Compared with traditional offshore foundation structure

bucket foundations which are large cylindrical structures open at the base and close at the top may realize economical advantages over traditional driven piles due to the speed of installation

elimination of the pile driving process

and reduction in quantities and material costs. Though bucket foundation is a new foundation type for offshore wind turbine

there have no standards for bucket foundation designing up to now. In designing the bucket foundation

the simplified limit equilibrium method is usually adopted

in which the soil inside the bucket and the skirt of the bucket are assumed to form a whole foundation. But this method cannot reflect the working mechanism of the internal soil. Based on a foundation of offshore wind turbine in Fujian

adopting the finite element software ABAQUS

the three-dimensional numerical analysis is performed to simulate the working mechanism and evaluate the bearing capacity behavior of bucket foundation. According to the bearing capacity of offshore wind turbine

the simplified model and models with or without compartments are established with the considering of the compartments effect. According to calculation results

the bearing characteristic of the bucket foundation is different from the simplified limit equilibrium method that the internal soil of the foundation yields first in the loading process. The difference leads the simplified limit equilibrium method will over estimate the bearing capacity of bucket foundation. In addition

the error of the bearing capacity calculated by the simplified limit equilibrium method is estimated. The suggestion about the bearing capacity of bucket foundation has reference value to project designer.