Optimization and Standardization of Suction Pile/CCF Buckling Analysis

Abstract A suction pile/closed caisson foundation (CCF) is a slender cylindrical foundation for subsea structures like manifolds and umbilical termination assemblies (UTA) requiring buckling assessment at various seabed penetration depths during installation. Nonlinear buckling simulation is very complex due to imperfections imposed by the pile-can, material nonlinearity, soil data, and nonlinear geometric effects. Optimization of the suction pile can also be complex and time consuming due to the cited technical complexities. The objective is to develop an optimized method for buckling analysis that reduces computational time while maintaining accuracy. By utilizing an advanced predictive methodology, design time has been cut by 99%, results are delivered faster, and the number of design iterations required is minimized to achieve an optimal suction pile configuration.