Research on the calculation method of penetration resistance of bucket foundation for offshore wind turbines

The cost of foundations for offshore wind turbines constitutes approximately 35% of the total cost of an offshore wind farm. The bucket foundations show significant potential due to their superior transportation and installation efficiencies compared to pile foundations, leading to potential cost savings for the foundation of up to 30%. For a bucket foundation to be installed successfully, the penetration resistance must be predicted. However, there is currently a lack of clarity on how to select a suitable calculation method for penetration resistance based on known geological parameters to guide construction. In order to evaluate the current methods of calculation for bucket foundation penetration resistance, this study combines theoretical calculation methods with two sets of practical measurement data from the field. The calculation methods of penetration resistance for bucket foundation are first reviewed and categorized. The applicability range of each method and the parameters needed for calculation are given. Next, according to the measured data in the process of penetration of bucket foundation on site, the evolution of compartment pressure, tilt angle, resistance and required suction in the process of penetration are analyzed. Finally, the reviewed methods are compared to the results of two practical projects in order to analyze the differences between them and make recommendations for the calculation technique. The findings can be used as a guide for calculating the bucket foundation's penetration resistance in complex geological conditions.     

海上风机吸力式桶形基础竖向承载力特性研究

吸力式桶形基础作为一种新型的海上风机基础,正逐渐以单桶或者多桶组合形式被应用于海上风机支撑基础设计中。然而目前对应用于海上风机基础的桶形基础的极限承载力的研究仍存在研究不全面和结果不统一的问题。本文以宽浅型单桶基础为例,采用有限元软件Abaqus对海上风机吸力式桶形基础在饱和黏土地基中的竖向承载特性进行三维有限元分析。考虑桶土接触面分离条件对极限承载力和土体破坏模式的影响,并且对桶形基础长径比、土体的有效重度以及土体不排水抗剪强度分布对桶形基础竖向极限承载特性的影响进行分析。研究成果可以为海上风机吸力式桶形基础设计提供参考。     

The wet-towing resistance of the composite bucket foundation for offshore wind turbines

The composite bucket foundation (CBF) is a new and environmentally-friendly foundation for offshore wind turbines. This foundation can be prefabricated in batches onshore followed by integrated transport and installation at sea. The structure itself has a subdivision air cushion structure that enables the foundation to float stably on the water surface and realize long-distance towing of the foundation. The mechanism of this air-liquid-solid coupling towing process is complicated, and the influence of the bulkheads on the towing resistance is not clear. In this paper, the influence of the subdivision structure on the towing resistance of the CBF is compared with the tow test in hydrostatic water. The structural motion characteristics and the change of the cushion pressure are also analysed. Experiments are used to verify numerical calculation results. The flow field difference between the CBF with bulkheads, the CBF without bulkheads and the real floating structure was analysed. The dynamic pressure coefficient was used to analyze the force at surfaces of different CBF's. For the tow test and numerical calculation of multiple CBFs, the optimal multi-CBF tow distance and towage number are obtained through the calculation of energy consumption rate.     

Static and dynamic loading behavior of a hybrid foundation for offshore wind turbines

Considering the deficiencies of the traditional monopile foundation for offshore wind turbines (OWTs) in severe marine environments, an innovative hybrid foundation is developed in the present study. The hybrid foundation consists of a traditional monopile and a wide–shallow bucket. A series of numerical analyses are conducted to investigate its behavior under the static and dynamic loading, considering various loading eccentricities. A traditional monopile with the same steel volume is used as a benchmark. Although the monopile outperforms the hybrid foundation in terms of the ultimate moment capacity under each loading eccentricity, the latter can achieve superior or the same performance with nearly half of the pile length in the design loading range. Moreover, the horizontal load and moment are mainly resisted by the bucket and the single pile in the hybrid foundation respectively. The failure mechanism of both the hybrid foundation and the monopile is excessive rotation. In the rotation angle of 0.05 rad, the rotation center is located at the depth of approximately 0.6–0.75 times and 0.65–0.75 times the pile length for the hybrid foundation and the monopile respectively. The increasing loading eccentricities can lead to increasing moment bearing capacity, increasing initial stiffness and upward movement of the rotation center of the two foundations, while decreasing load sharing ratio of the single pile in the hybrid foundation. Three scenarios are considered in investigating the dynamic loading behavior of the hybrid foundation. Dynamic response results reveal that addition of the bucket to the foundation can restrain the rotation and lateral displacement effectively. The superiority of the hybrid foundation is more obvious under the combined wave and current loading.