Undrained capacity of suction buckets under VHM loads in cohesive soil
Undrained capacity of suction buckets under VHM loads in cohesive soil
Suction buckets are commonly used as support foundations for offshore fixed structures. A procedure of determining the VHM failure envelopes of the suction buckets is proposed. Firstly, the soil failure mechanisms around the suction buckets in absence of the vertical load are studied by finite element analyses. Based on the failure mechanisms obtained, analytical solutions for calculating the HM capacity are established. All the governing parameters of the elliptical failure envelope in the HM plane are demonstrated to have a physical meaning. The HM failure envelopes are found to contract as the vertical load V increases. For a given vertical load, the HM failure envelope can be determined by scaling down the semi-major and semi-minor axes with the oblique angle of major axis unchanged. The scaling factors can be respectively derived from the V-H and V-M interaction diagrams. The results show that the closed form expressions, with all relevant parameters being physically sensible, are consistent with the results of detailed 3D finite element analyses for the considered boundary conditions.
Xiaowei Feng; Qian Zhao
5th International Symposium on Frontiers in Offshore Geotechnics (ISFOG2025)
11 - Suction installed foundations and anchors
https://doi.org/10.53243/ISFOG2025-106
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