ABSTRACT

Active suction is investigated as a strategy to temporarily increase the tensile capacity of bucket foundation for offshore floating renewables, which are subjected to high extreme loads. A centrifuge testing campaign was carried out in the new 10 m diameter beam centrifuge at UWA, using a purpose built suction application device. Preliminary results are presented, demonstrating the performance of the testing setup and the potential of the active suction concept to increase tensile capacity by up to 70%.