Towing characteristics of large-scale composite bucket foundation for offshore wind turbines

In order to study the towing dynamic properties of the large-scale composite bucket foundation the hydrodynamic software MOSES is used to simulate the dynamic motion of the foundation towed to the construction site.The MOSES model with the prototype size is established as the water draft of 5 and 6 m under the environmental conditions on site.The related factors such as towing force displacement towing accelerations in six degrees of freedom of the bucket foundation and air pressures inside the bucket are analyzed in detail.In addition the towing point and wave conditions are set as the critical factors to simulate the limit conditions of the stable dynamic characteristics.The results show that the large-scale composite bucket foundation with reasonable subdivisions inside the bucket has the satisfying floating stability.During the towing process the air pressures inside the bucket obviously change little and it is found that the towing point at the waterline is the most optimal choice.The characteristics of the foundation with the self-floating towing technique are competitive for saving lots of cost with few of the expensive types of equipment required during the towing transportation.

Design of Large-Scale Prestressing Bucket Foundation for Offshore Wind Turbines

The key in the force transmission between the tower and the foundation for offshore wind turbines is to transfer the large moment and horizontal loads. The finite element model of a large-scale prestressing bucket founda- tion for offshore wind turbines is set up and the structural characteristics of the arc transition structure of the founda- tion are analyzed for 40-60 channels(20-30 rows) arranged with prestressing steel strand under the same ultimate load and boundary conditions. The mechanical characteristics of the key parts of the foundation structures are illus- trated by the peak of the principal tensile stress, the peak of the principal compressive stress and the distribution areas where the principal tensile stress is larger than 2.00 MPa. It can be concluded that the maximum principal tensile stress of the arc transition decreases with the increasing number of channels, and the amplitude does not change signifi- cantly; the maximum principal compressive stress increases with the increasing number of channels and the amplitude changes significantly; however, for the distribution areas where the principal tensile stress is larger than 2.00 MPa, with different channel numbers, the phenomenon is not obvious. Furthermore, the principal tensile stress at the top of the foundation beams fluctuantly increases with the increasing number of channels and for the top cover of the bucket, the principal tensile stress decreases with the increasing number of channels.

One-Step-Installation of Offshore Wind Turbine on Large-Scale Bucket-Top-Bearing Bucket Foundation

In 2010,the first offshore wind turbine with integrated installation was established in Qidong sea area of Jiangsu Province,China,which led to the implementation phase of one-step-installation technique based on the design and construction of large-scale bucket-top-bearing (LSBTB) bucket foundation.The critical technique of LSBTB bucket foundation included self-floating towing,penetration with adjustment of horizontal levelness,removability and one-step-installation.The process of one-step-installation included the prefabrication of LSBTB bucket foundation in onshore construction base,installation and debugging of wind power,overall water transportation of foundation and wind power system,and installation of foundation and offshore wind turbine on the appointed sea area.The cost of one-step-installation technique was about 5 000 Yuan/kW,which was 30%-50% lower than that of the existing technique.The prefabrication of LSBTB bucket foundation took about two months.During the one-step-installation process,the installation and debugging of wind power and overall water transportation need about one to two days in sea area within 35 m depth.After the proposed technique is industrialized,the cost will be further reduced,and the installation capacity is expected to be up to 500 wind turbines per year.

Investigation on the seismic response of nuclear power stations with a pile-raft foundation using centrifuge tests

Research to reliably predict the seismic response of nuclear power stations with a pile-raft foundation is needed to meet the high safety requirements of nuclear power stations.In this study,a scaled superstructure with a 4×3 pile-raft foundation,which is constructed in Shanxi kaolin clay,is modelled.Accordingly,the characteristics of seismic response for nuclear power stations with a pile-raft foundation are analyzed using dynamic centrifuge tests.In particular,multiple earthquake motions with different magnitudes and frequency properties are utilized to map the relationship between structural response and properties of earthquake motions.The results show that the seismic response of the soil,raft,and structure are significantly affected by the natural frequency and magnitude of the earthquake motion.The soil surface acceleration is lower than the raft acceleration.The results provide a reliable reference to better understand the seismic response of nuclear power stations.

Thermomechanical properties of an energy micro pile-raft foundation in silty clay

Micro steel pipe pile was used for existing foundation reinforcement and renovation.An energy micro pile-raft foundation equipped with heat exchange tube was constructed in silty clay.The diameter and the length of the energy micro pile are 160 mm and 13.0 m,respectively.A series of in situ thermal performance tests were carried out by controlling cycle heating,in which the inlet and outlet water temperatures,flow rate,and thermomechanical properties of the energy micro pile were measured.Combined with a numerical simulation method,the thermomechanical stresses and displacement of the raft were also analyzed and discussed.The energy micro pile-raft foundation was also analyzed for different combinations of energy piles and nonenergy piles in the group.Results show that the micro pile-raft foundation can provide sufficient heat exchange compared with other types of ground heat exchangers.Differential settlement at both the pile top and tip were observed for the groups that contained both energy piles and nonenergy piles.

Dynamic Simulation on Collision Between Ship and Offshore Wind Turbine

By using ABAQUS/Explicit, the dynamic process of an offshore wind turbine(OWT) stricken by a ship of 5000DWT in the front direction is simulated. The OWT is located on a large-scale prestressing bucket foundation constructed by an integrated installation technique. According to the simulation results, under the ship collision, a certain range of plastic zone appears within a local area of arc transition structure of the bucket foundation, and the concrete plastic zone is seriously damaged. As the stress level of OWT tower is relatively low, the OWT tower is less affected. A great inertial force is generated at the top of the OWT tower as the mass of nacelle and blades is up to 400 t. The displacement of the tower is in the opposite direction of the ship collision at the end of 1 s under the action of inertial force. There is only a minor damage in the ship bow. Most of the kinetic energy is transformed into the plastic dissipation and absorbed by the arc transition structure of bucket foundation.

Influence of pile-raft connection on lateral performance of combined pile-raft foundations adjacent to tunnelling

The lateral response of combined pile-raft foundations(CPRFs)adjacent to tunnel excavation is a challenging problem owing to the complexity of the pile-raft connections.In current engineering practices,the impact of these connections on the lateral performance of CPRFs is frequently overlooked,despite their importance.To address this issue,this study conducted three-dimensional finite element analyses to evaluate the contribution of pile-raft connections to the tunnelling-induced lateral performance of CPRFs in saturated clay.In the analysis,both passive and active loading at the pile head could be considered by varying the tunnel depth.Several parameter studies,such as relative pile-raft modulus,pile embedded modulus,pile embedded depths,and pile shaft skin friction,were conducted to determine the optimal design parameters for CPRFs.The results indicate that pile-raft connections significantly affect the tunnellinginduced deflections and bending moments of pile groups.Inspired by the results,a simplified design method,the pile-raft connection coefficient Kc was proposed.Additionally,the pile-head restraint percentage was established to make a relationship with the pile-raft connection coefficient in order to assess the pile-raft connection and guide the pile-raft design.In this paper,the recommended range value of Kc is 10–200 and the range value of pile-head restraint percentage is 24%–42%.