Experimental investigation on the long-term settlement of suction bucket foundations under vertical loading in soft clay
Experimental investigation on the long-term settlement of suction bucket foundations under vertical loading in soft clay
Suction bucket jacket foundations are an attractive foundation solution for deep water wind development in China as an alternative to piled jackets. A design challenge is long-term tilt due to differential settlement between buckets, driven by prevailing wind directions and soft seabed conditions. Assessing long-term consolidation settlement is complex, with uncertainties in load sharing between the skirt tip, skirt friction and the bucket lid, and load redistribution as soil transitions from undrained to drained behaviour. This study presents centrifuge experiments to investigate the load-sharing mechanisms in suction bucket foundations installed in soft kaolin clay. Two suction bucket models are employed, and three loading conditions are evaluated in this study: idealized constant loading (ICL), time-varying loading (TVL), and constant loading interspersed extreme event (IEE). The experiments examine the initial undrained load distribution and induced excess pore pressure, alongside load redistribution between the skirt and lid as pore pressure dissipates. Results indicate significant load transfer from the lid to the skirt during consolidation and reverse transfer in response to cyclic loads, with relevant mechanism being discussed.
Youhu Zhang; Chuheng Wu; B. Bienen
11th International Conference on Physical Modelling in Geotechnics (ICPMG2026)
Special Session 3: Physical Modelling of Installation of Fixed OWT Foundations
https://doi.org/10.53243/ICPMG2026-264