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Interface Mechanical Behavior of Flexible Piles Under Lateral Loads in OWT Systems

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Abstract

This paper investigates the interface mechanical behavior of flexible piles with Lp/D>10 under lateral load and an overturning moment in monotonic loading conditions. To modify the beam-on-Winkler-foundation model of piles in offshore wind farms, the energy-based variational method is used. The soil is treated as a multi-layered elastic continuum with the assumption of three-dimensional displacements, the pile modeled as an Euler-Bernoulli beam. A series of cases using MATLAB programming was conducted to investigate the simplified equations of initial stiffness. The results indicated that the interaction between soil layers and the applied force position should be taken into account in calculating the horizontal soil resistance. Additionally, the distributed moment had a limiting effect on the lateral capacity of a flexible pile. Moreover, to account for the more realistic conditions of OWT systems, field data from the Donghai Bridge offshore wind farm were used.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang, 212003, China

    Xiao-juan Li, Ming-xing Zhu, Li-yan Wang & Jing Liu

  2. School of Civil Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing, 210096, China

    Guo-liang Dai

  3. Key Laboratory of Concrete and Prestressed Concrete Structures of the Ministry of Education, Southeast University, Nanjing, 211189, China

    Guo-liang Dai

Authors
  1. Xiao-juan Li
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  2. Ming-xing Zhu
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  3. Guo-liang Dai
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  4. Li-yan Wang
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  5. Jing Liu
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Correspondence to Xiao-juan Li.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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The study was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 52201324, 52078128, and 52278355), and the Natural Science Foundation of the Jiangsu Higher Education Institution of China (Grant No. 22KJB560015).

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Li, Xj., Zhu, Mx., Dai, Gl. et al. Interface Mechanical Behavior of Flexible Piles Under Lateral Loads in OWT Systems. China Ocean Eng 37, 484–494 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13344-023-0040-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13344-023-0040-4

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