Embedment Effects on Vertical Bearing Capacity of Offshore Bucket Foundations on Cohesionless Soil
Publication: International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 17, Issue 4
Abstract
This paper presents the results from a series of physical modeling and three-dimensional finite-element (FE) analyses in which the authors examined the uniaxial vertical capacity of suction caissons for offshore wind turbines. The experiments were carried out in quartz sand and involved monotonic application of vertical load. It was found that the drained capacity of suction caissons is dependent on embedment ratio. In contrast, predictions from conventional semiempirical depth factors were found to somewhat underestimate when applied to rough foundations. On the basis of the tests and FE analyses, new expressions for the depth factor of shallow foundations were validated for embedment ratios (aspect ratios) up to unity, calibrating the fitting parameters by using data from a range of soil profiles.
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© 2016 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jul 2, 2015
Accepted: Jul 5, 2016
Published online: Sep 30, 2016
Discussion open until: Mar 1, 2017
Published in print: Apr 1, 2017
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