Abstract: A three-dimensional numerical method is developed to simulate the bearing behavior of tripod suction bucket in clays by employing an elastic-plastic bounding surface constitutive model, and then the feasibility of the numerical method is verified by predicting the existing model test results. The effects of bucket-soil contact mode and loading direction on the bearing behavior of tripod suction bucket is studied, and its bearing characteristics under lateral cyclic load are explored. The research results show that the tripod suction bucket under vertical load is characterized by "piercing" shear failure, and the failure displacement of vertical compressive foundation is about 0.07D（D is the bucket diameter）. The ultimate bearing capacity at 0° horizontal loading direction（single bucket under uplift, double bucket under compression） is the smallest under the friction contact condition; the ultimate bearing capacity at 60°horizontal loading direction（double bucket under uplift, single bucket under compression） is the smallest under the tie contact condition. The increasing of settlement difference between the windward bucket and the leeward bucket under cyclic load is the main reason for the cumulative rotation of the tripod bucket foundation, and the rotation characteristics of the foundation are closely related to the horizontal cyclic load scale.