Analysis of Bearing Capacity Behavior of
Single Bucket Foundation for Offshore Wind
Turbines under Eccentric Horizontal Loading in
Soft Clay
Jianfeng Wang1
School of Civil Engineering, Tianjin University;
Guodian United Power Technology Co., Ltd,
Beijing, China
wangjianfeng@gdupc.cn
Ming Qin
State Key Laboratory of Wind Power Equipment
and System Technology;
Guodian United Power Technology Co., Ltd,
Beijing, China
QinMing@gdupc.cn
Abstract — As a new type of deep-water offshore
foundation, the bucket foundation has been gradually
used in the design and construction of offshore wind
turbines and ocean engineering. Offshore wind turbine
foundation is not only subjected to huge vertical loading,
but also always sustains horizontal loading and moments
caused by hurricane or storm. Therefore, using the Engel
Assumption, in accordance with three-dimensional space
problems, the formula of eccentric horizontal bearing
capacity is established by the limit equilibrium method.
And based on the finite element analysis results of
eccentric horizontal bearing capacity calculation, the
eccentric horizontal capacity calculation method of single
bucket foundation under horizontal loading and moment
loading is established.
Keywords — offshore wind turbine; bearing capacity; three-
dimensional finite element analysis; eccentric horizontal
bearing capacity
I. INTRODUCTION
The offshore wind power industry is developing very
rapidly in China. Currently, the offshore wind farms are
under planning in the coastal regions in Shanghai,
Shandong, Zhejiang and Jiangsu Province. The
development of offshore wind farms is facing the
challenges of the economy and reliability now, because
a large proportion of the total investment of the
offshore wind farm is taken by the expense due to harsh
sea environments where the foundations of offshore
fans were standing for a long time, and the huge
978-1-4244-8921-3/10/$26.00 ©2010 IEEE
Anmin Cai
State Key Laboratory of Wind Power Equipment
and System Technology;
Guodian United Power Technology Co., Ltd,
Beijing, China
CaiAnmin@gdupc.cn
Datong Zhang
State Key Laboratory of Wind Power Equipment
and System Technology;
Guodian United Power Technology Co., Ltd,
Beijing, China
ZhangDatong@gdupc.cn
volume and high construction cost. Therefore, it is very
important to actively absorb construction experience of
foreign offshore wind farms in the development of the
offshore wind power industry in China and to develop
the foundation structures for offshore wind turbines that
meet the situations of China [1].
The fundamental platform for offshore wind turbines
was developed from the offshore oil platforms in the oil
and gas industries. At present, the types of foundations
for offshore wind turbine include monopile foundation,
gravity base foundation, bucket foundation, multi-pile
foundation and floating foundation. The bucket
foundation is divided into single-bucket foundation and
multi-bucket foundation [2, 3, 4]. Single bucket
foundation was used in the construction of an offshore
wind farm in Frederikshan, Denmark for the first time;
a bucket-type composite foundation was used as the
foundation for the offshore anemometer tower, and the
installation of the whole foundation was successfully
performed by Daoda Offshore Wind Power Institute in
China; and a tri-bucket foundation was also planned to
be used as the foundation type for offshore wind fans
by Hong Kong Offshore Wind Farm in Southeastern
Waters. With promising prospects, these foundations
employed negative pressure for construction and
positioning, which greatly saved the consumption
amount of steel materials and offshore working time.
However, the bucket foundations have to suffer from
the co-action of horizontal load and moment load
caused by many factors such as windstorms, billows,
ice and earthquakes during normal operation besides
huge vertical load action. Therefore, aiming at the
deformation mechanisms and the bearing capacity
characteristics of bucket foundation affected by the co-
actions of horizontal load and moment load, in-depth &
systemic theoretical analysis and calculation were
carried out. The calculation formula for eccentric
horizontal bearing capacity of single-bucket foundation (a) The failure mechanism and equivalent plastic strain under horizontal load
was established, with the characteristics of the co- when eccentric L = 0
actions of horizontal load and moment load for bucket
foundations being described.

II. THE ECCENTRIC HORIZONTAL ULTIMATE BEARING

CAPACITY OF BUCKET FOUNDATIONS

A. The failure mechanism of bucket foundations under

eccentric horizontal loads
When used as the foundations for offshore wind
(b) The failure mechanism and equivalent plastic strain under horizontal
turbines, bucket foundations would suffer the coactions
load when eccentric L = 0.25D
of horizontal load and moment load caused by
windstorms, billows, ice and earthquakes, etc. As
shown in Fig. 1, the horizontal load and bending
moment load acting on the bucket foundations are
equivalent to the eccentric horizontal load at the height
L away from the bucket top. The failure mechanism of
bucket foundations affected by eccentric horizontal load
is analyzed by using the established finite element
model with the diameter D of 500 mm and a buried (c) The failure mechanism and equivalent plastic strain under horizontal load
depth H of 500 mm, 800 mm and 1000 mm. The coastal when eccentric L =0.5D
soft clay parameters from Liu Zhenwen [5] are referred
to, with Su=3.75kPa, elastic modulus E=320Su,
  0.42 , natural capacity γ=701 kN/m3, and =1.51°,
and the bucket material parameters with elastic
modulus E=2.1×105Mpa and   0.125 . Fig. 2 shows
the calculated soil deformation and equivalent plastic
strain distribution of the bucket foundation with H =500
mm.
(d) The failure mechanism and equivalent plastic strain under horizontal
load when eccentric L = 0.75D

(e) The failure mechanism and equivalent plastic strain under horizontal load
when eccentric L = D
Fig. 1. Force diagram of the bucket foundation platform under the co-actions
of horizontal load and bending moment load

(f) The failure mechanism and equivalent plastic strain under horizontal load
when eccentric L = 1.5D
Fig. 2. The failure mechanism and equivalent plastic strain under eccentric
horizontal load
It is seen from Fig. 2 that obvious spherical rotation
failure faces are formed on the buckets and the soil
inside the buckets under eccentric horizontal load
action. The rotation center is located at 4/5 the depth of
the bucket. The soil in front of the bucket is pressed and
raised, forming passive side damage wedges, while the
soil behind the bucket were separated, forming cracks,
and the depth of the cracks is approaching to the
rotation center. There is no shift between the soils
inside the bucket and the bucket itself basically. These
were consistent with the test results from Liu Zhenwen
[5] and Wei Shihao [6]. It is indicated that, affected by
eccentric horizontal load action, the bucket foundation
and the soil inside the bucket are basically rotating
around a certain point below the soil surface and above
the bucket bottom and becomes unstable. A spoon-
shape destruction zone was formed at the bottom of the
bucket, and passive and active wedge destruction zones
were formed in front of and behind the bucket,
respectively. With the increase of eccentric L, the
rotation center of the bucket shift upwards. In addition,
there was slight deviation between the position of the
rotation center and the central axis of the bucket, which
was caused by the horizontal shift of the whole
foundation after applying horizontal load onto the
bucket foundation in the soft ground base.
B. Distribution of soil pressures
Under the action of the eccentric horizontal load, the
soil in front of the bucket is pressed and raised, forming
passive side damage wedges, while the soil behind the
bucket is separated from the bucket, forming cracks in
which the depth is approaching the rotation center.
Thus, active and passive zones are produced in the
contact zone of the ground base, inducing soil pressure
distribution. According to the results of finite element
calculation, the normal pressure on the contact surface
could be considered as the soil pressure on the external
wall of the bucket on the ground base, which would
further be qualitatively compared with the test results of
existing models to investigate the distribution rule of
soil pressure on the external wall of the bucket. Since
the soil behind the bucket is separated from the bucket
with cracks formed, only the soil pressure in front of
the bucket was output and analyzed. The distribution of
the soil pressure in front of the bucket of 500 mm in
diameter and 500 mm, 800mm, 1000mm buried depth,
induced by eccentric horizontal load, and is given in Fig.
3.
H/D＝1.0
H/D＝1.6 H/D＝2.0
Fig. 3. Distribution of the soil pressures in front of external wall of the bucket
under the action of eccentric horizontal ultimate load
C. Derivation of formula for calculating eccentric
horizontal ultimate bearing capacity of bucket
foundation
It is indicated by the finite element analysis of
eccentric horizontal load bearing capacity analysis and
results from References [5][6] that, under the action of
horizontal load, the soil inside the bucket and the
bucket itself become a composite entity, while the
stiffness of the soil around the foundation is very low
compared with that of the foundation. Therefore, the
horizontal instability mode of the foundation is mainly
by producing a relatively large rotation of rigid body
with small amount of horizontal slippage at the same
time. In other words, there is great shear deformation
on the soil in the passive zone of the foundation when
the ground base was destroyed, and the soil in the
active side was separated from the bucket body.
Therefore, under the action of eccentric horizontal force,
the instability mode of bucket foundation is similar to
that of rigid foundations.
A method for analyzing the eccentric horizontal
ultimate bearing capacity of single-bucket foundation
was established according to the limit equilibrium
method and by referring to the model tests as well as
the results of finite element analysis. The distribution of
earth pressure in the passive zone is approximated into  The vertical soil resistance at the bottom of the
a conic section according to the test results in Reference foundation is in consistent with the Winkler’s
[5], while the earth pressure in the active zone is low Assumption, and the distribution form is
enough to be omitted. As shown in the calculation represented in the following formula:
results of the finite element analysis, the variation rule
of the earth pressure distribution in both the passive
 z  K2 x (3)
zone and the active zone is same. Referring to Engel’s
In the formula, x was the coordinate, and K 2 was
Assumption [7] of limit equilibrium method in pile
foundations design and Reference [8], the single-bucket the vertical ground base factor at depth H.
foundation under horizontal load was hypothesized as
follows:
 Fig. 4 shows the force analysis of the ground base
of the single-bucket foundation when it reaches
limit equilibrium by using right-handed
coordinate system in which the X-axis was
positive by pointing to the right on the paper, the
Y-axis was positive by pointing to the outside
when it was perpendicular to the paper, and the Z-
axis was positive by pointing to the bottom on the
paper;
 The soil inside the bucket and the bucket itself
was considered as an integrated rigid body and Fig. 4. The ultimate equilibrium Fig. 5. The soil resistance was
analyzed; stress bearing of single-bucket circumferentially distributed
foundation
 The soil pressure distribution is approximately
described by using a conic, and the radial
horizontal soil pressure distribution of the soil
where the angle between the passive zone and the
X-axis was 0 degrees and was represented by (1),
which is shown as follows:
 xo  K1 ( z  H ) z (1)

In the formula, H is the height of the bucket

foundation, and K1 is the ground base factor at
horizontal direction.
 The radial horizontal soil resistance, where the Fig. 6. The integral diagram of the Fig. 7. The integral diagram of the
angle between any depth in the soil and the X-axis soil resistance at bucket sides soil resistance at foundation bottom

is  , is  r  K1 ( z  H ) z cos  by referring
to [7]. Then the horizontal soil resistance at X axis
direction would be as follows:
 x  K1 ( z  H ) z cos 2  (2)
The symbols in the above formulas in Fig. 4 and Fig.
5, in which PH was the horizontal load, H was the height
of the bucket, D was the diameter of the bucket, L was
the eccentric distance, f was the horizontal resistance of
the soil against the bucket,  x was the horizontal
resistance of soil in front of the bucket, and  z was the
vertical resistance at the bottom of the foundation.
From the moment equilibrium formula M o  0 at
point O, the following formula is obtained:

PH (H  L)   x (H  z)ds   z xds  0 (4)

S1 S2

In the formula, S1 is the horizontal soil resistance

zone, and S2 is the area of foundation bottom.
 Since x  D cos , the above formula is collated, and TABLE 1. THE COMPARISON BETWEEN THE RESULTS OF FINITE
2 ELEMENT CALCULATION AND THE RESULTS CALCULATED BY (9)
the following formula is obtained by using pillar Condi- Su Diameter Height Calculated
FEM
coordinate integration as Fig. 6 and Fig. 7: tion (kPa) D (m) H(m)
L(m)
by (9)
calculated
results
Variance

  D
H
 K1 D  2 cos 2 z ( z  H ) 2 dzd  4 K 2  2 cos 2  d  r 3 dr
2
(5) 1 3.75 0.5 0.5 0.000 1.962 1.920 0.0018
PH  0 0 0 0

H L 2 3.75 0.5 0.5 0.125 1.570 1.730 0.0256

 K1DH 4 K 2D 4 (6)
PH   3 3.75 0.5 0.5 0.250 1.308 1.270 0.0025
48( H  L) 64( H  L)
According to the calculation results of finite element 4 3.75 0.5 0.5 0.375 1.121 0.980 0.0200
analysis, the max soil pressure of passive zone was 3-
5 3.75 0.5 0.5 0.500 0.981 0.962 0.0004
5Su, which is closely consistent with the results
measured by Model Test [5]. The max soil pressure in 6 3.75 0.5 0.8 0.000 2.781 2.720 0.0037
front of the bucket was simulated by using a conic,
therefore, 6.5Su is taken as the max soil pressure in 7 3.75 0.5 0.8 0.125 2.405 2.256 0.0223
front of the bucket in the passive zone, and then K1 8 3.75 0.5 0.8 0.250 2.119 1.968 0.0228
would be as follows:
26S 9 3.75 0.5 0.8 0.375 1.894 1.724 0.0288
K1   2u (7)
H 10 3.75 0.5 0.8 0.500 1.712 1.530 0.0330
In the formula, Su is the UU strength of the soil.
11 3.75 0.5 1.0 0.000 3.373 3.824 0.2034
In finite element calculation, the max vertical
counter-force of the ground base is 4Su when the single- 12 3.75 0.5 1.0 0.125 2.998 3.308 0.0959
bucket foundation is destroyed; therefore, K2 is as
follows: 13 3.75 0.5 1.0 0.250 2.698 2.908 0.0439
8S (8) 14 3.75 0.5 1.0 0.375 2.453 2.592 0.0193
K2  u
D
15 3.75 0.5 1.0 0.500 2.2487 2.236 0.0001
By inserting (7) and (8) into Formula (6) and
collating, the eccentric horizontal ultimate bearing
capacity of single-bucket is obtained, which is as
follows: III. CONCLUSIONS
1.7 DH 2 Su  0.393D 3 Su (9) A three-dimensional finite element numerical model
PH 
H L for single-bucket foundation is established on the large
finite element software ABAQUS calculation platform
D. Validation of the formula of the eccentric horizontal
based on the characteristics of the loads on offshore
ultimate bearing capacity for bucket foundations
fans, by which the characteristics of the ultimate
Table 1 shows the comparison between (9) and the bearing capacity of ground base of bucket foundations
results of finite element calculation on the three-bucket by the co-actions of horizontal load and bending
foundation models with the height/diameter ratio being moment load are studied, with the horizontal force and
1.0, 1.6 and 2.0 under the action of eccentric horizontal the bending moment being considered equivalent to
load. It could be seen that both results are consistent. eccentric horizontal force. The relationship expression
And it is indicated that it is feasible to calculate the for analyzing the eccentric horizontal ultimate bearing
eccentric horizontal ultimate bearing capacity of the capacity of the ground base of single-bucket foundation
bucket foundation in soft clay by (9). is put forward by performing finite element analysis on
the destroy mode of the ground base of single-bucket
foundation under eccentric horizontal force actions,
analyzing the soil pressure distribution rules in passive
and active zones of the foundations, as well as referring
to the test results of the horizontal ground base bearing
capacity of single-bucket foundations. It is shown by
the error analysis results that, the calculated results in
the formula are in good consistency with the results of
finite element calculation.
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