Development History
The development of the GICON®-SOF is beeing pushed forward since almost a decade. The illustration below shows the evolution of the technology since 2009 (left-hand side) until today (right-hand side). In the beginning the SOF was based on a latticed strcuture. A latticed structure benefits from several advantages but high amount of connection makes the manufacturing process very complicated and expensive. In 2015 the loverable gravity foundation was introduced, greatly enabling the eased one-step installation.
The latest results from economic considerations and technical innovations helped to accelerate the progress. Different computational simulations as well as wave and wind tank tests where carried out. The videos below show different tank tests during different states of development. Furthermore an animation shows the fast and easy assembling of the GICON®-SOF in a dry-dock and its installation using standard tug-boats.
Combined wind and wave tank tests at the École Central de Nantes in France in October 2017:
Combined wind and wave tank tests at the Maritime Research Institute Netherlands in June 2013:
Wave and towing tests at the Hamburg Ship Model Basin in February 2012: