Insights from Large-scale Field Tests and Small-scale Lab Tests on Installation and Soil Ageing Effects on Monopiles-PPT Presentation

PPT Presentation

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The SAGE-SAND project investigates how installation methods and soil ageing affect the behaviour of offshore wind-turbine monopiles, from operation through decommissioning. Funded by Belgium’s Energy Transition Fund, it brings together researchers in geotechnical engineering, geology, geochemistry and computational mechanics.<br /><br />Vibratory driving is being studied as an alternative to impact driving, which can cause noise, pile fatigue and longer installation times. However, the in-situ behaviour of vibratory-installed piles and the substantial ageing effects observed around them remain difficult to predict—knowledge that is important for safe, economical foundation design.<br /><br />The research combines four main workstreams. Large-scale field tests in Zeebrugge monitor pile installation, pore-water pressures and lateral response; further tests are planned after six and nine months to assess ageing. Geotechnical site investigations and laboratory testing characterize the local soils. At smaller scale, a centrifuge programme at TU Delft has conducted 60 vibratory-driving tests, varying factors such as frequency, eccentric mass, soil density and saturation.<br /><br />Laboratory research examines soil microstructure and steel–sediment interactions, including corrosion-related changes and mineral precipitation. Modelling work uses discrete element and phase-field methods to represent cyclic loading, cementation and pressure solution, with the goal of linking microscale processes to macroscopic soil behaviour. Advanced continuum models, including material point methods, are also being developed to simulate pile installation and soil–pile interaction.<br /><br />Together, the field, laboratory and numerical studies aim to improve understanding and prediction of monopile installation effects and soil ageing. The presentation reports the research programme and methods; key ageing tests and some results are still forthcoming.

Keywords

offshore wind turbines

monopile foundations

vibratory driving

soil ageing

pile installation

geotechnical engineering

field tests

centrifuge testing

soil–pile interaction

numerical modelling