Numerical study on the cyclic response of suction bucket foundations in clay under one-way cyclic lateral loading

CHEDDAD, Mohamed; Amrane, Mohamed Nadir; Ouahab, Mohamed Younes

doi:10.22059/ceij.2026.394749.2308

Numerical study on the cyclic response of suction bucket foundations in clay under one-way cyclic lateral loading

Articles in Press

Authors

¹ Hydraulic Planning and Environment Laboratory (LAHE), University of Mohamed Khider, P.B. 145, 07000 Biskra, Algeria.

² Department of Mechanics, University of Mohamed Khider, P.B. 145, 07000 Biskra, Algeria.

³ Department of Civil Engineering, University of Tipaza

10.22059/ceij.2026.394749.2308

Abstract

The cumulative plastic deformations induced by cyclic loading are a critical design consideration for bucket foundations of offshore wind turbines. While past research has extensively characterized foundation behavior under static loads, the combined effects of cyclic lateral loading and soil strength non-homogeneity remain underexplored. This study examines through numerical analyses the behavior of a bucket foundation in clay subjected to one-way cyclic lateral loads. The cumulative plastic deformation was modeled employing a nonlinear kinematic hardening constitutive model. A parametric study evaluated the influence of the strength non-homogeneity degree, cyclic load amplitude, cyclic load ratio, and the kinematic hardening degradation parameter. The results demonstrate that while cumulative rotation and displacement increase with the number of cycles and load amplitude, they are significantly mitigated by a greater degree of non-homogeneity. Increasing κ from 10 to 25 diminished rotation by 57% and horizontal and vertical displacements by 56% and 75%, respectively. The lowest cyclic load ratio produced the largest deformations, while a higher kinematic hardening degradation parameter resulted in the smallest deformations. Model validation against established experimental and numerical benchmarks shows good agreement. These results offer a useful understanding of the cyclic behavior of bucket foundations.

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