A Study on the Failure Mechanism of Suction Caisson under Vertical Load

As a new type of deep water offshore foundation, suction caisson is widely used to offshore structures. However, the current methods of evaluation and design cannot meet the increasing requirement of engineering practice. In this dissertation, the studies are emphasized on finite element method for analyzing the suction caisson bearing capacity behavior and the failure mechanism under the vertical load. Based on studying the vertical bearing behavior of caissons with different ratio of length to diameter L / D, it shown that as L / D increases, the vertical bearing capacity growth slowed.