Full-Scale Tests of Skirt Penetration Resistance in Gravel for Offshore Wind Structures
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 148, Issue 11
Abstract
Full-scale tests were performed to study the penetration resistance of steel plates (skirts), which are common foundation elements of jacket offshore wind structures. Penetration resistance is well-studied in clays and sands, but there is limited information on penetration in gravels, which are typically used as the scour protection of critical elements like offshore wind substations. Direct extrapolation of penetration resistance in sands is not possible because of the grain-size effect. Two steel plate thicknesses and two gravel sizes were used to study the influence of the grain-size effect on the penetration resistance. Moreover, the importance of tip shape has also been evaluated by means of beveled tip tests. The results of the experimental tests showed a strong dependence of penetration resistance on penetration depth as expected, but also a significant dependence on skirt thickness and gravel grain size. A good agreement with experimental results has been found when analytically interpreting the penetration resistance using traditional bearing capacity formulas, but with an equivalent skirt thickness equal to the real skirt thickness plus the mean grain size, to account for the grain-size effect.
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Data Availability Statement
All data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
This research has been conducted by IHCantabria within the framework of the design process of DolWin kappa structure (DolWin6 Project). The authors would like to thank TenneT, DRAGADOS OFFSHORE, and SIEMENS for their support of this research. Raúl Guanche also acknowledges the financial support from the Ramon y Cajal Program (RYC-2017-23260) of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. Elena Varela also acknowledges financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation (MINECO) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the project “Foundation of Offshore Platforms for Renewable Energies” (PEJ2018-003335-A) with financial resources from the Youth Employment Initiative (YEI) and the European Social Fund (ESF).
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Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 148 • Issue 11 • November 2022
Copyright
© 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Oct 28, 2021
Accepted: May 26, 2022
Published online: Aug 25, 2022
Published in print: Nov 1, 2022
Discussion open until: Jan 25, 2023
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