• 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 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 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.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.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.103-116
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• 2014

This paper presents the results of a numerical investigation on the load carrying capacity and consolidation behavior of suction piles. Three dimensional numerical models which reflect realistic ground conditions and installation procedures including the ground-suction pile interface were adopted to conduct a parametric study on variables such as the length-diameter ratio and the loading configurations, i.e, vertical, horizontal, and combined loads. The results indicated that the load carrying capacity of a suction pile can only be realistically obtained when the interface behavior between the suction pile and the ground is correctly modeled. Also carried out was the stress-pore pressure coupled analysis to investigate the consolidation behavior of the suction pile after the application of a vertical loading. Based on the results, failure envelops and associated equations were developed, which can be used to estimate load carrying capacity of suction piles installed in similar conditions considered in this study. The results of consolidation analysis based on the stress-pore pressure coupled analysis indicate that no significant excess pore pressure and associated consolidation settlement occur for the loading configuration considered in part due to the load transfer mechanism of the suction pile.

• 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 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 the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.25-35
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• 2008

It has been recognized that the behaviour of unsaturated soil plays an important role in geomechanics. However, up to now, only a few experimental data are available for the technical difficulties related to both volume changes and suction measurements. In this study, the volume changes of unsaturated compacted silty soil were monitored with proximeter during various triaxial compression tests, which gave a realistic estimation in the volume changes of unsaturated soil sample. From the test results, the behaviours of wetting-induced collapses are observed during the drainage/water absorption tests. Under exhausted-drained conditions during shearing, the shear strength increases with an increasing initial suction. On the other hand, the volume changes become small with an increase in the initial suction. And, the volumetric strain during shearing is independent of the confining pressure.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.29 no.6C
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• pp.287-294
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• 2009

Suction Drain Method is a relatively new technique to improve soft ground using vacuum pressure which can be directly applied to the soft ground through drains that the pore water pressure around them are decreased without changing total stress. This can accelerate volume changes and increase strength of the ground. This paper shows the results of field test of the suction drain method applied at dredged and reclaimed clay. To evaluate the improvement effects of soft ground by the suction drain method, this paper analyzed real-time field measurements to the results of the laboratory tests and numerical analysis. The comparisons of the settlement and shear strength between suction drain method and surcharge preloading method show possibilities for replacement of the preloading methods. The settlements by suction drain method were 2.3 times larger and undrained shear strength were 300%~400% higher than surcharge method. Moreover, the water content is decreased about 30% and the preconsolidation pressure is increased about $0.52kgf/cm^2$.