• 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 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 the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.75-83
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• 2014

Suction bucket foundation is installed with the differential pressure created by pumping water out of bucket. Bucket foundation has usually been utilized in mooring anchor for offshore platform or floating oil and gas production facilities in the open sea. After suction bucket foundation successfully was applied as the foundation for offshore wind turbines in Europe, it recently attracts much attention in Korea, too. To estimate the penetration resistance of the suction bucket foundation is one of the important matters that should be considered during its installation. This study carried out a series of model tests to investigate the penetration resistance of suction bucket foundation. And the mobilized soil strength factor was reviewed through comparing the experimental results by two installation ways (e.g., push-in-load and suction) and the results calculated by the conventional equation.

• 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.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.30 no.11
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• pp.61-69
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• 2014

In this study, the performance of group suction anchors installed in sand and subjected to pullout loading was investigated by numerical analysis. The group suction anchors consist of two or three units rigidly connected to each other in parallel array and the pullout resistances were compared with that of a single anchor. Parametric study was performed using numerical models to study the effect of the physical conditions of the group anchor. The parameters include the skirt length to diameter ratio of a unit suction anchor, the pad-eye location, inclination of loading and the spacing between unit suction anchors. The analysis shows that the ratios of the pullout capacity of double suction anchor and triple suction anchor to that of single anchor are 1.7 and 2.4, respectively. The ratio increases with the increase in the spacing between the unit anchors. The other parameters such as the skirt length to the diameter ratio, the location of the pad-eye and the loading inclination have negligible effect on the ratio of pullout resistances of the group anchor to the single anchor.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.59-66
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• 2014

This paper presents the pullout behavior of suction pile using finite difference method; and the commercial software, FLAC3D, was employed for the numerical analyses. The ultimate pullout capacity of suction pile was predicted using conventional equations, and the results were compared with the results from numerical analyses with varying pile diameter, pile length, and the undrained shear strength of clays. Based on the results from 24 analyses, it was found that the failure pattern depends not only on the drainage condition of suction pile, but also on the pile dimensions and the material properties of surrounding soils. The developed side shear (DSS) along the internal surface of the suction pile was collected from numerical analyses, which was used to classify the failure type between sliding failure and tensile failure. Regardless of the external DSS, the high internal DSS tends to result in sliding failure in the numerical analyses, which conforms well to the estimation from conventional equations.

• 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.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.317-325
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• 2019

A suction caisson has been widely used for anchor and foundation of offshore structures due to its broad application, simple installation, and rapid construction. In design of suction caisson foundation, the bearing capacity and the stability of soil are mainly dealt with and analysis methods for them are presented in design codes related to the foundation. On the other hand, the method for structural safety analysis of the suction caisson is not generalized, in particular for load modeling of the caisson under suction. Consequently, there are difficulties in design of the caisson cross section. For this reason, this study analyzed the magnitude and distribution of pore water pressure on inner and outer surface of the caisson using theoretical and numerical seepage analyse, and an approach to reasonably estimate the load applied to the structural analysis of the caisson was presented. Furthermore, effects of penetration depth, anisotropy of permeability, and suction pressure on the pore water pressure were analyzed.

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.182-189
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• 2015

The Embedded Suction Anchor (ESA) is a type of permanent offshore foundation that is installed by a suction pile. To increase the loading capacity against pullout, three wings (vertical flanges) are attached along the circumference at 120 degrees apart. Analytical parametric study using the proposed analytical solution method has been conducted to identify the effects of several parameters that are thought to influence the behavior of ESAs. The analysis results show that the pullout capacity increases as the anchor depth and the soil strength increase, and decreases as the load inclination angle increases. The anchor having square projectional area and being pulled horizontally at the middle of its length provides the highest pullout capacity.