Abstract
Offshore wind farms are built in coastal areas prone to have earthquakes. When offshore wind turbines (OWTs) erected on cohesionless sediments are subjected to earthquakes, liquefaction might occur in the shallow deposits that might lead to severe overturning and settlement of the foundation structure. A novel hybrid foundation structure is proposed in this paper consisting of three major components: monopile, friction wheel, and suction bucket. This paper focuses on the performance of the hybrid foundation under earthquake loads. Hybrid foundation models with different dimensions were installed on both dry and saturated loose sand deposits and subjected to dynamic geotechnical centrifuge tests. Pore-water transducers were embedded in the soil to monitor its susceptibility to liquefaction. The dynamic responses of the superstructure were also monitored by linear variable differential transducers (LVDTs) and accelerometers. The experimental results indicated that the new hybrid foundation improved the ground liquefaction resistance. The extent of improvements was more significant in saturated sand than in dry sand. In saturated sand, it was observed that the hybrid foundation with larger bucket depth densified the surrounding soil and helped to mitigate the liquefaction. Consequently, the hybrid system showed responses of a stiffer foundation where the lateral displacement and settlement were reduced significantly.
Published Version
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