Authors: M. Mehravar, O. Harireche, A. Faramarzi
Link: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0141118716301286
The cost of foundation installation can be up to 40% of the total installation cost of offshore wind turbines. Suction caisson foundations can significantly reduce this figure (£2m saving per turbine) since their installation only requires a pump! Despite their use in offshore oil industry, caissons have not been adopted for offshore wind turbines. This paper investigates the bearing capacity of caissons under combined loading using finite element method. The results of this pioneering work can be used as a basis for design codes of offshore skirted foundations, where none exist, thereby lead-off their widespread use for off-shore wind turbine.