Study on Load-bearing Characteristics of Different Types of Pile Group Foundations for an Offshore Wind Turbine

Abstract

Lang, R.; Liu, R.; Lian, J., and Ding, H., 2015. Study on load-bearing characteristics of different types of pile group foundations for an offshore wind turbine.Elevated pile-cap foundation is one of the most popular foundation types for offshore wind turbines. Form selection and design are the keys in the construction of offshore wind farms. Because offshore wind turbines are high-rise structures, a reasonable and applicable foundation can ensure the normal operation of wind turbines. Meanwhile, it can decrease the size of foundation and reduce the cost of construction effectively. Four types of pile group foundations named BPG-type, SPG-type, VPG-type, and CPG-type are developed. Combined with laboratory model experiments, a numerical simulation method is established and verified in this paper. The vertical bearing capacity, horizontal bearing capacity and bending bearing capacity are studied comparatively with the numerical simulation method. Combined with practical engineering, the applicability of the foundations is evaluated. The results indicate that BPG-type and SPG-type have the stronger vertical bearing capacity, horizontal bearing capacity and bending bearing capacity than VPG-type and CPG-type in the same amount of steel. In addition, batter piles can effectively increase the bearing capacity of pile foundations. The VPG-type needs to increase the size of foundation to meet the requirements of wind turbine operation. In practical engineering, the combination of vertical piles and batter piles can increase the bearing capacity of pile group foundations and decrease the cost of construction.