Research on the Critical Buckling Pressure of Bucket Foundations with Inner Compartments for Offshore Wind Turbines

In the process of suction penetration of bucket foundations with inner compartments for offshore wind turbines,most researches focus on soil seepage failure and soil plugs,while the buckling of foundations is rarely investigated.Therefore,theoretical calculation methods for critical buckling pressures of the skirt and bulkheads of the bucket foundation are first presented according to the stability theory of a cylindrical shell and the small deflection theory of a thin plate,respectively.Furthermore,two types of models with and without considering the skirt-soil interaction are developed for the calculation of critical buckling pressure of the bucket foundation.Taking a practical project as an example,theoretical and numerical methods are used to obtain the critical buckling pressures of a bucket foundation.In this work,the theoretical method and the finite element model considering the skirt-soil interaction for calculating the critical buckling pressure of bucket foundations are firstly proposed.The results can help to optimize the design process of offshore wind turbine foundations and improve the safety of offshore wind power systems.