Long term effects

of cyclic loading on
suction caisson
foundations in sand

ln Cristina Lupea
TU

Detft

lng. Rene Thijssen

/ SPT )ffshore

Volker lnfraDesign

Prof. Frits van Tol

/ Deltares

TU Delft

Figure 1 - Sketch af the cansidered

structure, MW wind turbtne with a
th ree- le g jacket su bstructu re

Nffi,

lfodel Tlpe
r.'-"

Foudetion T'99e

Stnd'ds

od/or

APr/ts()

DNV

mpiriel

Empiri cai

Loag

ipplls

GBS

Soil T,lpe

.-7;-

Oth* Uttratue, R6rch

PoFe presrc build-up

Guidelines
Sfui

N0n50K

ffimltir
Eodels

modcls

Hvbrid/Constitutive

Hybrid

Pils
NotmEgdd

Cyclic loading

|
I

Dspacffifltsy'sFen
cdmutiob

--a,?

only due to rttic

lodls

ly

du to sttic
loadins

steriBth mdy'or Cacitf.

dtr ity
prssu

Stiffas s / Reltive
,J'

5s/ Pore

e'ecliv stress

Liiti ms

cyciic load "="

qu!-static

Focos - steel

comFgntrts ed not

method - all
soi.seected dttrie
coobibutions to pore
ref. steel,05t 1SS01prEur$ m$t be
4 for geotechniml
included
d!gnJ

Ittratve proffis wor gmmation

(*plicit

+ @ntro

lteps] , Large
of

nmbtr

pilmettr$ soi

dt

for caibration.

It*ti!'e procFs -eror

gntration (trplicit +
control steFsJ, tr-ge

awbtr

0f

ptrmettrs

with mcie physl ml

mming, mlibration
bEed m lbortor5 ttrts.

Figure 2 - Comparison of modell.ing capabiLities af the avai{abLe approaches

,.: .(

a)

:(
lr
.a
".-ffi;+
a

O -+-

operations required by simptifying the foundation instattation may reduce costs significantty.

[aboratory and/or in-situ testing is done.

PROBLEM DESCRIPTION

INTROUCTION

Recently pubtished statistics by the European

Wind Energy Association, EWEA [2012],

have

shown that the investments in the offshore wind

energy sector have ncreased from under 500
mittion in 2001 to 4500 miLLion in 2012. According to DTI [20011,30% of these investments is
re[ated to foundation costs. ln order to reduce
the overat[ costs two soLutions were identified:

increasing the turbine capacity and/or moving

f urther f rom the shore where higher wind power
coutd be tapped in. Both these sotutions lead to
an increase in the foundation size and its costs.
According to Senders [2008), significant project
costs during instaltation are caused by stand-by
periods as consequence of bad weather conditions. Thus, decreasing the number of offshore

Suction caisson foundations provide a simptified

instattatlon procedure. According to Seders
[2008] and Byrne & HouLsby [2003) suction caissons within a mutti-footing configuration are a
viab[e economicaI and environmental.l.y f riendLy
sotution Unfortunatety, in the current guideLines and standards Limited guidance is given

retated to the assessment of their long term

performance throughout the 25 year design [ife
time [characterised by over 108 loading cycLes).

The effects of [ong term verticaI cyctic loading

on a suction caisson embedded in sand are to be
determined in the context of :
Loss of stabitity - the reduction of subsoiI

bearing capacity due to pore pressure

bu

itd- u p;

Loss of serviceabitity

- accumutation

of

differentiaI setttements Ii.e. introduction of

rotati on

).

It is to be noted that the governing requirements

Lupea [20'1 3) gives an overview of the avaitable

approaches and suggests an aLternative method
to assess the tong term behaviour of suction caissons under cyclic loading conditions. The current
articte presents onLy a summary of these approaches The focus is to present the resutts of the
modeLl.ing carried out, as these may simptify the
design process, provided that validation through

18

GEOTECHNTEK- Januari20l4

are retated to the overatL titting of the wind

turbine structure, thus imposing strict boundaries retated to differentiaI sett[ement of the
suction caissons underneath the three teg jacket

structure (see figure

1 I

AVAILABLE APPRAACHES

The two most commonty used standards within

Summary
may altow for the simptfication of the [onE term perfonnrance assessment under vertical cycLic loading of suction caissons ennbedded in
sand lt provides a conservative theoreticaL base for the ideniification of
potentiatLy damaging loads, which couLd cause significant pore pressure
buitd-up and strain accumutation. 0ne of the key conctusons of this
research is that the foundation response is a function of both the apptied
mean [oad and its cyclic amptitude for both terrsite and compresslve
loading. Nonetheless, experimentaI work rnust be canried out to vatidate
these results.

0ffshore wind turbine projects have been characterised by an increase in

costs, sizes and distances from shore, EWEA {2012J This created a need
of investigating the adequacy of alternative and more fnanciatty attractive foundation types such as suction caissons. Within a mutti-footing
configuration, such as a three-leg jacket structure, these foundations
prove to be an advantageous sotution for increasing water depths lt is
due to their configuration that a simp.ified design is possibLe, [eading
to onty verticaI cycLic [oading conditions. This articte provides a concise
summary of the M Sc. thesis of C. Lupea and presents an approach that

tion mode[ (Wichtman et aL. (201 1]). 0nce a trend

can be observed in pore pressure buiLd-up and
strain accu mu Lation, extra polation formulas can
be used - see figure 3.
o
L
0

=o'

Soi1

Loading conditions

An important ro[e in the proposed modeI

H

8md nodel rith

Enpricel fomntes

irtergrilrler atrei

frpoletil

=a1 icre-.fg eccf,uleti rte

- - - IicreirgccrEEltimrete

oe

lal or cyclea l-f

Figure 3 - Sketch of proposed modelfor pore pressure buiLd-up (simiLar procedure for strainsJ

the offshore industry, the American Petroteum

lnstitute (APl) and Det Norske Veritas IDNVl,
provide guideLines for the anatysis of stender
pipe piLes Itength (Ll over diameter ID] ratio
' 0)
and gravity based foundations IL/D.1 ]. For suction caissons having an embedment ratio IL/DJ
between 1 and 10, depending on the soil type
and instaltation pressures, no specific guidance
is given. Furthermore, these standards provide
Limited guidance in the assessment of cyctic
Loading on foundations through empiricaI
formuLas [the API suggests the use of a reduction factor A = 0.9 for the lateraI resistance of
stender pites, that is independent of the cyctic
Loading characteristics; the DNV proposes an
effective stress anatysis and a reduction of the
shear stress based on pore pressure buil.d-up
for gravity based foundations).
'1

The avaiLable research suggests the use of constitutive modeLs with a better capacity to assess
the change in soiI properties throughout each individuaL cycLe. These modeLs are either based on
strain or pore pressure accumutation. A bridge

over the [arge number of cycles, characteristic

to offshore toading conditions, is generatty provided through the use of empiricaL formu[as and
controI cyctes [Safinus et at. 201 1 ). These types
of modets shaLl. be considered as hybrids.

From literature search, severaI criteria were

identified as being significant in the assessment
of this prob[em. The comparison of the avai[abte
solutions to the probtem at hand is given in
figure 2. lt becomes ctear from this figure that
the research carried out covers much better the
questions faced now in the offshore wind indust ry.

PROPOSED MODEL

From literature it is conc[uded that for the

probtem at hand the use of a hybrid modeI using
the hypoptastic sand model. (Von WoLffersdorff,

with intergranutar strain INiemunis &

Her[e, 1 997) is to be preferred. The reasons
for this choice reside with the good prediction
199)

capabiLities of the modeL and its previous usage

as the base for the High CycLic Strain Accumuta-

19

GEOTECHNIEK

JANUAT:

2014

is

ptayed by the considered Loading conditions [see

igure 1). ln the case that was analysed for the

thesis, representative for North Sea conditions,
Loading conditions were represented by the resuttant forces at seabed [eve[ for the simutation
of the 25 year design tife time of a MW wind
f

turbine. The raw data on reaction forces at

jacket Leg- caisson interface were statisticatLy
processed in order to determine both extreme
va[ues as wet[ as the most probable operationaI
Loads.

The extreme values were used in the predesign of the suction caissons for a three-teg
jacket structure. A safety factor of 2.5 was used
in order to check the foundation's capacity to
undertake tension. The obtained caisson dimensions are 15 m diameter and 1 m embedment
Length, using formutas provided by API and DNV
for undrained conditions. A simptified anatysis
showed that the required pressures for instatlation were within the [imits imposed by the water
depth of 40m. As this was not the main topic of
research no further analysis was carried out [i.e.
buckLing anatysis).

The most probabte operational load cases were

determined based on the highest number of

occurrences and the highest mean and/or
amptitude of the Load, whichever is governing
reLated to pore pressure buitd-up and strain
accumutation. Due to the high safety factors
used in the predesign, the dominant operatonal
Loading cases for the three caissons proved
to be betow 10% of the caisson's capacity. For
cLarity, the fotLowing vatues wit[ be referring to
unfactored Loads with respect to the capacity of
the 15 m diameter suction caisson, with a'1 m
embedment [ength.

Phse Z

F-*

E
7

0E+04

6 0E+04

z
5

0E+04

F-*.

4 0E+04
G
U

hptrtude [kNI

Enveope-Bang et al,(201

3 0E+04

-Failue Enyelope-Supachawdote
-Failue
Opemtional Loas
*Horizontal E\treme Loads
-Holzontal

0E+04

Dpbde [d,Il

t al. (2004)

Fu"

r' Phe 4

1.0E+04

r (pd

0.0E+00
0.0E+00

5,0E+04

1,0E+05 1.5E+05

of 1

2.0E+05

qEi-fttic lod (discdsdoD

. ., * - Cyc)clod sirl (b be dts6sed)
-,{ppljd

Horlzonal Capacity [kNl

investigated by using the formu[as suggested

by Bang et at. [2011 and Supachawarote et a[.
[2002']. The latter method is appLicabLe for ctays.
For this method, the undrained shear strength

of sand was

determined using DNV

(19921

recommendations
It was conctuded that horizontal Loading did not
yietd a significant change in the verticaI capacity
Tabte

see figure 4. The probtem at hand was therefore simptified to verticaLcyclic [oading onty.
The Loading conditions were not appl.ied cycl.icaLLy, but quasi-stpticatLy using four phases as
shown in figure 5. ln the odd numbered phases
the load was instantty apptied undrained, whi[e
in the even numbered phases time was altowed
for consolidation for hal.f the period of one cycle
The period was conservativety chosen equaI to
the wave period, approximatety 7 s, even though

- Hypoptastic sand modet with intergranular strain concept parameters

Symbol. Description
0.

CriticaI state friction

h^

Granutar hardness Icontrots the shape of the Limiting void ratio curves

angl.e

["J

- stope)

Exponent of compression law Icontrots the shape of the Lirniting void ratio curves

cu

of ryclic

lod)

Figure 5 - Sketch of discretised loading in faur phases

Figure 4 - FaiLure enveLope af the predesigned caisson

The inftuence of horizontaI toading was

Tie lsl

rycl.) lsl

2-58+05

rvatu re )

from a study on the Loading condtions fottows

that the governing cyctic loads are [ike[y to be
c[oser to the typicaL wind period of 30s. These
vatues are atso c,utside the order of the operating frequency of wind turbine generators.

intergranular
strain
The hypopLastic sand mode[ with intergranutar
The hypoplastic sand model with

strain is a non-[inear incrementaL constitutive

modet. lt associates the strain rate to the stress
rate, expressing aLI mechanicaI behaviouraI characteristics in one sing[e tensoriaI equation The
particutarity of the modeL is retated to the fact
that it does not decompose the strain rate into
etastic or plastic parts, as one was accustomed
from e[asto-pl.astic theory. The totaI strain is in
fact the sum of two components: an intergranu-

strain tensor retated to the deformation of

interface layers at intergranutar contacts and a
component retated to the rearrangement of the
soiI sketeton The first component is observed
in reverse and neutraI toading conditions, being
characteristic to hypoetastic behaviour. ln contiLar

edo

Void ratio at maximum density for p= lcontrols the peak sirength)

c0

Void ratio at criticaI state for p=0 [control.s the peak and residuaI strength)

eio

Void ratio at minimum density for p= (controts the initiaI stiff nessJ

c[

Pyknotropy factor controtl.ing the peak friction angle

Pyknotropy factor controtting the shear stiffness

nuous loading conditions both components con-

mR

Stiffness muttiptier for initiaI or reversed toading (stiffness increase for a 900 reversat)

tribute and the behaviour may be characterised

fT1

Stiffness mul.tiplier for neutraI Loading [stiffness increase for a 180o reversaL]

as hypoptastic.

R'.n.,.

Smatl. strain stiff ness Limit (radius of etastic range, may be taken as a materiaI constantJ

0.

Parameter adjusting stiffness reduction curve stope Iused to catibrate against

cyctic test data

Parameter adjusting stiffness reduction curve stope (taken as materiaI constant)

f3

The modified equation by Gudehus

11996J

inc[udes the inftuence of the stress leve[ (barotropy and of density (pyknotropyl. The currently
considered standard hypopl.astic sand modeI by
Von Wotffersdorff has a Matsuoka-Nakai criticaI

Tabte 2 - Overview of soil characteristics

0.

Pr,utt<

Pi,ary

ky

lkg/m3J

lk9/m3J

lm/sl

t-l

lGPal

LO

2072

1722

2.5E-5

0.54

2.2

eb

eco

io

CT

13

ff p

ft'

R-"*

t-l

t-t

t-l

t-l

t-l

t-l

t-l

t-l

t-l

0.22

0.4

0.55

0.85

1.s

1.1

1.E-04

20

GE1TECHN'IEK- Januari2ol4

0.13

l3,

t-lt-l
0.010.75

LONG TERM EFFECTS OF CYCLIC LOADNG ON SUCTION CAISSON FOUNDATIONS IN sAND

e"t\

to

Data

Test

"Model

orB

r|rn

x
6

.......TestData

-Model

o
o

rf9ol
a

e"6 $"

ct

......TestData

t-

-Model

r-0E-05 1.08-04 1.08-03 1.08-02 1.0E-01

1.08+00

90
9do r

80

-Model -Test

F70
&
60

lo1+orl/2 [kPq

-Model

20

L rt

10
c1[o/ol

( yct [-

0
0

Figure 6 - CaLbration of hypoplastic sand modeL parameters

20

40

60

80

100 t20

1+0

Figure 7 - CaLibration of intergranuLar strain concept parameters

The catibration procedure requires a good

understanding of [aboratory test resutts, soiI
behaviour and of the inftuence of the modet
parameters. The soil. testing faci[ities in Ptaxis
were used for the catibration of the soil with
respect to the existing cycIic [aboratory test
data- see figure and figure

boundary vatue levet, the probtem was analysed

using Ptaxis 3D, due to the Expert Mode functionatity which atlows the user to input aLL the
information using command [ines. This feature

a more rapid and semi-automatic

introduction of the [oading conditions.

attows for

7.

Geometrica[ty,

KoLymbas [2000 hypoptasticity has an atgebraic

The values resutting from the in-situ, l'aboratory

testing and catibration procedure are summarised in tabLe

2.

yieLd and plastic potentiaI surfaces. More infor-

mation regarding the hypoptastic sand model

B-

loo

t30
o

.......TestData

formutation using a simpte tensoriaI re[ation,

whitst the hyperpl.astic modeI is a geometrical
approach, using pictoriaI concepts such as a

R-" ",

Iro
s

o'F

stress state conditon incorporated. Any materiaI point within the soiI mass is described using
the stress state and void ratio. Hypoptasticity aLlows for atI the stress hisiory to be incorporated
in the current stress, while the presence of the
void ratio in the formuta makes the model more
sensitive to past deformations. According to

Data

the probtem was

discretised

in two different ways. First a rectangutar soil

votume extending 45m around the caisson,
with aLL drained boundaries was considered.
Secondty only a quarter of the probtem was

has a totaI of 13 parameters to be catibrated, see

Tabte 1. The first eight parameters betong to the

[aboratory.

anatysed, with the verticaI adjacent boundaries

considered undrained - see figure 1 0. The tatest
was chosen in order to ensure more symmetry
in the automatica[[y generated mesh, as it was
observed that the non-symmetry of the mesh
was inftuencing the resutts. Furthermore, the
boundaries of the soiI volume were chosen at

hypopLastic sand model and are to be catibrated using isotropical.Ly conso[idated undrained
triaxiaI test data. The last five parameters,

Extrapolation fo rmulas
The extrapolation formutas are a best

based

.R [R is the radius of the suction caisson] in

order to avoid that they influence the simulation
resu[ts. For the anatysis of this probLem interfa-

on the accumulation trend that is observed in

the resutts generated by running the anatyses,

ces were used between the caisson and the sand

votume within and around it.

can also be found in Bardet (1990] and Ling and

Yang [200.

The hypoptastic sand modeI with intergranutar

strain, as imptemented in Ptaxis by Man (2012lr,

related to the intergranutar [smattl strain, are

to be calibrated using cyctic undrained test data
[cyctic undrained direct simpLe shear tests or

The B, parameter depends on the apptied CSSR

(see figure 81. Therefore, it is used as a bridge

between the [aboratory and in-situ conditions.

It ensures that the response of the soil to the
apptied Loading conditions in-situ is correctty
extrapolated from the loading conditions in the

fit

as shown in figure 12 and figure 13.

cyctic undrained triaxiaI tests) with varylng

Proble m

cyctic shear stress ratios (CSSRl.

Even though the probtem

21

ln order to be abte to observe the response of

the soiI mass to the Loading conditions, nodes

iscretisation

is axisymmetric

GETECHNIEK- Januari2014

at

and stress points were setected both within and

o.t4
0.10
o.L2

o.09

o.10

o.08

3st

fit

nq- lr hest ir

----

o.o7

,.!- o.08

o.o6

(A

o
()

irt

o.o5

o.06
o.o4

o.o4
o

o.o2

o.o2

o.o3
o.o1

o.o0

500

1,ooo 1,500 2,ooo 2,500

Nuo [-l

o.oo
3,ooo

-o.o

- see figure

pr_bect

mittion cycles, a tiLt of 0.5o of the ful.L superstructure coutd be reached.

When evatuating the strain accumutation in time

[see figure 13) a trend may be observed within
two of the points located in the soiI mass in the
caisson. The accumutation trend forthese points
represents a Iinear distribution of 1.1.10-8/cycte.

lf this trend is extrapotated

[inearly for one

fit

o-

[-]

A [inear extrapolation is made over one mit-

loading continueC, [ocatised loosening due to

increased pore pressure buiLd-up under the
caisson top pl.ate and centre took ptace. These
effects are not expected to be significant in den-

[ion cycles only, due to the fact that a signif icant

ser sand, according to Andersen (20091.

RESULTS

As the appIied operationa[ loads were actually

under 10% of the predesigned caisson's capacity, the resuLts showed no pore pressure bui[dup during the course of the 520 cycLes analysed
Isee figure 12); having a symmetric response
around the zero mean va[ue at different points
within the soiI mass). Pore pressure buil.d-up is
the driving factor in reducing the bearing capacity of sand and consequentLy endangering stabitity as it was defined in the Probtem Description. ln figure 12 it can be seen that no significant
changes occur and therefore the stabiLity of the
structure is ensured.

o ;o

o. 10

Figure 9 - Relatonship between p. and C55R - curve through the values

of , giving fhe best fit with laboratory data

Figure 8 - lnfluence of fi, on C55,? and number of cycles required

ta reach liquefaction (Nr)
outside the caisson

error may be propagated. Measured [aboratory

or in-situ data may provide a more accurate
extrapotation method.

Having such

smaLl strain

accumuLation

rate, titting of the structure due to differentiaL

settLements is within the boundaries used

in the offshore wind industry and, therefore,
serviceabitity is ensured.

An additionaI ana[ysis was carried out

The reasons for which instabiLity and overestimation of pore pressure buitd-up occurs within the
software may be related to 3 factors [Ptaxis, 2013:
1 Even though the probtem is symmetric at
boundary vatue levet, the generated mesh is
not symmetric and this causes non-symmetric fai[ure mechanisms;
2. The high water depth of 40 m may have also

caused unbatanced forces within the soft-

to

investigate the foundation's behaviour to more

extreme conditions (storm eventsl, based on
[oads at increased percentages of the capacity. Unfortunatety the modeI response in some

of these cases showed significant instabil.ity

Isee figure 15J. ln these analyses it couLd be
observed that the medium dense sand initiatty
densified within the caisson, but as the cyctic

ware;

3.

The over-estimation of pore pressures was

atready expected from the soiI catibration
p

roced

re.

Even though for the extreme cases no conctusions coutd be drawn regarding stabiLity and
servicea bitity, this modeI alLowed for the creation
of a chart that a[[ows for a safe design zone [see

figure

11, within which [ong term performance

is ensured, by having a volumetric strain accumutation rate sma[[er or equaL to 1.1.10-8/cycte.
This boundary is drawn for a medium dense
sand Il = 50%, considering a loading period of
approximatety 7 seconds for the verticaL cyc[ic
load and a [inear accumutation trend. Moreover,
the baltast weight that may be appl.ied on top of
the caisson [which provides a positive effect on

the axiaI tensionaI capacity) was not considered.

gnetry in operational nditious

gmetry in *treme mnditiom

10 - FrobLem geometry {in operationat Loading canditions futL caisson, in

extreme loading condtions anly a quarter)

Figuur

22

GEOTECHNIEK- JANUAr:2Ol4

It is important to notice from this chart, also

found by Jardine et at. [2012], that the foundation response depends on both the mean load and
the amptitude of the appLied load. Moreover, it is

roo%
5500

90%

4500

80%
700/o

aaa
Domint Hjpoelastie Behaviou

60%

aDoint

50%

3500

300/0

Behaviou

HJ4roplastic

A
rf

2,300

2oo/o

1Oof,2

oPr
6p:

1,500

E
0

,/o

-100/0

4(

ro

5(

-2A/o

500

-300/0

E
-500

4Oo/o

ale (leslgr t zote

t^ r-(1-lolC -Elcwclel

/."'

-s04"

-600/0
'1500

-7Oo/o

ts
-2 500

cyd

-ao/
-9Oo/o

[-1

700%

15 - Sample of pore pressure buitd-up nstabiLty as a

function of the number of cycLes for more extreme cases

Figure

A8putude/ cpactty

1 - lnfLuence of mean Load and ampLitude on the foundation response

for medium dense sand under undrained conditions, with a verticaL loading
period of approx 7s [the safe design zone is characterised by dominantly hypoelastic behaviour, whiLe outside of it by dominantly hypaplastic behaviour)

Figure

accuracy of the obtained resutts. Nonethe[ess, the boundary as given in f igure 1 provides a guidetine for a safe foundation design,

that have provided input during the course of this

though it might not always prove economic. This

REFERENCES

boundary is atso an indication of which cyclic Loads

need to be further investigated in order to assess

possible long term damages. The same figure

conf irms that the foundation can resist
tensil.e loads, but that capacity decreases significantly as tensi[e cyctic loading components
appear. Taking this tensionaL capacity into
account in the design is an important optimization since in the design of suction cissons up
to now a[[ tensiona[ loads are normatty avoided
by adding batlast on the caissons. Therefore,
within certain Loading ranges this additional. weight
might not be required.

of

aLL

the considered assumptions, [imitatlons and

obtained results can be found in Lupea [2013).

Nonethetess, the provided results are based purenumericaI anatyses, thus f iel.d and/or [aboratory testing must stil.[ be carried out for vatidation.

[y on

K.H. Andersen [2009. Bearing capacity under

cyctic loading - offshore, atong the coast, and
on [and. the 21st Bjerrum [ecture presented in
Osl.o, 23 November 2007. Canadian GeotechnicaI Journat, 4[5] :51 3-535.
J P. Bardet, [19901. "Hypoptastic ModeL for
Sands." JournaI of Engineering Mechanics,
116.9],, 1973-1994
B.W. Byrne and G.T. Houtsby [20031. FoundatiTransactions of the RoyaI Society 4.361:29092930.
S. Bang, K. Jones, K. Kim, Y. Kim and Y. Cho
'.2011). lnctined Loading capaclty of suction
piLes in sand. 0cean Engineering, 38[7]:9'1 5 924.

European Wind Energy Association IEWEA,

The European offshore wind industry key trends and statistics 201 2.
Department of Trade and lndustry (DTl, 20011.
Monitoring & Evatuation of Btyth 0ffshore

R.B.J. Brinkgreve, ir.

Ef-

fects and PracticaL Design", in proceedings of

7th int. conf. Offshore Site lnvestigation and

Geotechnlcs, London, Sept. 201 2.

D. Kotymbas [2000]. Constitutive Model.l.ing of
Granutar Materiats. Engineering 0n[ine Libra-

21,

GE1TECHNIEK- Januari20l4

Hypopl.astic

modeI for cohesionLess soi[s with el'astlc strain

range. Mechanics of Cohesive-FrictionaI MaIerials 2:279-299.
Plaxis [2013) private e-maiI communication.
5. Safinus, G. Sedl.acek and U. Hartwig [201 1.
CycLic Response of Granular SubsoiI Under
a Gravity Base Foundation for Offshore Wind
Turbines. ln Proceedings of the 30th lnternationaL Conference on Ocean, Offshore and Arctic
Engineering 0MAE, pp. 875-882.
M. Senders [20081. Suction Caissons in Sand
as Tripod Foundations for Offshore Wind Turbines. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Western
Austratia-School of Civit and Resource Engineen ng.
C. Supachawarote, M. Randol.ph and S. Gour-

venec [2004]. lnctined Putt-out Capacity of

Suction Caissons. ln Proceedings of the 14th
lnternationa[ Offshore and Po[ar Engineering

nd Fou ndatio ns 36111: 1 -12.

R. Jardine, A Puech and K.H. Andersen, 'Cy-

ctic Loading of Offshore Pites: PotentiaI

W.J.

Karreman, ir. WG. Versteijten and ir: H.J. Luger,

whose guidance and support have made at[ this
possibte. The authors atso thank a[[ the others

TechnicaI University of DeLft. Great appreciation

to dr. ir.

of the Japanese GeotechnicaI Society: Soits

Loading on suction calsson foundations. M.5c.

Thesis, TechnicaL University of DeLft
D. Man [20121. PLAXIS lmplementation of
HypopLasticity. Charles U niversity of Prague.

- A. Niemunis and L Herte [1997].

Wind Farm.
G. Gudehus f 199. A comprehensive constitu-

tive equation for granutar materia[s. JournaI

given

As mentioned in the abstract, this article is

based on the work carried out for the M.Sc.
thesis of C. Lupea as part of her graduation
from the Geo-engineering programme at the

is

nics, 132[12],'l 380- 1 39 1 .

- C. Lupea [20131. Long term effects of cyclic

20131.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ry. Springer-Verl.ag. ISB N 97 83540669 197 .

H. Ling and S. Yang, [2001. "Unified Sand Mo-

deI Based on the CriticaI State and Generatized PLasticity." JournaI of Engineering Mecha-

ons for offshore wind turbines. PhilosophicaL

The given resutts are the outcome of the

research and numerical analyses conducted as
part of the author's M.Sc. thesis. A futt overview

research.

atso

P/d

Conference, France, pp. 500-50.

P. von Wotffersdorff (1991. A hypoptastic retation for granutar materiats with a predefined
[imit state surface. Mechanics of Cohesive-

FrictionaI Materlats 1l3l:251 -27

1.

LONG TERM EFFEETS OF CYCLIC LOADING ON SUCTION CAISSON FOUNDATIONS IN 5AND

-K-L-M-N-O

P-Q
2

!,
10

3
o

0,

llir

2
o

, -2

o
q

t(
ft

,8

Figure

11

12 - Sa,nple of excess pare pressure bui\d-up in time at

variaus points within the soil. mass {52A cycLesi

Figure

- Selection af nades and stress points for nleasuretnents

Figure

-4 E-19
2 5915E+06

2 5925+06

i-3.8-05

Voidratio

effects within
the medium

(e) [.10'3]

, -'

Endofcycle5

Endofcycle25

m,0q
5,00

dense sano
under extreme
laading conditions {change in
vaid ratio]

1 ,05

,2.8-05

14

Densif ication

m,
?,w

,
7,

m,m
,

-K -L-M--N-O

-S -Linear

ffi,

(K)

ffi,w

50

Endof

100

ffi,00

-4 -O5

5E,m

ffi,
-5-E-05

%,

s,m
lE,@

-6.8-0s

49,
l,

13 - Sarnpte of volumetric stran accumulation in tirne at

variaus points within the soi| mass {520 cyclesl

Figure

observed that as toading within the tensi[e region occurs, due to increased amptitudes and low
mean vaLues, the undrained capacity decreases
Yet, this chart shows that there is stitt a possibitity for the foundation to undertake a [imited
amount of tensiLe Loading, thus reducing the
totaI amount of batlast weight required. A design

comptetety within the safe zone might not be

economic, but it can hel.p the engneer identify
the cases that wiLL cause neither significant pore
pressure buil.d-up nor strain accumuLation.
The obtained resutts represent a first step into
having a better understanding of the behaviour
of suction caissons embedded in sand under

verticaI cyctic loading. Additionatty, Laboratory

modeI testing is stitt required for vaLidation.
Furthermore, the sensitivity of the foundation
response to change in retative density of the
sand, compressibil.ity, effects of preshearing

shouLd also be investigated

CONCLUSIANS

The prob[em anatysed during the course of this

research refers to the Long term performance of
suction caissons under cyctic Loading. This was
investigated in order to ctarify the adequacy of
suction caissons as foundations for Large ( MW
offshore wind turbines.

An important aspect that has been discovered

and proved with this investigation is that for a
three leg jacket structure, suction caissons have
a significant advantage in horizontaI resistance:
due to the specific Aeometry of the prob[em and
the choice of Large diameter suction caissons,
the horizontaI resistance is much [arger than
the appLied horizontaI Loads. Thus, the probtem
was reduced to the behaviour of the suction
caisson under verticaI cycLic [oading only.

23

GEOTECHNIEK-

JANUAT:2OI4

The mode[ proposed to anatyse the behaviour

under verticaL cyctic Loading is based on the
hypopl.astic sand modeL with intergranular
strain concept integrated. lt has proven to be a
good tooI for the prediction of the foundation's
behaviour for severai hundreds of cyctes for
specific Loading ranges. The soil. condition under investigation is represented by sand, as one
of the most commonLy encountered soiI types
within the North Sea. The medium dense sand
[lD = 50% used for the catibration of the soil
mass, represents a conservative case, as the
encountered sand within the offshore soiL investigations in the North Sea is generatty dense to
very dense. CycLic Loading effects are not expected to be significant n denser sand (Andersen,
2009).

For the obtained resuLts the overestimation

of pore pressure, from the soiI catibration

phase, proves to be prob[ematic in defining the