Extended Winkler Model for design of offshore wind turbine large diameter monopiles

Abstract

We propose a new model for the design of large diameter monopiles in this paper. These foundations are increasingly used for offshore wind turbines in water depths of up to 35 m. Our model extends the Winkler Model by incorporating rigid rotation effects relevant to large diameter piles, using conventional p-y and t-z curves to account for additional soil reactions. The current model primarily focuses on lateral loading; however, it is designed to accommodate axial loading as well, allowing for flexibility in future analyses should axial effects be incorporated. We demonstrate that our model adequately accounts for soil reaction due to rigid rotation by comparing its results with those of the PISA model. Furthermore, we validate our numerical results against available experimental data, showing that the proposed model can accurately predict pile behavior under lateral loading.