Study on Horizontal Bearing Capacity of a Skirted Suction foundation in Layered Soils

Suction anchors are currently used as a mooring in a variety of floating structures, marine platforms, and the offshore wind turbines has been successfully adopted as well. This paper aims to examine the horizontal bearing capacity of a new form of suction foundation proposed by the third author, skirted suction foundation for offshore wind turbines. The influences of some parameters such as the aspect ratios and thickness of the soil layers on the horizontal bearing capacity are analyzed. The results are proved to be effective way to enhance the horizontal bearing capacity by increasing aspect ratios of the skirted suction foundation, and also illustrate that proposed new form of suction foundation for the offshore wind turbines is feasible.