Embedment Effects on Vertical Bearing Capacity of Offshore Bucket Foundations on Cohesionless Soil

This paper presents the results from a series of physical modeling and three-dimensional finite 9 element (FE) analyses, which examined the uniaxial vertical capacity of suction caissons for 10 offshore wind turbines. The experiments were carried out in quartz sand and involved monotonic 11 application of vertical load. It was found that the drained capacity of suction caissons is 12 dependent on embedment ratio. On the other hand, predictions from conventional semi-empirical 13 depth factors were found to somewhat underestimate when applied to rough foundations. On the 14 basis of the tests and FE analyses, new expressions for depth factor of shallow foundations have 15 been validated for embedment ratios (aspect ratios) up to unity, calibrating the fitting parameters 16 by employing data from a range of soil profiles.