Numerical Simulation on the Whole Sinking Process of Open Caisson with an Improved SPH Method

The phenomena of dynamic change in the material interfaces and mechanical properties are often involved in the caisson construction. Using conventional methods to simulate these phenomena is quite difficult due to the extremely large deformation. In this study, we proposed an improved soil-water-caisson interaction algorithm with the method of smoothed-particle hydrodynamics (SPH). This algorithm dealt with the support domain truncation of the particles near the blade and applied to avoid the pressure fluctuation. Meanwhile, the application of dynamic particles birth and death method could simulate the whole sinking process of an open caisson with underwater soil excavation. According to the comparison between SPH simulation and centrifuge test, the distribution of sidewall effective soil pressure was consistent, which indicated promising applicability of the algorithm. It should be noted that the considerable excess pore water pressure appeared in the surrounding soil under the blade. With the dissipation of the pressure over time, the effective soil stress increased correspondingly, and it would lead to the increasing difficulty of the sinking process. Therefore, the caisson should be avoided to stop for a long time during the sinking process or it would cause the stagnation of sinking. This algorithm could simulate engineering problems involving underwater construction effectively and provide theoretical and technical support for underwater excavation, shield tunneling, and other engineering problems.