• Journal of Wind Energy
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.5-16
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• 2022

In general, a tripod-shaped foundation secures its verticality by repeating penetration and drawing when suction penetration is performed. These repetitive tasks not only require a skilled operator, but are also less efficient. In this study, an automatic slope control system was developed to verify the slope control performance based on tripod suction in a sandy soil environment. The slope of the tripod suction base was measured, and the relative height of each suction bucket was calculated from the center of the tripod with a formula. The control program reduces the pump output of the suction bucket that penetrates too quickly by controlling the suction pressure of each suction bucket by sending an on/off signal to the suction pump according to the relative height. With such repetitive work, the relative height converges to 0 and the verticality of the structure can be secured while suction penetration is performed. As a result of the experiment, the effect of controlling the slope depending on the optimal limit setting height and penetration depth was confirmed, and a vertical degree within 0.5° was ensured. When installing a tripod suction bucket, the automatic tilt control method using the relative height is efficient without relying on the experience of the operator.

• 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 Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.36 no.12
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• pp.35-43
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• 2020

Currently, cofferdams of circular cross section are widely applied as temporary facilities for the installation of bridge foundations in river/sea bridge construction in Korea. Existing caisson, sheet pile, and cell type cofferdam are widely used, but these methods take a lot of time and cost for installation and dismantling. In the case of the existing sheet pile construction method, attention is needed to secure internal and external stability because of the damage to the sheet pile due to ground penetration and difficulty in connecting element members. In this study, penetration design of circular steel pipes using suction pressure was performed on the soft ground of the west coast, and it was confirmed that penetration construction using suction pressure was possible through field tests. It was confirmed that applying the ground analysis results using the cone penetration test (CPT) to the design rather than the standard penetration test (N value) results more similar to the field test results. In addition, it was confirmed that local failure of the inside of the cofferdam was induced when a suction pressure higher than the upper limit suction pressure was applied in the silty sand.

• 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 Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2010.09a
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• pp.825-839
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• 2010

The global and domestic market for offshore wind farm is expected to grow fast, and the design and installation of substructure and foundation is getting more important. As for the offshore wind farms located in the shallow(depth < 20m) water, the construction and installation of the substructure and foundation makes up about 1/4 ~1/3 of the offshore wind farm construction cost, and the portion is expected to increase because the turbine capacity is increasing from 2 ~ 3MW to 5MW or larger and the water depth of wind farms is also increasing over 30m. As a foundation for offshore wind turbine, the suction caisson foundation is being considered to be a highly competitive alternative to the conventional monopile or gravity based structure, because it has features suitable for the offshore construction such as quick installation, no heavy equipment for penetration and no hammering noise for driving. In order to study the installation behaviour of the suction caisson, laboratory tests were performed with sand. The pore water pressure and displacement were measured to analyze the suction pressure during penetration, the penetration speed and the amount of heaving.

• KEPCO Journal on Electric Power and Energy
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.31-36
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• 2022

This paper presents the measuring process of dynamic properties of offshore wind power foundation and provides consideration of each step. This Guideline enables to maintain consistent measuring procedure and therefore increase the reliability of test results. Small scaled suction bucket foundation was fabricated to represent the commercial support structure installation mechanism and two cases(free-free, free-fixed) of dynamic tests were performed at workshop. From the tests, the importance of dynamic properties of connection part between suction bucket and tower was figured out. More over, types and configuration of measuring devices are recommended which can help find the natural frequency of wind turbine foundation correctly. In field test, it was found that the natural frequency of suction bucket foundation was increased linearly with the penetration depth due to the confining effect of ambient soil. Meanwhile, it was not easy to get an enough excitation force with normal impact hammer because the N.F of suction bucket model was in the lower range of 0 Hz ~ 5 Hz. Therefore, new excitation method which has enough force and can excite lower frequency range was devised. This study will help develop safety check procedure of suction bucket foundation in field at each installation stage using the N.F measurement.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2009.03a
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• pp.743-749
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• 2009

In this study, the field test for suction drain method which does not require a surcharge load and a sealing sheet was performed at west seashore's site constructed by the dredged and reclaimed clay. The improvements of soft ground by suction drain method was analyzed by the results of real-time field measurement, SPT(Standard Penetration Test) and laboratory tests. The results indicated that the soft ground improvement is effective the vertical drain method used with vacuum pressure rather than surcharge load with considering settlements, dissipation of pore water pressure and shear strength.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.189-199
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• 2016

Chloride penetration is considered as a most crucial factor for the determination of the service life of concrete. A lot of experimental tools for the chloride penetration into concrete have been developed, however, the mechanism was based on only diffusion, although permeability is also main driving forces for the chloride penetration. Permeation reacts on submerged concrete impacting for short to long term durability while capillary suction occurs on only dried concrete for very early time. Furthermore, hydrostatic pressure increases in proportional to measured depth from the surface of water because of the increasing weight of water exerting downward force from above. It is thought, therefore, that the water pressure has a great influence on the chloride penetration and thereby on the service life of marine concrete. In this study, new experiment is designed to examine the effect of water pressure on chloride penetration in concrete quantitatively. As an experiment result, pressure leaded a quick chlorides penetration by a certain depth, while diffusion induced chlorides to penetrate inward slowly. Therefore, it was concluded that chloride should penetrates significantly by water pressure and the phenomena should be accelerated for concrete exposed to deep sea. The research is expected as a framework to define the service life of submerged concrete with water pressure and compute water permeability coefficient of cementitious materials.

• 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.