Modified Expression for the Failure Criterion of Bucket Foundations Subjected to Combined Loading

Recently, various loading tests with small- and large-scale bucket foundations were performed on buckets of varying sizes, embedment ratios, and load paths with saturated dense Aalborg University Sand No. 1 at the geotechnical laboratory of Aalborg University. In the present study, the capacity and behavior of bucket foundations subjected to combined loads were investigated on the basis of the results of these experimental studies. Although previous authors had proposed a linear relationship between the moment capacity and the vertical load, this relationship did not fit the observed capacities in the present study. Therefore, a modified expression is proposed to describe the combined capacity as a function of the tensile capacity and the inclination factor.