Experimental Study on Bearing Capacity Behavior of Suction Caisson Subjected to Cyclic Loading in Silt

Abstract:

A series of model tests was carried out on silt in the East China Sea to study the load-lateral rotation response charateristics and analyze the relationship between lateral stiffness and lateral rotation of a suction caisson subjected to cyclic loading. The accumulated rotation variation of the suction caisson with the number of loading cycles during the service life of offshore wind turbines was discussed. The test results show that the deformation of the silt around the suction caisson has an increasing trend under cyclic loading and its stiffness decreases with the increase of the number of cycles. The rotation point has an obvious upward trend whether the suction caisson is subjected to loading or unloading， which will accelerate the overturning of the suction caisson. The relationship between the unloading stiffness and the number of cycles follows a logarithmic increase.

Key words:silt;suction caisson;cyclic loading;lateral bearing capacity;rotation