Negative pressure consolidation of silt inside bucket foundation

Abstract

A series of model experiments of bucket foundations concerning suction installation and negative pressure consolidation in saturated silt were carried out in a cube steel bin at Tianjin University. The experimental results show that the silt inside the bucket has been strengthened by negative pressure, and the strengthening effect decreases with the increase of the distance from the bucket. A three-dimensional numerical model of the experiments was built by means of finite element software ABAQUS with fluid-solid coupling method. The results show that the bearing capacity of the silt inside the bucket foundation increases significantly at the former stage of negative pressure consolidation, while the increasing trend slows down over time. The rotation centers of the bucket foundation and the inner soil region tend to be closer to each other based on the consolidation. The bearing capacity of the bucket foundation is improved effectively with the increase of soil strength. The effects of negative pressure consolidation on the bearing capacity of bucket foundation were also illustrated by an actual offshore wind power project case.

Keywords

bucket foundation / negative pressure consolidation / fluid-solid coupling / inclination / bearing capacity

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