JP7737178B2 - Fundamentals and working methods of bionic suction bucket for deep-sea fish swim bladders - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to the technical field of marine engineering, specifically to a suction bucket type foundation structure applied to fixed foundations for submerged soil portions of marine buildings.

As a new foundation type, suction bucket foundations are widely used in international marine engineering due to their relatively simple structure and easy installation, making them suitable for flexible application in various sea areas. They are highly cost-effective, easy to construct, less susceptible to weather during construction, and reusable, resulting in their successful application in offshore wind power projects. Suction buckets are steel bucket-shaped structures with an open bottom and a closed top. During installation, the suction bucket sinks to a certain depth on the seabed under its own weight. Water is then pumped out of the bucket, creating a pressure difference between the inside and outside, causing the bottom of the bucket to sink to the designed depth. Once the suction bucket is sunk and installed, water pumping is stopped and the top pumping port is closed. When the foundation needs to be recovered, water is pumped into the bucket, and the buoyancy of the water and gas pressure pull the bucket foundation out of the seabed. During use, the suction bucket satisfies the foundation's pull-out strength through factors such as friction with the soil on the side of the foundation, its own weight, and the suction force of the soil at the end of the bucket. Therefore, during recovery, especially when recovering a deep-sea suction bucket, it is difficult to pull the suction bucket's foundation out of the seabed due to factors such as the friction and weight of the seabed soil.

Chinese Utility Model Publication No. CN217460662U discloses a "floating suction bucket" in which the weight of the floating suction bucket is increased by adding water to the suction bucket, and an exhaust mechanism installed inside the floating suction bucket quickly discharges the gas in the airbag, reducing the buoyancy of the floating suction bucket and accelerating its sinking speed. However, there are still problems with retrieving the suction bucket. Because the suction bucket is filled with water and the airbag is discharged when it sinks, it is not possible to change the buoyancy to lift the suction bucket during retrieval. It is clear that there is a need to improve the structure of conventional suction bucket foundations and design a suction bucket foundation that can be easily retrieved without changing the structural support capacity and stability. Chinese Patent Publication No. CN115855232A discloses a "Fish Swim Bladder Bionic Amphibious Optical Fiber Marine Acoustic Sensor" that realizes a high-performance, low-cost optical fiber acoustic sensor that can be used both underwater and on land, with the operating state flexibly switched by filling the sensor cavity with air or water. However, this sensor simply applies the bionics of a fish swim bladder, and does not involve a suction bucket.

The purpose of this invention is to resolve the shortcomings of existing suction bucket technology and provide the basis and operating method for a bionic suction bucket for deep-sea fish swim bladders. This simulates the situation in which a fish inflates its swim bladder and rises to the surface without changing the supporting force and stability of the structure, and makes it easier to pull the suction bucket out of the seabed by utilizing the buoyancy of water.

To achieve the above objectives, the present invention adopts the following technical solutions on the basis of the bionic suction bucket for deep-sea fish swim bladders: The bucket body has an open bottom and an upper end sealed by a bucket lid. A steel pipe passes through the bucket lid from above the top of the bucket lid downward, tightly connecting the bucket lid. A ring of annular lattice steel cage is placed on the outside of the steel pipe above the top of the bucket lid. The annular lattice steel cage tightly connects the bottom of the bucket lid and is fixedly connected to the steel pipe at its top. A ring of annular groove is formed in the center of the annular lattice steel cage, and an empty annular air bag is housed in the annular groove. After inflating, the annular air bag contacts the annular lattice steel cage. The annular air bag surrounds the side wall of the steel pipe. A charge valve is connected to the annular air bag and extends from the side wall of the steel pipe into the steel pipe, connecting the steel pipe airtight. The upper end of the steel pipe is tightly connected to the lower end of a marine hose, and a valve is provided at the lower end of the marine hose. The steel pipe is connected to a suction pump or inflation pump via the marine hose.

In addition, mooring holes are provided on the side edges of the bucket body, and anchor chains are moored in the mooring holes.

Furthermore, the mass of water displaced by the gas-filled annular airbag is more than two-thirds the weight of the bucket body itself.

The basic working method of the bionic suction bucket for the swim bladder of deep-sea fish mentioned above adopts the following technical solutions.

When it is necessary to press the base of the suction bucket into the seabed soil, close the charge valve, keep the annular air bag empty, connect the upper end of the marine hose to the suction pump, open the valve, then open the suction pump, use the suction pump to pump water from inside the bucket body, press the bucket body into the seabed soil until the bucket lid and the surface of the seabed soil are flush with each other, and close the valve.

When it is necessary to pull the suction bucket foundation out of the seabed, connect the upper end of the marine hose to an air pump, open the valve and charge valve, pressurize and inflate the hose through the marine hose, and the gas enters the annular air bag and downwards into the inside of the bucket body. Close the charge valve until the annular air bag is fully inflated, and the annular air bag uses the bucket body to gradually pull it out of the seabed.

Furthermore, when the height of the bucket body after being pulled out of the seabed reaches two-thirds of the total height of the bucket body, the lifting device is used to connect it to the anchor chain at the mooring hole on the side edge of the bucket body.

The present invention has the following beneficial effects due to the above technical solutions:

This invention provides a suction bucket equipped with an airbag device that utilizes the mechanism by which fish inflate their swim bladders to float up in deep water. When the suction bucket foundation needs to be recovered at sea, gas is forced into the airbag, which inflates, pressurizes, and expands, simulating the situation of a fish inflating its swim bladder to float up. The buoyancy of seawater is used to easily pull the entire suction bucket foundation from the seabed. The suction bucket foundation is easy to recover, has a simple structure and operation, and is inexpensive, thereby saving recovery costs and labor. The time required for retrieving the suction bucket at sea is greatly reduced, making the recovery of deep-sea suction buckets even easier. This solves the problem of the difficulty of retrieving deep-sea suction buckets and significantly reduces the economic costs, infrastructure construction volume, and labor costs required for deep-sea suction bucket recovery. This makes it possible to recover the suction bucket by pulling it up in deep water, and construction quality is controllable, which is of great importance in the field of engineering.

1 is a cross-sectional view of the basic structure of the deep-sea fish swim bladder bionic suction bucket of the present invention. 2 is a plan view and a cross-sectional view of FIG. 1. 3 is a schematic diagram of the state of the undeployed airbag in FIG. 2; 3 is a schematic diagram of the state of the airbag in FIG. 2 during deployment. 2 is a schematic diagram of a working state in which the base of the suction bucket in FIG. 1 is pushed into the seabed soil; FIG. 6 is a schematic view of the working state in which the base of the suction bucket in FIG. 5 is completely pressed into the seabed soil. 7 is a schematic view of the operation state of pulling out and recovering the base of the suction bucket in FIG. 6. [0023] FIG.

The present invention will be further described below in conjunction with the drawings and specific embodiments. It should be understood that the following specific embodiments are used only to illustrate the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the base of the deep-sea fish swim bladder bionic suction bucket of the present invention includes a bucket body 2, which is cylindrical with a hollow interior and a perforated bottom. The bottom end of the bucket body 2 is open, and the top end is closed and fixed by a bucket lid 1. Mooring holes 8 are provided on the side edges of the bucket body 2, and anchor chains are moored to the mooring holes 8 to make it easier to pull the suction bucket base structure out of the seabed when it is recovered at sea.

A through-hole is provided in the center of the bucket lid 1, penetrating the interior of the bucket body 2. A steel pipe 3 is embedded in the through-hole and tightly connected vertically to the bucket lid 1. The steel pipe 3 passes through the through-hole on the bucket lid 1, running downward from above the top of the bucket lid 1, and penetrates the interior of the bucket body 2. The upper end of the steel pipe 3 is tightly connected to the lower end of a marine hose 9, to which a valve 4 is attached.

A ring of annular lattice steel cage 7 is provided above the top of bucket lid 1. The annular lattice steel cage 7 is positioned outside the steel pipe 3. The bottom of the annular lattice steel cage 7 is tightly connected to the top surface of bucket lid 1, and the top is fixedly connected to the steel pipe 3, which can be fixed to the steel pipe 3 by welding. The height of the steel pipe 3 is slightly higher than that of the annular lattice steel cage 7, and is used to connect to the marine hose 9 when valve 4 is open.

A ring of annular grooves is provided in the center of the annular lattice steel cage 7, and an empty annular airbag 5 is housed in the annular groove. After the annular airbag 5 is inflated, it comes into contact with the annular lattice steel cage 7. When the annular airbag 5 inflates, it supports the annular lattice steel cage 7 and exerts force on it.

The annular airbag 5 surrounds the sidewall of the steel pipe 3, and a charge valve 6 is connected to the annular airbag 5. The charge valve 6 extends from the sidewall of the steel pipe 3 into the interior of the steel pipe 3. The charge valve 6 is airtightly connected to the steel pipe 3, so that the steel pipe 3 serves as an inflation and deflation pipe for the annular airbag 5. Gas enters from the steel pipe 3, and by controlling the charge valve 6, the annular airbag 5 can be inflated and deflated.

When the valve 4 is opened, the bucket body 2 sinks by pumping water inside it through the marine hose 9, and then releases the water to float up, causing the bucket body 2 to sink. The valve 4 connected to the marine hose 9 controls the inside of the bucket body 2, pumping water to sink it, release the water to float up, and adjusts the water pressure and air pressure throughout the entire foundation of the suction bucket, which are necessary conditions for the entire foundation of the suction bucket.

The annular air bag 5 is necessary to prevent erosion by seawater. When not in use, it floats empty in the annular groove of the annular lattice steel cage 7. When in use, it is inflated to simulate the movement of a fish inflating its swim bladder and floating up. Force is transmitted to the annular lattice steel cage 7, then to the bucket body 2, and pulled out of the seabed. The annular air bag 5 has excellent elasticity and is connected to the steel pipe 3 via the charge valve 6.

When the gas-filled annular air bag 5 is fully inflated during operation, the mass of water displaced should be at least two-thirds of the weight of the bucket body 2, thereby reducing the gravity of the entire base of the bionic suction bucket and making it easier to pull out of the seabed.

The outer diameter of the annular lattice steel cage 7 is equal to the outer diameter of the bucket body 2. Because of its lattice structure, the annular lattice steel cage 7 is water-permeable. Its anti-corrosive material makes it less susceptible to corrosion and structural damage caused by seawater. Its rigidity makes it less likely to be deformed by pressure in deep water. The annular lattice steel cage 7 can support the annular airbag 5 when it is inflated. The height of the steel pipe 3 is slightly higher than that of the annular lattice steel cage 7, facilitating connection between the steel pipe 3 and the sea hose 9 flow path. The upper end of the sea hose 9 is connected to different pumps during different operating states: it is connected to a suction pump during the suction bucket's sinking and to an air pump during the suction bucket's withdrawal and recovery.

The present invention employs the following steps to create the foundation for the bionic suction bucket for deep-sea fish swim bladders.

In step 1, as shown in Figure 5, if it is necessary to push the suction bucket base into the seabed soil 10, a lifting machine on board the work vessel is used to lift the entire suction bucket base with the bottom end of the bucket body 2 open downwards, and the entire suction bucket base is slowly placed below the water surface, allowing it to sink under its own weight until it can no longer continue to sink under its own weight.

In step 2, the charge valve 6 is closed, the annular air bag 5 is kept empty, and as shown in Figure 3, the upper end of the marine hose 9 is connected to the suction pump. Valve 4 is then opened, and the suction pump is then opened. While the suction pump is operating, water is drawn up from inside the bucket body 2, and the difference in internal and external pressure pushes the bucket body 2 into the seabed soil 10. When the surfaces of the bucket lid 1 and the seabed soil 10 are flush with each other, the bucket body 2 is pushed into the lowest position, and valve 4 is closed as shown in Figure 6.

In step 3, when the suction bucket base needs to be removed from the seabed 10, the upper end of the marine hose 9 is connected to the air pump, valve 4 is opened, and charge valve 6 is opened. The marine hose 9 is pressurized and inflated, and the gas enters the annular air bag 5 via the steel pipe 3 and downward into the bucket body 2, applying force to the seabed 10 at the bottom of the bucket body 2 until the annular air bag 5 is fully inflated. Then, as shown in Figure 4, charge valve 6 is closed. At this time, the annular air bag 5 inflates, providing enormous buoyancy, allowing the bucket body 2 to be pulled out of the seabed 10. While valve 4 remains open, the air bag continues to inflate. The buoyancy generated by seawater in the annular air bag 5 and the reaction force generated by the gas in the seabed 10 at the bottom of the bucket body 2 allow the entire suction bucket base to be lifted and recovered.

When the height of the bucket body 2 removed from the seabed soil 10 reaches two-thirds of the total height of the bucket body, continue inflating and use the lifting device to connect the bucket body 2 to the anchor chain at the mooring hole 8 on its side edge, gradually increasing the lifting force.

When the suction bucket foundation is pulled out of the seabed soil 10, the valve 4 connected to the pump 4 and the marine hose 9 is closed, and finally the entire suction bucket foundation structure is retrieved onto the ship using a lifting device.

The basic mechanism, main features, and advantages of the present invention have been disclosed and described above. However, the above are merely specific examples of the present invention, and the technical features of the present invention are not limited to these. Other embodiments that can be derived by those skilled in the art without departing from the technical solution of the present invention are also within the patentable scope of the present invention.

1 Bucket lid 2 Bucket body 3 Steel pipe 4 Valve 5 Annular air bag 6 Charge valve 7 Annular lattice steel cage 8 Mooring hole 9 Marine hose 10 Seabed soil

Claims (7)

The bucket foundation is equipped with an air bag that inhales air using the principle that a fish floats by inflating its swim bladder and has a bucket body (2) that is open at the bottom and closed at the top by a bucket lid (1). A steel pipe (3) passes through the bucket lid (1) from above to below the top of the bucket lid (1) and tightly connects the bucket lid (1). Above the top of the bucket lid (1), a ring of annular lattice steel cage (7) is arranged on the outside of the steel pipe (3). The bucket lid (1) is tightly connected to the bottom of the annular lattice steel cage (7), and its upper part is fixedly connected to the steel pipe (3). A ring of annular groove is provided in the center of the annular lattice steel cage (7). An empty annular air bag (5) is housed in the annular groove, and the annular After inflation, the air bag (5) contacts the annular lattice steel cage (7), and the annular air bag (5) surrounds the side wall of the steel pipe (3). A charge valve (6) is connected to the annular air bag (5), and the charge valve (6) extends from the side wall of the steel pipe (3) into the steel pipe (3) to airtightly connect the steel pipe (3). The upper end of the steel pipe (3) is tightly connected to the lower end of the marine hose (9), and a valve (4) is provided at the lower end of the marine hose (9). The steel pipe (3) is connected to a suction pump or an inflation pump via the marine hose (9).
A mooring hole (8) is provided on the side edge of the bucket body (2), and an anchor chain is moored in the mooring hole (8);
When the base of the suction bucket needs to be pushed into the seabed (10), close the charge valve (6), keep the annular air bag (5) empty, connect the upper end of the marine hose (9) to the suction pump, open the valve (4), then open the suction pump, let the suction pump pump water from inside the bucket body (2), push the bucket body (2) into the seabed until the bucket lid (1) and the surface of the seabed are flush with each other, and close the valve (4).
When the foundation of the suction bucket needs to be extracted from the seabed (10), the upper end of the marine hose (9) is connected to the inflation pump, the valve (4) and the charge valve (6) are opened, and the marine hose (9) is pressurized and inflated. The gas enters the annular air bag (5) and flows downward into the bucket body (2). This applies force to the seabed (10) at the bottom of the bucket body (2) until the annular air bag (5) is fully inflated. The charge valve (6) is then closed, and the annular air bag (5) gradually pulls the bucket body (2) out of the seabed. The valve (4) is kept open, and the air continues to inflate. The buoyancy generated by seawater on the annular air bag (5) and the reaction force generated by the gas on the seabed (10) at the bottom of the bucket body (2) are used to lift and retrieve the entire foundation of the suction bucket.
This bucket foundation is equipped with an air bag that sucks in air, using the principle that fish float up by inflating their swim bladders, and is characterized in that when the height of the bucket body (2) pulled out from the seabed soil reaches two-thirds of the height of the entire bucket body (2), it is connected to an anchor chain at a mooring hole on the side edge of the bucket body (2) by a lifting device . The base of a bucket equipped with an air bag that sucks in air, using the principle of how fish float by inflating their swim bladders, as described in claim 1, characterized in that the mass of water displaced by the gas-filled annular air bag (5) is more than two-thirds of the weight of the bucket body (2). The bucket base with an air bag that sucks in air using the principle of fish inflating their swim bladders to float, as described in claim 1, characterized in that the outer diameter of the annular lattice steel cage (7) is equal to the outer diameter of the bucket body (2) . The base of a bucket equipped with an air bag that sucks in air using the principle of how fish float by inflating their swim bladders, as described in claim 1, characterized in that the height of the steel pipe (3) is higher than the height of the annular lattice steel cage (7) . The base of a bucket equipped with an air bag that sucks in air using the principle of fish inflating their swim bladders to float, as described in claim 1, characterized in that the annular lattice steel cage (7) is lattice-shaped and made of anti-rust material . When the base of the suction bucket needs to be pushed into the seabed (10), close the charge valve (6), keep the annular air bag (5) empty, connect the upper end of the marine hose (9) to the suction pump, open the valve (4), then open the suction pump, let the suction pump pump water from inside the bucket body (2), push the bucket body (2) into the seabed until the bucket lid (1) and the surface of the seabed are flush with each other, and close the valve (4).
When the foundation of the suction bucket needs to be extracted from the seabed (10), the upper end of the marine hose (9) is connected to the inflation pump, the valve (4) and the charge valve (6) are opened, and the marine hose (9) is pressurized and inflated. The gas enters the annular air bag (5) and flows downward into the bucket body (2). This applies force to the seabed (10) at the bottom of the bucket body (2) until the annular air bag (5) is fully inflated. The charge valve (6) is then closed, and the annular air bag (5) gradually pulls the bucket body (2) out of the seabed. The valve (4) is kept open, and the air continues to inflate. The buoyancy generated by seawater on the annular air bag (5) and the reaction force generated by the gas on the seabed (10) at the bottom of the bucket body (2) are used to lift and retrieve the entire foundation of the suction bucket.
2. The method for working on the foundation of a bucket equipped with an air bag that sucks in air, using the principle of how fish float by inflating their swim bladders, according to claim 1, characterized in that when the height of the bucket body (2) pulled out of the seabed reaches two-thirds of the total height of the bucket body (2), the bucket body (2) is connected to an anchor chain at a mooring hole on the side edge of the bucket body (2) by a lifting device. A working method as described in claim 6, characterized in that the valve (4) and the air pump are closed when the suction bucket base is pulled out of the seabed soil.