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Suction buckets acting as supports for jacket structures may constitute a viable foundation solution for offshore wind turbines. While monopiles dominate the industry, suction buckets remain uncommon despite their advantages in transitional water depths. One of the reasons stems from challenges of achieving optimal design due to scarce experience and knowledge, as the mechanisms governing foundation response to different drainage conditions are poorly understood. This paper contributes with new insights into tensile behavior of suction buckets based on experimental evidence. A defining property of bucket foundations is the ability to withstand extreme uplift forces on account of suction, which represents the core subject of this study. All tests involved a medium-scale model installed in sand in a pressurized environment. A novel feature of this research consists of examining the relative importance of soil …