• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.21 no.11
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• pp.870-877
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• 2020

A suction bucket foundation, especially useful at depths of more than 20m, is a method of construction. The method first places an empty upturned bucket at the target site. Then, the bucket is installed by sucking water or air into it to create negative pressure. For stability, it is crucial to secure the verticality of the bucket. However, inclination by the bucket may occur due to sea-bottom conditions. In general, a repeated intrusion-pulling method is used for securing verticality. However, it takes a long time to complete the job. In this paper, we propose a real-time suction bucket verticality monitoring system. Specifically, the system consists of a sensor unit that collects raw verticality data, a controller that processes the data and wirelessly transmits the information, and a display unit that shows verticality information of a circular steel pipe. The system is implemented using an inclination sensor and an embedded controller. Experimental results show that the proposed system can efficiently measure roll/pitch information with a 0.028% margin of error. Furthermore, we show that the system properly operates in a suction bucket-based model experiment.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.20 no.12
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• pp.41-47
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• 2019

This paper deals with the reliability analysis of foundation for an offshore wind turbine system. Reliability analyses were carried out for suction bucket foundation considering the uncertainties in soil and structural parameters. In reliability analysis, the vertical and lateral resistances are defined as base limit states. The case studies were carried out using the preliminarily designed foundations at western-south mainland sea of Korea. From reliability analyses, vertical resistance for free-slip condition has overall lower reliability index, and submerged unit weight and internal friction angle of seabed soil are governing factors in vertical and lateral resistance in this case.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.74-85
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• 2024

Offshore wind turbines are supported by various foundations, each with its considerations in design and construction. Gravity, monopile, and suction bucket foundations encounter geotechnical issues, while jacket and tripod foundations face fatigue problems. Considering this, a gravity foundation based on a steel skirt was developed, and a monopile foundation was analyzed for Pile-Soil Interaction using the p-y curve and 3D finite element method (3D FEM). In addition, for suction bucket foundations, the effects of lateral and vertical loads were analyzed using 3D FEM and centrifuge tests. Fatigue analysis for jacket and tripod foundations was conducted using a hotspot stress approach. Some hybrid foundations and shape optimization techniques that change the shape to complement the problems of each foundation described above were assessed. Hybrid foundations could increase lateral resistance compared to existing foundations because of the combined appendages, and optimization techniques could reduce costs by maximizing the efficiency of the structure or by reducing costs and weight. This paper presents the characteristics and research directions of the foundation through various studies on the foundation. In addition, the optimal design method is presented by explaining the problems of the foundation and suggesting ways to supplement them.

• 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.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Fisheries and Ocean Technology
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.212-221
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• 2007

This paper describes on the evaluation and management of work process in suction hopper dredger and grab bucket dredger as an application of a PC-based ECDIS system. The dynamic tracking of dredging bucket and the data logging of grab dredging information were performed by using the grab dredging vessel "Kunwoong G-18". The position and route tracking of the dredger moving toward the ocean dumping site of dredged material was performed by using the hopper dredging vessel "Samyang-7". The evaluation of wok process in the dredging field, for grab dredger, was continuously carried out on January to May, 2006, in Incheon Hang and for hopper dredger, on July to December, 2003, in Busan Hang, Korea. The dredging information, such as dredger's position, heading, dredging depth and route track which was individually time stamped during the dredging operation, was automatically processed in real-time on the ECDIS and displayed simultaneously on the S-57 ENC chart. From these results, we conclude that the ECDIS system can be applied as a tool in order to manage the work process during the dredging operation, and also in order to generate the factual record of the dredging activities that is sufficient for dredging inspector to accurately evaluate the contract performance even in the absence of a full-time onboard inspector.

• KEPCO Journal on Electric Power and Energy
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.469-475
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• 2016

As we are facing the shortage of oil energy, studies on renewable energy, wind energy research has been naturally getting attention. Among wind energies, ocean wind energy is relatively abundant compared to land wind energy and therefore, is getting much attention in terms of its efficiency. However, the problem is the cost. Generally, the cost ratio of the supporting structure is over 25% of the total installation cost of a offshore wind turbine system. Thus, it is very important to reduce the total installation cost of the offshore wind turbine and develop accurate analysis methodology for various offshore wind turbine foundations. In this study, nonlinear structure-soil interaction analyses have been proposed and conducted for the typical suction bucket model of an offshore wind turbine foundation, and the results were compared with experimental test data for numerical validations.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2012.05a
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• pp.297-298
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• 2012

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.524-530
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• 2020

The risk of offshore wind turbine support structures by scour has been proposed. The proposed utilize probabilities of scour depths and fragilities according to scour depth and a modification of a seismic risk analysis method. The probability distribution of scour depth was calculated using a equation which is suitable to consider marine environmental conditions such as significant wave height, significant period, and current velocity, and dynamic analysis was performed on an offshore wind turbine equipped with an suction bucket to find fragility. Then, the risk of offshore wind turbine support structure considering scour can be found by integrating the scour probability and the fragility.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.255-270
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• 2023

One of the main parameters that affect the design of suction caisson-supported offshore structures is uplift behavior. Pull-out of suction caissons is profoundly utilized as the offshore wind turbine foundations accompany by a tensile resistance that is a function of a complex interaction between the caisson dimensions, geometry, wall roughness, soil type, load history, pull-out rate, and many other parameters. In this paper, a parametric study using a 3-D finite element model (FEM) of a single offshore suction caisson (SOSC) surrounded by saturated soil is performed to examine the effect of some key factors on the tensile resistance of the suction bucket foundation. Among the aforementioned parameters, caisson geometry and uplift loading as well as the difference between the tensile resistance and suction pressure on the behavior of the soil-foundation system including tensile capacity are investigated. For this purpose, a full model including 3-D suction caisson, soil, and soil-structure interaction (SSI) is developed in Abaqus based on the u-p formulation accounting for soil displacement (u) and pore pressure, P.The dynamic responses of foundations are compared and validated with the known results from the literature. The paper has focused on the effect of geometry change of 3-D SOSC to present the soil-structure interaction and the tensile capacity. Different 3-D caisson models such as triangular, pentagonal, hexagonal, and octagonal are employed. It is observed that regardless of the caisson geometry, by increasing the uplift loading rate, the tensile resistance increases. More specifically, it is found that the resistance to pull-out of the cylinder is higher than the other geometries and this geometry is the optimum one for designing caissons.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.23-32
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• 2013

In order to evaluate the bearing capacity behaviour of a monopod suction bucket foundation for an offshore wind tower at the western sea of Korea, a centrifuge load test and numerical analyses were performed. The monopod bucket foundation was designed to be installed in a silty sand layer. The model soil was prepared to simulate a target site by using soil samples having similar properties and controlling relative density. In-flight miniature cone penetration test and bender element array were used to confirm that the model soil had represented the target site conditions. The load - rotation curve of the centrifuge load test was analysed. A series of numerical analyses were performed to validate the experimental conditions. Self-weight of the model, distance to the boundary and elastic modulus of the soil layer were varied to study their effects on the load - rotation curves.