TY - CONF A1 - Kemmler, Samuel A1 - Cuéllar, Pablo A1 - Rettinger, C. A1 - Köstler, H. T1 - A Fluid-Solid Coupled Micromechanical Simulation for the Analysis of Piping Erosion During the Seabed Installation of a Suction Bucket Foundation N2 - Suction buckets are a promising concept for the foundations of offshore wind turbines. During the installation process of a suction bucket, localized fluidization of the granular soil, so-called piping erosion, may lead to installation failure. A 3D fluid-solid coupled micromechanical simulation is presented to study the occurrence of piping. An Euler-Lagrangian coupling employs momentum exchange between the fluid phase and the geometrically resolved particles. We investigate the behavior of the soil for three cases with varying prescribed suction velocities. We observe piping in the case with the highest suction velocity by analyzing the deformation of the granular fabric and monitoring the differential pressure. The grains under the bucket wall-tip show the highest hydraulic gradients and forces at the onset of piping. This approach permits a detailed analysis of piping phenomena and brings novel insights on the triggering conditions for piping failure of suction-aided foundations. T2 - TC 105 International Symposium CY - Grenoble, France DA - 23.09.2024 KW - Micromechanical simulation KW - Piping erosion KW - Suction bucket foundation PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-629461 DO - https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/1480/1/012024 SN - 1755-1307 VL - 1480 IS - 1 SP - 1 EP - 4 PB - IOP Publishing AN - OPUS4-62946 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kemmler, Samuel A1 - Cuéllar, Pablo A1 - Artinov, Antoni A1 - Luu, Li-Hua A1 - Farhat, Abbas A1 - Philippe, Pierre A1 - Rettinger, Christoph A1 - Köstler, Harald T1 - A fully-resolved micromechanical simulation of piping erosion during a suction bucket installation N2 - Granular fluidization phenomena such as piping erosion represent a challenge to the delicate installation process of offshore suction bucket foundations. A detailed analysis of the complex conditions in terms of soil composition, soil state, and foundation installation parameters that may lead to piping can be very demanding, if at all possible, solely by experimental means or using macroscopic continuum-based seabed models. The present paper presents a fully-resolved fluid-coupled micromechanical approach for a three-dimensional numerical simulation of the installation process of a suction bucket using the lattice Boltzmann method and discrete element method. The developed model is validated using well-established benchmarks and calibrated by means of experimental data from physical model tests on relevant scenarios focusing on the local fluidization of fixed embedded suction buckets as well as on the suction-driven installation of unrestrained buckets. The qualitative and quantitative agreement with the experimental data both endorse the proposed methodology and highlight the physical soundness of the obtained results. Thereby, the paper shows that three-dimensional analyses of relevant local scenarios at a real scale with little macromechanical model assumptions are feasible. KW - Micromechanical simulation KW - Fluid–solid coupling KW - Piping erosion KW - Suction bucket foundation KW - Offshore wind support structure KW - High-performance computing PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-633790 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compgeo.2025.107375 SN - 0266-352X VL - 186 SP - 1 EP - 17 PB - Elsevier B.V. AN - OPUS4-63379 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Kemmler, Samuel T1 - Fully-resolved LBM-DEM simulations of piping erosion during a suction bucket installation N2 - Suction bucket foundations are a cost-efficient and environmentally sustainable solution to install offshore wind turbines, achieved through the application of growing suction pressure inside the bucket until its full embedment into the seabed. A key challenge for the installation process is the occurrence of piping erosion, a phenomenon where fluidization of particles beneath the bucket wall tip causes a drop in suction pressure, potentially leading to installation failure. Despite its significance, the complex physical mechanisms driving piping erosion remain insufficiently understood. To address this knowledge gap, a three-dimensional, fully-resolved coupled LBM-DEM simulation is employed to conduct an in-depth analysis of piping erosion, aiming to identify key influencing parameters, thus enhancing understanding and optimizing the installation process. The simulation of physically relevant problem sizes - comprising hundreds of thousands of grains - is equivalent to computational intensities which demand for extensive computational resources. Results from simulations executed on hundreds of GPUs on the LUMI supercomputer are presented, illustrating the method's capability to tackle this complex challenge. T2 - 10th International Conference on Discrete Element Methods CY - Himeji, Japan DA - 01.07.2025 KW - Offshore wind support structure KW - Suction bucket foundation KW - Piping erosion KW - Micromechanical simulation PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-63691 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Kemmler, Samuel T1 - Large-scale simulations of piping erosion during suction bucket installations N2 - Piping erosion and related fluidization phenomena present major challenges for the installation of offshore suction bucket foundations. We present a fully-resolved, 3D fluid-coupled micromechanical model using the lattice Boltzmann and discrete element methods to simulate suction installation. Validated against benchmark tests and experimental data, the model captures key fluidization behaviors. This presentation goes beyond prior work by showcasing the first large-scale simulations at real bucket dimensions, offering new insights into local soil-fluid interactions during installation and demonstrating the model's scalability and practical relevance. T2 - Gesinus-Treffen 2025 CY - Munich, Germany DA - 12.06.2025 KW - Micromechanical simulation KW - Suction bucket foundation KW - Piping erosion PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-63381 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Kemmler, Samuel T1 - Investigating Piping Erosion during Suction Bucket Installations using Fully-Resolved LBM-DEM Simulations N2 - Suction bucket foundations are an innovative, cost-effective, and environmentally sustainable solution for offshore wind turbine installations. Their deployment relies on generating suction pressure inside the bucket to achieve full embedment into the seabed. However, a critical challenge during installation is piping erosion, a process where particle fluidization beneath the bucket wall tip leads to a sudden drop in suction pressure, potentially causing installation failure. Despite its practical significance, the underlying physics governing piping erosion remain insufficiently understood due to the complex interplay between hydrodynamic forces and sediment transport. To bridge this knowledge gap, we employ a three-dimensional, fully-resolved coupled lattice Boltzmann method - discrete element method simulation to investigate the fundamental mechanisms driving piping erosion. The approach allows the capture of grain-scale interactions with high fidelity, enabling the identification of key parameters influencing erosion onset and progression. However, achieving physically representative problem sizes—comprising hundreds of thousands of grains—requires immense computational resources due to the high-resolution nature of the simulations. To address this computational challenge, simulations are performed on the LUMI supercomputer, leveraging hundreds of GPUs to execute large-scale, high-fidelity calculations. We present simulation results that showcase the method’s capability to resolve the intricate physics of piping erosion, offering new insights into the conditions that trigger erosion and its impact on suction bucket performance. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of suction bucket installation dynamics and support the development of optimized, failure-resistant foundation designs for offshore wind applications. T2 - PARTICLES 2025 CY - Barcelona, Spain DA - 20.10.2025 KW - Micromechanical simulation KW - Suction bucket foundation KW - Piping erosion PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-64460 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Cuéllar, Pablo T1 - Geotechnical challenges in the field of Offshore Wind Energy. Micromechanical perspectives beyond the FEM N2 - This talk provides a brief overview on some geomechanical phenomena and problematic issues in the field of offshore wind-energy geotechnics, with reference to their associated challenges for a numerical analysis/simulation. These may include large deformations, fluid coupling and grain-scale phenomena, all of which are generally difficult to be addressed with conventional FE techniques. These challenges are illustrated here with a practical example for the retrofit of axially loaded piles using compaction grouting techniques. In this case, the mechanical effects of the retrofit may be analysed with standard FE techniques, but require the adoption of strong assumptions, while the injection process itself can only be analysed with special techniques such as the MPM. Finally, an LBM-DEM framework for the micromechanical analysis of such problems is introduced and a practical application for the estimation of the soil resistance to driving (SRD) in layered profiles is discussed. T2 - Online Symposium on Meshfree models for Engineers: Where are they really worthwhile? CY - Online meeting DA - 01.12.2022 KW - Offshore wind energy KW - Offshore geotechnics KW - Micromechanical simulation KW - LBM-DEM KW - Pile retrofit system PY - 2022 AN - OPUS4-56450 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -