Installing offshore bucket foundations – insights from hydro-mechanical large deformation numerical modelling




Installing offshore bucket foundations – insights from hydro-mechanical large deformation numerical modelling


Offshore wind (OSW) development is crucial for net-zero target and energy security. Rapid OSW development requires the installation of offshore foundation solutions tailored to the seabed and loading conditions. Suction bucket foundation is one of alternative offshore wind foundation solutions to the commonly used monopiles particularly for floating wind developments at deep seas. The key advantage of suction caisson is that its installation can be aided by suction loads produced through a pump reducing noises and carbon footprints. Difficulties have arisen at several sites with installation hazard such as piping, tilting and soil plug failure. This study aims to investigate suction aided installation performance of suction caissons by using a developed large-deformation and mechanical-hydraulic coupled finite element method. An existing Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian Finite Element framework with remesh and interpolation techniques will be extended to account for i) continuing large-deformation penetration, ii) solid-fluid coupling that dominates the installation, and iii) suction interface. The computational tool enables observations of details behind the mechanism-based prediction method.



Wangcheng Zhang


5th International Symposium on Frontiers in Offshore Geotechnics (ISFOG2025)



11 - Suction installed foundations and anchors



https://doi.org/10.53243/ISFOG2025-393