• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.202-211
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• 2016

This study aims to analyze seismic responses of suction foundations for offshore wind turbine. For this purpose, dynamic centrifuge model tests were carried out. The skirt length of the suction foundation is a critical element for bearing mechanism against environmental loads. Thus, dynamic centrifuge model tests were performed and analyzed for three suction foundation models with the ratios of skirt length to suction foundation diameter of 0.5, 0.75, and 1 installed in dense sand. As results, the acceleration amplification at the suction foundation, residual settlement, and residual tilting angle were compared.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.39 no.12
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• pp.61-73
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• 2023

Suction buckets are feasible options for offshore foundations to support subsea structures in deep water, enabling suction-induced installation by pumps. Recently, hybrid suction bucket foundations that combine single or multiple suction buckets with a mat foundation have been considered. The foundations effectively increase the load capacity while reducing construction costs. However, there is still insufficient experimental validation of hybrid suction bucket foundations regarding their bearing capacity. Furthermore, research on the horizontal load capacity under low vertical and moment loads is inadequate. In this study, we investigate the feasibility of using a hybrid suction bucket foundation for subsea installations in clay. We considered two types of hybrid suction bucket foundations: a circular mat with a single suction bucket and a square mat with multiple buckets. Centrifuge tests were performed to understand the hybrid suction bucket foundation characteristics under horizontal loads and their corresponding bearing capacity. Particularly, we verified the effect of the mat foundation and bucket embedment depth on the horizontal bearing mechanism and capacities. Results confirmed that the hybrid suction bucket foundation outperforms the single suction bucket.

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.195-202
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• 2021

Offshore wind turbine (OWT) receive a combined vertical-horizontal- moment load by wind, waves, and the structure's own weight. In this study, the bearing capacity for the combined load of the suction foundation of OWT installed on the sandy soil was calculated by finite element analysis. In addition, the stress state of the soil around the suction foundation was analyzed in detail under the condition that a combined load was applied. Based on the results of the analyses, new equations are proposed to calculate the horizontal and moment bearing capacities as well as to define the capacity envelopes under general combined loads.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.32 no.12
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• pp.69-78
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• 2016

A suction bucket foundation has been considered to be a potential foundation type for offshore wind turbines. A suction bucket foundation is usually installed in soft soil, so the accumulated displacement of the foundation may occur under long-term cyclic loads. In this study, a series of 1-g model tests were performed to analyze the accumulated rotation of suction bucket foundations under long-term cyclic horizontal loads. The dry model ground was prepared to have two different soil densities by air-pluviation method. The model tests were performed varying the embedment depth of the suction bucket, the soil density, and the amplitude of cyclic load. A one-way horizontal cyclic load was applied over $10^4$ cycles. Test results showed that the accumulated rotation of the suction bucket foundation increased with the increase in the number of cycles and load magnitudes. Based on the model test results, a new equation was proposed to evaluate the accumulated rotation of the suction bucket foundations in dry sandy ground under long-term cyclic horizontal loads.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.67-76
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• 2011

Numerical analyses were performed to analyze the behavior of a suction pile under lateral loads with different soil layer conditions (uniform clay layer, uniform sand layer, and multi layers consisting of clay and sand layers) and different loading locations (top, middle, and bottom of the suction pile). The results of the analyses revealed that, regardless of the soil layer conditions, the lateral resistances at the loading location of the middle of the suction pile were the maximum. For the given loading locations, the lateral resistances of the suction pile for the uniform sand layer were relatively higher than those for the multi layer. By analyzing translations and rotations of the suction pile, it was identified that the amount of translation was highly dependent on both the soil layer condition and the lateral loading location while the rotated angle varied significantly with the lateral loading location, but not much with soil layer condition.

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.339-344
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• 2015

Suction piles have been widely used as foundations and anchor systems in offshore industry, and recently, it have been tried to be used as foundations for offshore wind turbines. Many researches have shown that stiffness of a foundation could effect dynamic responses of a offshore wind turbine so that appropriate modeling application of wind turbine foundations is recommended. In this paper, we calculate a stiffness matrix of a suction foundation through 3D FEM analysis and compare the results with the ones calculated by conventional formula for estimating stiffness of shallow foundations. And then we carry out integrated load analysis for the evaluation of dynamic responses and natural frequencies of the structure using the calculated stiffness matrix. The results shows that the effect of load in the mudline is not large, but in the case of assuming the foundation as a fixed support, the natural frequency is over-estimated up to 10%. Therefore, considering stiffness of foundations is recommended when you evaluate the natural frequencies of wind turbine structures.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.29 no.11
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• pp.119-127
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• 2013

Recently, several researches on the development of new economical foundation types have been performed to support floating structures as many offshore structures have been constructed. This study focused on the evaluation of bearing capacity of group suction piles, which are connected by a concrete pile cap. The offshore floating structures are mainly subjected to horizontal loading, so the horizontal bearing capacities of the group suction piles were analyzed by performing 3-dimensional finite element analyses. The group suction piles are expected to behave as a rigid pile due to its shallow embedded depth. Therefore, the detailed soil modeling was necessary to simulate the bearing behavior of soils under low confining pressure. The modulus and the strength of soils were modelled to increase with effective confining pressure in soils. For the parametric study, the center-to-center spacing between piles was varied and two soil types of clay and sands were applied. The analyses results showed that the yielding load of the group pile increased with the increase of the pile spacing and the yielding load of the group piles with 5D spacing was about 3 times larger than that of the single pile with free rotation.

• Geotechnical Engineering
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.42-48
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• 2016

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.95-103
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• 2024

The global increase in population and subsequent scarcity of terrestrial living spaces necessitates exploration of alternative habitats. Research into the development of underwater living areas provides promising avenues for the expansion of human living spaces and the use of marine environments. This study focuses on the failure envelope of suction caisson foundations subjected to combined loads in a marine setting, utilizing finite element analysis. The foundation is assumed to be embedded in clay characterized by a linear increase in undrained shear strength with depth, employing the von Mises constitutive model for the clay. The resulting failure envelope is represented as a tilted ellipse which expands as the undrained shear strength increases, maintaining a constant ratio between the major and minor axes. A comparative analysis of two suction caisson foundations with varying length-to-diameter ratios revealed that this ratio influences the dimensions of the failure envelope, with a tendency for the major-to-minor axis ratio to increase as the length-to-diameter ratio increases. These findings are critical for the design of suction caisson foundations in offshore environments.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.21 no.10
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• pp.267-273
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• 2020

Suction anchors are used for floating structures because they have advantages in installation and stability. Recently, the demand for floating structures requiring low allowable displacement has increased. Thus, it is strongly suggested that the displacement of the suction anchor be evaluated. However, conventional studies regarding suction anchors have concentrated on the capacity of the anchor, and research on the displacement of the anchor is limited. In particular, rotation is the primary behavior of a suction anchor subjected to an inclined load, and related information has been insufficient. Therefore, the main objective of this paper is to investigate the rotation behavior of a suction anchor via centrifuge model tests. The experimental parameters are the inclination of the pull-out load, anchor dimensions, and aspect ratio. The rotation values of suction anchors were compared using a series of load-rotation curves. The results show that the inclination of the load has a dominant influence on the rotation behavior of the suction anchor.