Centrifugal model tests on bucket foundation in clay for offshore wind turbine

The bucket foundation is widely used in ocean engineering. Most of the ocean foundations are in saturated mucky soil, meanwhile, they suffer from the complex stress environment. A series of centrifugal model tests are conducted in the bucket foundation on the saturated mucky soil to simulate the prototype stress in the foundation. Based on the analysis of the typical tests, the stress and deformation and pore pressure characteristics of the foundation are introduced under cyclic horizontal loading conditions. The horizontal static and cyclic loadings are conducted on the foundation. If the total load exceeds the critical plastic one of the foundation, its deformation is negligible, or else the accumulated deformation formed by the long-term cyclic loading makes the bucket and the ground be apart, which will cause the loss of the suction and the dumping of the bucket foundation.