Abstract
Suction caissons are widely employed as support structures for various fixed or floating structures. The impact loading in extreme environment is a key condition for marine foundation design. In this paper, a nonlinear spring model is proposed to predict the dynamic behaviour of suction caisson under impact loading, and its reliability is verified by experimental tests and finite element simulations. A mass module is introduced to describe the foundation inertia action, and a novel component consisting of a reverse end bearing spring and a soil plug slider is developed to decouple the overall vertical stiffness of suction caisson. The friction module is updated with t-z springs positioned along the depth to reflect the stress distribution in the soil layer. Afterwards, the influence of impact loading amplitude and loading history are studied. For the impact loadings with different amplitude (Fu), the maximum vertical displacement of caisson is only 0.02D when the uplift loading reaches 0.4Fu, indicating a marked contribution of inertia force. It is recommended to properly consider foundation inertia action under high magnitude impact loading, which can effectively optimize the structure design. In light of this, a design chart for suction caisson applied in engineering practices is presented.
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