Experimental Study on the Behavior of Bucket Foundations under Sustained Uplift Loading

Abstract

Bucket foundations can be subjected to uplift loads caused by factors such as wind and wave action on the structure, loop currents, or the buoyancy of the floating structure they support. Current design approaches for bucket foundations loaded into tension tend to allow for frictional resistance along the skirt/soil interface, and neglect the additional tensile capacity generated from negative excess pore pressure, due to uncertainties on the duration over which this component of tensile capacity can be sustained. This paper addresses this uncertainty through an experimental study that investigates the behavior of bucket foundations in lightly overconsolidated clay when subjected to sustaine..