2020 Volume 76 Issue 2 Pages I_456-I_461
This paper discusses the experimental findings pertaining to the instability of the suction bucket foundation for wind turbines or offshore structures due to wave-induced liquefaction in sand beds. The emphasis of the experiments was placed on investigating the relation between the downward progress of liquefaction and the start of significant displacement of foundation bucket. A range of wave tests using a drum centrifuge was performed under a centrifugal acceleration of 70 gravities. The suction bucket foundation started moving significantly as soon as the liquefied zone advanced to the soil depth corresponding to the depth of the bucket tip. The experimental results also show that embedding the bucket tip in the dense layer with a thickness corresponding to 1/3 of bucket skirt length prevented instability of the foundation of suction bucket.
