TY - JOUR
T1 - Minimum embedded length of cyclic horizontally loaded monopiles
AU - Kuo, Yu Shu
AU - Achmus, Martin
AU - Abdel-Rahman, Khalid
PY - 2012/3/30
Y1 - 2012/3/30
N2 - Monopiles are used as foundation structures for offshore wind energy towers. To ensure stable behavior of the monopile under cyclic loading conditions, a minimum embedded length is usually required. For this, different design criteria are used, some of which result in very large embedded depths for large-diameter monopiles. The suitability of these criteria is tested by means of numerical simulations. To account for cyclic loading, a new approach called the stiffness degradation method is applied. The results of a parametric study show that the design criteria used can indeed ensure optimum pile performance under static and cyclic loads. It is recommended that the requirement of a critical pile length, which leads to the minimum pile deflection under extreme load, is used as a design criterion. For the cases considered, this requirement results in only slightly greater cyclic deformations compared to the optimum case of very long piles. A further optimization of the required monopile length with respect to cyclic loading is possible, but requires specific consideration of cyclic behavior, as is done in this paper.
AB - Monopiles are used as foundation structures for offshore wind energy towers. To ensure stable behavior of the monopile under cyclic loading conditions, a minimum embedded length is usually required. For this, different design criteria are used, some of which result in very large embedded depths for large-diameter monopiles. The suitability of these criteria is tested by means of numerical simulations. To account for cyclic loading, a new approach called the stiffness degradation method is applied. The results of a parametric study show that the design criteria used can indeed ensure optimum pile performance under static and cyclic loads. It is recommended that the requirement of a critical pile length, which leads to the minimum pile deflection under extreme load, is used as a design criterion. For the cases considered, this requirement results in only slightly greater cyclic deformations compared to the optimum case of very long piles. A further optimization of the required monopile length with respect to cyclic loading is possible, but requires specific consideration of cyclic behavior, as is done in this paper.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84859327505&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84859327505&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1061/(ASCE)GT.1943-5606.0000602
DO - 10.1061/(ASCE)GT.1943-5606.0000602
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84859327505
SN - 1090-0241
VL - 138
SP - 357
EP - 363
JO - Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
JF - Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
IS - 3
ER -