An investigation into the lateral loading response of shallow bucket foundations for offshore wind turbines through centrifuge modeling in sand

A shallow suction bucket is a new foundation type for offshore wind turbines. Due to its large size and bulky shape, the bucket and the soil within the bucket do not necessarily deform as a whole. Moreover, limited research has been conducted on the hydrodynamic wave influence on the shallow bucket bearing response. These factors pose great challenges to the shallow bucket foundation design. This paper presents a set of centrifuge tests of a shallow bucket model subjected to monotonic and dynamic lateral loads to study the lateral bearing response of shallow bucket foundations in the field under combined loads induced by wind, waves, etc. In addition to the routine measurements (e.g., load-displacement), the soil pressures on the bucket and the distribution and evolution of the excess pore pressures in the surrounding soils are also obtained. The deformation pattern of the bucket (e.g., rotation center) is revealed through displacement measurements. Finally, the proposed easy-to-use analytical equations using the limit equilibrium to assess the bearing capacity of bucket foundations, taking into account the influence of the soil strength degradation caused by hydrodynamic wave loadings, are found to yield good results upon comparison with the centrifuge data, providing useful guidelines for the design of shallow bucket foundations.     

东海陆架盆地南部生长断层活动特征

生长断层是在伸展和走滑盆地中一种重要且广泛存在的构造样式。通过地震资料定性识别出东海陆架盆地南部地区18条生长断层; 根据断裂对研究区各级构造单元控制作用和纵向切穿地层情况, 将其划分为一级控盆断裂、二级控凹断裂、三级控带断裂和盖层断裂; 通过断裂平面分布特征研究认为研究区的断裂以NE、NNE延伸为主, 少数为NEE方向; 利用地震剖面在研究区识别出阶梯状组合断层带、“Y”字型组合断层、多米诺式断层带、地堑、地垒等多种断裂组合样式; 又结合生长指数和断层落差两种方法对研究区生长断层的运动学特征进行了定量统计分析, 发现研究区生长断层在古近纪时期活动强度具有自西向东逐渐递减趋势, 区内断层活动期次自西向东逐渐变新, 整个研究区内生长断层在古近纪盆地裂陷—断陷期活动强度最大, 中新世后断裂活动趋于稳定。认为晚中生代以来太平洋板块西缘俯冲后撤和印度板块向亚欧板块俯冲碰撞在东海陆架盆地形成的远程蠕散效应, 使东海陆架盆地形成了拉张伸展应力场环境, 是研究区发育大量生长断层的首要原因。同时, 加强对研究区生长断层伴生构造如滚动背斜和缓坡带阶梯状断裂组合封堵形成的岩性圈闭研究, 有利于推动东海陆架中新生代盆地资源勘探可持续发展。