Review of Air-floating Towing Characteristics of Bucket Foundation

Abstract

[Introduction] The bucket foundation is a kind of emerging environment-friendly offshore wind turbine foundation, with the characteristic of simple construction, high construction efficiency and low comprehensive cost. It has been gradually received attention and recognition from the offshore wind power engineering community. The bottom is an open structure, which can displace an amount of water by the air pressure generated by the compression of the internal air cushion, and form a buoyancy force by forming a water pressure difference between the inside and the outside of the bucket. This self-floating property is a prerequisite for the bucket foundation to perform air-floating towing. [Method] This paper summarized the floating characteristics of air cushion structures at home and abroad, and discussed the related theories, test methods and research results of air flotation structures applied in different fields. [Result] The influence law of air cushion, subdivision form and resonance sloshing on structural dynamic response is analyzed in depth. [Conclusion] The summary analysis of the air-floating towing characteristics of this paper has important practical and theoretical significance for the promotion and application of the bucket foundation.

Keywords

• bucket foundation
• air-floating towing
• air cushion
• dynamic response