TY - JOUR
T1 - Assessing the performance of winged caisson foundations for offshore wind turbines
AU - Faizi, Koohyar
AU - Faramarzi, Asaad
AU - Dirar, Samir
AU - Chapman, David
AU - Cui, Ge
AU - Heron, Charles M.
AU - Marshall, Alec M.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2024/3/1
Y1 - 2024/3/1
N2 - The foundation of an offshore wind turbine (OWT) accounts for up to 20% of the total cost; therefore, investigations into reliable and efficient foundations are important for the offshore wind energy industry. This article describes an innovative winged caisson foundation for OWTs, which adapts the conventional caisson foundation to produce higher overturning capacities. The behaviour of this proposed novel foundation in the sand was investigated through experimental and numerical modelling using a series of 1 (Formula presented.) tests (1/70th scale), centrifuge model tests (70 (Formula presented.)), and finite element (FE) simulations. Models with various wing sizes installed in different sand densities were tested in the laboratory by applying an overturning load. In this article, the moment–rotation performance of the foundation under monotonic loading is compared against that of conventional caissons to assess the potential benefits of adding wings to caisson foundations. Results show that there is a significant increase in overturning capacity provided by the novel foundation. FE models were first validated against experimental results, then, used to conduct a parametric study to better understand the behaviour of the winged caissons beyond the scaled model tests. In addition, the FE models were used to evaluate the drained response of the proposed foundation under combined loading.
AB - The foundation of an offshore wind turbine (OWT) accounts for up to 20% of the total cost; therefore, investigations into reliable and efficient foundations are important for the offshore wind energy industry. This article describes an innovative winged caisson foundation for OWTs, which adapts the conventional caisson foundation to produce higher overturning capacities. The behaviour of this proposed novel foundation in the sand was investigated through experimental and numerical modelling using a series of 1 (Formula presented.) tests (1/70th scale), centrifuge model tests (70 (Formula presented.)), and finite element (FE) simulations. Models with various wing sizes installed in different sand densities were tested in the laboratory by applying an overturning load. In this article, the moment–rotation performance of the foundation under monotonic loading is compared against that of conventional caissons to assess the potential benefits of adding wings to caisson foundations. Results show that there is a significant increase in overturning capacity provided by the novel foundation. FE models were first validated against experimental results, then, used to conduct a parametric study to better understand the behaviour of the winged caissons beyond the scaled model tests. In addition, the FE models were used to evaluate the drained response of the proposed foundation under combined loading.
KW - caisson foundations
KW - finite element analysis
KW - geotechnical centrifuge modelling
KW - Offshore wind turbines
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85159647168&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/1064119X.2023.2179445
DO - 10.1080/1064119X.2023.2179445
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85159647168
SN - 1064-119X
VL - 42
SP - 289
EP - 304
JO - Marine Georesources and Geotechnology
JF - Marine Georesources and Geotechnology
IS - 3
ER -
