INFLUENCES OF BULKHEADS ON THE BEARING MODE OF CONCRETE BUCKET FOUNDATION FOR OFFSHORE WIND TURBINE

For towing stability, sinking, fine leveling construction and structural strength purposes, it is necessary to set bulkheads in the concrete bucket foundation. Usually the influence of bulkheads on the bearing capacity of a foundation is not considered, however, bulkheads actually have a certain influence on the bearing mode and bearing capacity. The influence of bulkheads on the bearing mode was quantitatively analyzed by the comparison of two concrete bucket foundations with and without bulkheads. The results show that the bearing modes of two foundations with and without bulkheads are similar. No obvious effect on the bearing capacity when the load is small, so it is reasonable that not to consider the role of the bulkheads in foundation design, but as the load increases, the effect of bulkheads on the bearing capacity improvement gradually appears, when the bucket foundation reaches the ultimate bearing capacity, 6.9% of vertical bearing capacity, 18.3% of horizontal bearing capacity and 16.5% of bending bearing capacity increase, which means that in extreme conditions a concrete bucket foundation with bulkheads will have greater safety margin.