-walled skirt
was added to the base of the spudcan. This skirt was 10mm
high, 40mm in diameter and 1mm thick (respectively
2.5m, 10m and 0.25m in eld scale units). It aimed to increase the lateral resistance by adding the bearing capacity
of the skirt to the frictional resistance of the bottom face of
the spudcan. One test was performed with this device for
an oset ratio of 1, where the maximum lateral displaceFigure 15: Lateral spudcan displacement comparison between
the normal spudcan and the skirted spudcan, with oset,
= 1 (prototype scale)

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the experimental apparatus. Helpful discussions with Dr

Dave White are gratefully acknowledged. The Centre for
Oshore Foundation Systems was established under the
Australian Research Councils Research Centres Programme
and is supported by the state government of Western
Australia through the Centres of Excellence in Science and
Innovation Program. The research discussed in this paper
was conduced when the third author was an enrolled student at the University of Western Australia.

References
1. Osborne JJ, Pelley D, Nelson C and Hunt R. (2006).
Unpredicted jack-up foundation performance. Proceedings of
Jack-Up Asia Conference and Exhibition, PetroMin, Singapore,
78 December.

Figure 16: Bending moment comparison between the normal spudcan and the skirted spudcan, with oset, = 1
(prototype scale)
ment was observed. The results obtained were encouraging.
The lateral displacement was reduced by about 27% (from
5.2 to 4.95m) as shown in Figure 15. Most importantly,
this reduction of lateral displacement did not result in an
increase of the bending moment in the leg, as demonstrated
in Figure 16.

4. Conclusions
Centrifuge tests were performed to assess the behaviour of
a spudcan foundation reinstalled nearby a previous footprint. These tests featured a new experimental device where
free lateral displacement of the spudcan was permitted and
were performed in addition to a previous test campaign in
which the lateral displacement was constrained. The main
conclusions are
Allowing free lateral spudcan displacement leads to a signicant reduction in the bending moment generated in
the spudcan leg during reinstallation.
The critical oset ratio dened in this case as the position of maximum lateral displacement is found to
be 1. The maximum lateral displacement is reached at
an embedment of 1.33 diameter of the spudcan and is
~35% of the spudcan diameter.
The lateral displacement may be signicantly reduced
without increasing the bending moment in the leg by
equipping the spudcan with a circular skirt.
These results are a rst step towards the understanding of
the reinstallation behaviour of the spudcan next to an existing footprint. A more complex analysis is now required to
account for the full interaction between the spudcans, legs
and hull, and to integrate a structural analysis in addition
to the geotechnical analysis.

Acknowledgments
The authors acknowledge the contribution of Mr Bart
Thompson, drum centrifuge operator, who assisted with
the centrifuge experiments, and Messrs Tuarn Brown
and Phil Hortin, who assisted with the development of

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and Polar Engng, Stavanger, Norway.
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Western Australia.
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Chapman and Hall.
10. Mur JD. (1996). The geotechnical centrifuge in oshore engineering. Proc. Oshore Tech. Conf., Houston, USA.
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