Emma Gallagher

Project Title:   Advancing the design of Suction Installed Caisson Foundations (SICF) for offshore wind applications through advanced numerical and physical modelling

Keywords:   Geotechnical Engineering; Offshore Foundations; Renewable Energy; Numerical Analysis; Suction Caissons

Supervisor:  Dr David Igoe

To date, offshore turbines have been installed in largely favourable site, with shallow waters and suitable ground conditions for driven piles. Many locations around Ireland, and around the world, are not suitable for driven pile foundations, due to the presence of shallow bedrock which may cause pile refusal / buckling. In these locations, either drilled pile solutions or novel foundations like suction caissons may be used. In water depths, greater than 80m, fixed bottom structures become too costly and therefore floating turbines are used. Floating offshore wind turbines are typically anchored to the sea floor with mooring lines fixed to suction caissons or driven piles.

The research is a collaboration between TCD and Gavin and Doherty Geosolutions (GDG) (https://www.gdgeo.com/). Funding is granted by The Irish Research Council (https://research.ie/ ) under the Employment Based Postgraduate Programme.