Finite element method for covered sheet pile wharfs

The most structures of wharfs in China are in the form of sheet pile walls. The height restriction of walls is only suitable for construction of small and medium-sized terminals. The covered sheet pile structure, adding a row of piles after the front wall, has greatly improved the force of the front wall. As a result, the covered sheet pile structure makes it possible to develop large scale deep water wharfs. The structure has no mature design. In order to better design and reconstruct wharfs, the conventional methods should be verified. The coverd sheet pile project of wharf #32 of Jingtang Port is taken as a case, and numerical simulation is performed by use of ANSYS. The results show that under normal conditions of the design, after adding piles, the moments of the front wall are reduced by about 70%, and the negative moments about 10%. The force of the back wall does not chang after adding covered sheet pile structure. Numerical results coincide with the monitoring data, indicating that the covered sheet piles are a feasible support way.