Experimental Study on Influencing Factors of Motion Responses for Air-Floating Tetrapod Bucket Foundation

Air floating transport is one of the key construction technologies of bucket foundation. The influences of draft, water depth and bucket spacing on the motion response characteristics of tetrapod bucket foundation (TBF) during air-floating transportation were studied by models tests. The results showed that with the increase of draft, the natural periods of heave motion increased, while the maximum amplitudes of oscillating motion decreased. The maximum amplitudes of heave motion decreased while pitch motion increased with the increasing of water depth; further, the period range of oscillating amplitude close to the maximum amplitude was expanded due to shallow water effect. With increasing bucket spacing, the maximum amplitudes of heave motion first increase and then decreased, whereas the maximum amplitudes of pitch motion decreased. Therefore, the favorable air-floating transportation performance can be achieved by choosing a larger bucket spacing under the condition of meeting the design requirements and reducing the draft under shallower water.