Suction buckets behaviour under tensile loads: A numerical study with FEM
- Suction Bucket Jackets (SBJ) are found as a suitable alternative to driven piles for the support of foundations for offshore wind energy converters. In the case of jackets or multipods, a predominant vertical load is to be expected. The effect of such a tensile loading is the generation of suction in the soil inside the bucket which leads to an increment of tensile capacity. This paper aims to study the bearing behaviour of a suction foundation by taking into account how the soil permeability and the loading rate influence the foundation behaviour. Moreover, after submitting the structure to a storm load, the bearing capacity is studied again, in order to see the effect of such a load on the bucket's bearing behaviour. This study is carried out by means of Finite Element numerical simulations based on the formulation of Biot's equations combined with a constitutive model that reproduces the key aspects of cyclic soil behaviour in the frame of Generalized Plasticity.