Dynamic and monotonic response of Monopile Foundations for Offshore wind turbines using centrifuge testing

Abstract

The seismic response of monopile foundations is a growing area of research as the offshore wind industry expands worldwide, including in earthquake prone regions of the world. This paper presents dynamic centrifuge tests aimed at investigating the dynamic response of monopiles in both dry and saturated sandy soils. The latter case includes soil liquefaction under strong input motions, with measured excess pore pressures indicating liquefaction. The natural frequency of the monopile-soil system is experimentally determined by measuring the response to a sine sweep motion. Strong earthquakes are then applied at this frequency and its harmonics. This paper discusses the response of the monopile in terms of the peak accelerations observed in the dry and saturated tests, as well as using response spectra and amplification ratios. The dynamic bending moments along the pile are also measured to infer the bending moment profile with depth. Finally, two identical monopiles are pushed-over in each of the centrifuge tests to establish the pre and post-earthquake monotonic response, including the lateral stiffness and capacity, which are compared for the dry model tests and the saturated case.