Journal article

The response of suction caissons to long-term lateral cyclic loading in single-layer and layered seabeds

FY Zhu, CD O'Loughlin, B Bienen, MJ Cassidy, N Morgan

Geotechnique | ICE PUBLISHING | Published : 2018

Abstract

Suction caissons are being increasingly considered as an alternative foundation type to monopiles for offshore wind turbines. Single caisson foundations (or monopods) for offshore wind turbines are subjected to lateral cyclic loading from wind and waves acting on the structure. Recent studies have considered the response of suction caissons to such loading in sand, but have generally been limited to a few thousand cycles, whereas offshore wind turbines will generally experience millions of loading cycles over their lifetime. This paper presents the results from a programme of caisson tests in sand, clay and sand over clay seabed profiles, where each test involved about one million cycles of ..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

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Funding Acknowledgements

This work forms part of the activities of COFS, which is currently supported as one of the primary nodes of the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence for Geotechnical Science and Engineering and as a Centre of Excellence by the Lloyd's Register Foundation. Lloyd's Register Foundation helps to protect life and property by supporting engineering-related education, public engagement and the application of research. The project also received funding from Lloyd's Register. The authors thank John Breen, Guido Wager, Khin Thida Seint, Manuel Palacios, Kelvin Leong and Dave Jones for their assistance during the tests. The above support is greatly appreciated.