Configurational Influence Factor Analysis of Offshore Wind Turbine Monopile Foundation

Abstract

[Introduction] Facilitated by the advancement of large diameter monopile fabrication and installation capacity, the application of monopile foundation is expanding into deeper water, a study on properties of deep water monopile foundation with different pile shape can provide reference for similar projects. [Method] In this paper, parameters of monopile foundations in a Guangdong-Yangjiang offshore wind farm were grouped according to cone location-high, medium and low, followed by a statistical analysis for pile shape selection regularity. [Result] It was found that large diameter high cone configuration may lead to high fatigue load, optimum cone position is determined by sang and clay content of upper layer soil, as well as mechanical properties of these stratums. [Conclusion] Through comparative analysis, lower cone configuration was suggested to be the best countermeasure for high fatigue load, sites with high sand content with relatively large angle of internal friction can reduce pile diameter by raising the cone section, while low cone section is suitable for sites with high content of soft clay. The mudline stiffness matrix determinant of optimized pile configuration was proposed to be an evaluation indicator of foundation stiffness, then the relationship between foundation stiffness and steel weight was studied.

Keywords

• offshore wind turbine
• monopile foundation
• upper layer soil
• mudline stiffness matrix