This study investigates the structural response of large-diameter suction piles during installation in South China Sea clay using ANSYS finite element modeling. The model incorporates elasto-plastic carbon steel properties and accurately represents key components including pile skirt, top plate, and stiffeners. Numerical simulations examine stress and strain evolution under acceleration loads, self-weight, and internal negative pressure during installation. Results demonstrate that equivalent stress remains well below allowable values across most regions, confirming overall structural compliance with design requirements. However, localized stress concentrations occur at component connections, particularly between skirt-top plate interfaces and main frame-top plate joints, reaching maximum equivalent stresses of 287.66 MPa in small zones. These findings provide critical insights into suction pile behavior in clayey seabeds, enabling optimization of installation processes and structural designs for offshore engineering applications in similar marine environments. The research validates structural safety during installation while identifying specific areas requiring design attention to mitigate stress concentrations in large-diameter suction pile foundations.
Dong et al. (Sun,) studied this question.