• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.17 no.9
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• pp.5-12
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• 2016

Numerical analyses were carried out to simulate tilting control on the suction pile for offshore wind power embedded into cohesive soil and cohesionless soil using finite element software, ABAQUS. A 3-dimensional suction pile was modelled as a wished-in-place pile with $1^{\circ}$ tilted from vertical line. The inner room of suction pile was divided into 3 separate rooms for tilting control, and point load was applied to the center of gravity of a separate room to restore the original position of the suction pile. From numerical analyses, required suction pressure was obtained for desired tilting degree, and the maximum/minimum principle stresses of concrete skirt and the Mises stresses of inner steel wall were collected at original position. It was found that the required suction pressure was about 410 kPa for cohesive soil, and about 1,800 kPa for cohesionless soil.; likewise, obtained stresses were greater for cohesionless soil than cohesive soil.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.30 no.10
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• pp.33-44
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• 2014

The preliminary design of suction pile as the supporting system for concrete floating structures was performed for the pilot project of the southwest coast area in Korea. Prior to starting design work, site conditions of the area including ground and hydraulic conditions, and a 100-year return period external force were throughly evaluated. The suction pile for mooring of the offshore floating structures has to satisfy the lateral resistance against external force as well as the penetration ability according to the soil conditions such as soil types, shear strengths, effective stresses, and seepage forces. In the design, the required penetration depths, which were stable for lateral resistance, were evaluated with the diameters of cylindrical suction pile as the final installing ones. And the design suction pressures at each penetrating depths, at which sand boiling did not occur, were assessed through the comparison of penetration and penetrationresistance forces. As a result, it was impossible for suction piles with the diameter range of 3.0~5.0 m to penetrate into required penetration depths. On the other hand, suction piles with the diameter range of 6.0 m and 7.0 m satisfied both the horizontal stability and the penetration ability by design suction pressures at the required penetration depths of 8.5 m and 8.0 m, respectively.

• 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.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2014.10a
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• pp.495-496
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• 2014

The suction method is the substructure installation using the water pressure difference generated by discharging water inside the pile by the pumping operation, after the intrusion by the self-weights of a large hollow steel pipe or a concrete structure. It is known as the low-noise and low-vibration method against the general pile driven method and eco-friendly, also. Most current design and safety assessment of the support structure and considering only the static load, however, the importance of dynamic behavior becomes magnified as the size of wind power generator increases. This study measures the natural frequency of the suction pile prototype about the penetration depth as a part of basic research and analyzed the interaction between the soil and the structure.

• Journal of Wind Energy
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.70-79
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• 2022

It is difficult to control differential settlement and long-term settlement on soft ground with the template used in the pre-filing method of offshore wind power. In this study, the template adopted a suction foundation with high utility on soft ground. To analyze the penetration performance of the doughnut-type suction foundation, step-by-step numerical analysis was applied by calculating the minimum suction pressure needed for ground penetration at that depth. Scale model tests were performed and compared with the numerical analysis results. The ratio of the inside diameter compared to the outside diameter is higher, and penetration by suction was more advantageous than push-in load penetration. The step-by-step numerical analysis method showed an error within 2 % compared to the model tests, so the numerical analysis method confirmed results that the penetration performance of the doughnut-type suction foundation is valid.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.1-10
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• 2021

In this study, a circular pipe can be installed by suction pressure for construction on soft ground with a low-water level. A series of laboratory-scale model tests were conducted in sandy ground to comprehend the suction pressure of the circular pipe in low-water levels. For repeated tests on saturated sandy soil, a container was mounted with three vibration generators on the floor. A repetitive vibration was applied using the vibration system for ground compaction. In the model tests, different diameters and thicknesses on saturated sandy soil with a water depth were considered. The result showed that the suction pressure increased with increasing penetration depth of the circular pipe. Moreover, the suction pressure required to penetrate the pipe decreased with increasing diameter. In the low-water level, the total suction pressure measured at the top lid increased because additional suction pressure is required to lift the water column. On the other hand, this led to a decrease in suction pressure to penetrate the circular pipe because the weight of the water column is applied as a dead load. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the water level to design the required suction pressure accurately.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.36 no.11
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• pp.71-81
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• 2020

The large circular steel pipe for a marine bridge foundation has been developed as a construction method capable of performing the role of the working platform and cofferdam. The objective of this study is to demonstrate the wireless remote sensing system for monitoring the stability of the large circular steel pipe during construction and operation through field tests. The artificial seabed ground with an water level of 4 m is constructed for field tests. The large circular steel pipe with a diameter of 5 m and height of 9.5 m is installed into the ground by suction, and the embedded depth is 5 m. The inclinometer and strain gauges are installed on different surfaces of the upper module, and the tilt angle and stress are monitored throughout the entire construction process. As results, tilt angles are measured to be constant during the suction penetration. However, the tilt angle is larger in the x-axis direction. In addition, even when installed on different surfaces, the tilt angle in the same axial direction is measured to be almost the same. The stresses measured by strain gauges increase during suction penetration and decrease during pull-out. Based on measured stresses, it is found that the eccentricity is acting on the large circular steel pipe. This study shows that a wireless remote sensing system built with an inclinometer and strain gauge can be a useful tool for the stability monitoring of the large circular steel pipe.

• 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 the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.391-399
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• 2020

In this study, the behaviors of a suction cap shaped as an arch were analyzed using finite element models. The fundamental structural behaviors of both flat- and arch-type caps were compared, and the advantages of the arch-shaped cap were explained. Moreover, the effects of geometric parameters and stiffener arrangements on the stress and deformation of the arch-shaped caps were investigated by comparisons of the changes in the behaviors of the caps. Additionally, the effects of boundary condition at the edge of the cap were analyzed to study the interactions between the cap and cofferdam walls; these results were used to derive the fundamental structural design of stiffened arch caps. Unlike flat caps, the results showed that ring stiffeners could improve the structural behaviors of arch caps remarkably, while the contributions of the radial stiffeners to the structural behaviors of the caps are dependent on constraints at the edges of the caps.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.1908-1914
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• 2012

As the turbine capacity and the water depth of wind farms are increasing, the construction cost of substructures and foundations for offshore wind turbines is expected to increase. Since the installation of suction bucket foundation is achieved by both self-weight and applied suction, the construction generally does not require heavy equipment for penetration. This study provides an economic analysis on the tripod which have the bucket foundations and compares that the jacket foundation at 50m water depth on sand layer or soft layer. As the strength of the soil and the number of the foundation is increasing, the construction cost of the tripod with the bucket foundations is more economically feasible than the jacket foundation.