The aim of the project is to model, both experimentally and analytically, the behaviour of monopile wind turbine foundations subject to cyclic loading. The objectives are:
- To conduct centrifuge model tests on monopile offshore wind farm foundations including in-flight installation and combined axial and lateral loading tests using the new 2-D actuator.
- To obtain centrifuge data on the performance of the monopile foundations under axial and lateral loading, including a large number of cycles of lateral and moment loading.
- To develop miniature statnamic testing equipment for the in-flight measurement of the stiffness and dynamic response of the soil-foundation system.
- To develop miniature seismic CPT equipment for the in-flight characterisation of layered soils.
- To develop p-y and cyclic degradation curves to allow simple analysis of the resistance of monopiles to large numbers of loading cycles.
- To understand the long term performance of wind farm foundations when subjected to a large number of loading cycles.
- To optimise and improve the current design of offshore foundations in UK by developing appropriate design guidelines.
In addition to the above objectives, the project will also aim to develop a large database of the centrifuge test data generated during this project and make it freely available after the end of the project to the numerical modelling community.
