Seismic performance of offshore wind turbine with tripod bucket foundations on layered liquefiable soils considering pulse-like ground motion and wind load
Journal
Ocean Engineering
Journal Volume
343
ISSN
00298018
Date Issued
2026-01-15
Author(s)
Abstract
The tripod bucket foundation offers cost-effectiveness and environmental advantages for supporting offshore wind turbines (OWTs). However, the application of this approach in areas with high seismic activity is still not sufficiently addressed in current design practices. This study employed three-dimensional, nonlinear finite element analyses to investigate the seismic performance of a 5 MW OWT supported by tripod suction bucket foundations on layered liquefiable soils. The influences of ground motion characteristics and wind loading conditions on the foundation performance were systematically evaluated. Numerical results demonstrated that pulse-like ground motions induced greater system settlements and rotations than the case under non-pulse-like motions. For the conditions considered, increasing the diameter of the bucket reduced both settlements and rotations, while increasing the depth of embedment reduced settlement yet intensified system rotation. On the other hand, combined wind and earthquake loadings resulted in greater system rotations than earthquake-only scenarios. The single bucket experienced significant uplift, while the double buckets were subjected to compression. Overall, these findings provide insights for designing resilient tripod bucket foundations in seismic-prone regions. Further research is required to characterize the influence of ground motion characteristics and extreme climate loadings on OWT systems founded on liquefiable soils before revised guidelines can be provided.
Subjects
Finite element analysis
Liquefaction
Pulse-like motion
Soil-structure interaction
Tripod bucket foundation
SDGs
Publisher
Elsevier Ltd
Type
journal article