Testing of jacket pile sleeve grouted connections exposed to variable axial loads

Abstract Modern offshore jacket structures are designed with piles that are carrying variable axial loads, large shear forces and bending moments. Even if the geometry of the grouted connection is quite simple the load transfer mechanism is complex. It involves friction, contact stresses, brittle material, abrasion, cyclic degradation, etc. Current design recommendations were developed based on relatively small scale test and with only a few tests performed with cyclic loads that include change of load direction. In order to study the capacity of grouted connections with shear keys for alternating axial load, four (4) segment specimens were tested. The specimens were full scale representation of a segment of a part of the annulus of an axially loaded pile sleeve connection. The load-carrying axial capacity under cyclic loading was found.