The giant oil reservoirs of PETROBRAS are located in water depth varying from 400 to 2500 m. In order to exploit oil in such water depth PETROBRAS developed the technology of Floating Production Platforms associated with the application of flexible risers. These floating platforms like semi-submersibles (SS) and floating production storage and offloading ships (FPSO) are kept in position through mooring lines and anchors. In order to reduce the anchoring radius PETROBRAS introduced the new concept of taut leg mooring lines using polyester fiber cables. For this concept because of vertical load components at the anchor position it is mandatory the application of piles. Due to the water depth these piles will be driven by suction using the water column. This paper covers the application of two and three-dimensional (3D) finite element modeling to determine the holding capacity of such anchors or bucket foundations.
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