Control of screw pile installation to optimise performance for offshore energy applications

Benjamin Cerfontaine; Michael Brown; Jonathan Knappett; Craig Davidson; Yaseen Sharif; Marco Huisman; Marius Ottolini; Jonathan David Ball

doi:10.1680/jgeot.21.00118

Control of screw pile installation to optimise performance for offshore energy applications

Benjamin Cerfontaine (Lead / Corresponding author), Michael Brown, Jonathan Knappett, Craig Davidson, Yaseen Sharif, Marco Huisman, Marius Ottolini, Jonathan David Ball

Civil Engineering

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)

295 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Screw piles can be used as foundations for offshore energy applications, thanks to their silent mode of installation and considerable uplift capacity, although a significant upscaling of onshore dimensions is necessary. However, the crowd (vertical) force necessary to install upscaled screw piles was previously shown to be far too great for practical installation. Although guidance recommends that the pile's vertical displacement must be one helix pitch (helix height) per each pile revolution, it is shown in this paper that a lower vertical displacement per revolution can significantly reduce the necessary crowd force during installation or even generate some pull-in. In addition, it was shown that the uplift stiffness and capacity of the pile were enhanced by this installation process, at a shallow (relative) depth in sand. This paper gathers 19 centrifuge tests, with varying screw pile geometries (shaft diameter, base shape), sand relative density and advancement rates. A predictive framework for the pull-in potential of a given pile geometry was proposed to assess its ability to be installed with a reduced crowd force.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	234-249
Number of pages	16
Journal	Géotechnique
Volume	73
Issue number	3
Early online date	18 Oct 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1680/jgeot.21.00118
Publication status	Published - Mar 2023

Keywords

Screw piles
Screw anchors
Installation Effects
SAND
Offshore energy
renewable energy
sand
anchors & anchorages
centrifuge modelling
offshore engineering

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
Civil and Structural Engineering
Geotechnical Engineering and Engineering Geology
Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous)

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1680/jgeot.21.00118

Accepted author manuscriptAccepted author manuscript, 1.31 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "Control of screw pile installation to optimise performance for offshore energy applications",

abstract = "Screw piles can be used as foundations for offshore energy applications, thanks to their silent mode of installation and considerable uplift capacity, although a significant upscaling of onshore dimensions is necessary. However, the crowd (vertical) force necessary to install upscaled screw piles was previously shown to be far too great for practical installation. Although guidance recommends that the pile's vertical displacement must be one helix pitch (helix height) per each pile revolution, it is shown in this paper that a lower vertical displacement per revolution can significantly reduce the necessary crowd force during installation or even generate some pull-in. In addition, it was shown that the uplift stiffness and capacity of the pile were enhanced by this installation process, at a shallow (relative) depth in sand. This paper gathers 19 centrifuge tests, with varying screw pile geometries (shaft diameter, base shape), sand relative density and advancement rates. A predictive framework for the pull-in potential of a given pile geometry was proposed to assess its ability to be installed with a reduced crowd force.",

keywords = "Screw piles, Screw anchors, Installation Effects, SAND, Offshore energy, renewable energy, sand, anchors & anchorages, centrifuge modelling, offshore engineering",

author = "Benjamin Cerfontaine and Michael Brown and Jonathan Knappett and Craig Davidson and Yaseen Sharif and Marco Huisman and Marius Ottolini and Ball, {Jonathan David}",

note = "Funding Information: This project received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 753156. The authors would like to acknowledge the support of the Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC) (Grant no. EP/N006054/1: Supergen Wind Hub Grand Challenges Project: Screw piles for wind energy foundations) and the EPSRC NPIF funded studentship with industrial support from Roger Bullivant Limited. Copyright: {\textcopyright} ICE Publishing 2023, all rights reserved.",

year = "2023",

month = mar,

doi = "10.1680/jgeot.21.00118",

language = "English",

volume = "73",

pages = "234--249",

journal = "G{\'e}otechnique",

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T1 - Control of screw pile installation to optimise performance for offshore energy applications

AU - Cerfontaine, Benjamin

AU - Brown, Michael

AU - Knappett, Jonathan

AU - Davidson, Craig

AU - Sharif, Yaseen

AU - Huisman, Marco

AU - Ottolini, Marius

AU - Ball, Jonathan David

N1 - Funding Information: This project received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 753156. The authors would like to acknowledge the support of the Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC) (Grant no. EP/N006054/1: Supergen Wind Hub Grand Challenges Project: Screw piles for wind energy foundations) and the EPSRC NPIF funded studentship with industrial support from Roger Bullivant Limited. Copyright: © ICE Publishing 2023, all rights reserved.

PY - 2023/3

Y1 - 2023/3

N2 - Screw piles can be used as foundations for offshore energy applications, thanks to their silent mode of installation and considerable uplift capacity, although a significant upscaling of onshore dimensions is necessary. However, the crowd (vertical) force necessary to install upscaled screw piles was previously shown to be far too great for practical installation. Although guidance recommends that the pile's vertical displacement must be one helix pitch (helix height) per each pile revolution, it is shown in this paper that a lower vertical displacement per revolution can significantly reduce the necessary crowd force during installation or even generate some pull-in. In addition, it was shown that the uplift stiffness and capacity of the pile were enhanced by this installation process, at a shallow (relative) depth in sand. This paper gathers 19 centrifuge tests, with varying screw pile geometries (shaft diameter, base shape), sand relative density and advancement rates. A predictive framework for the pull-in potential of a given pile geometry was proposed to assess its ability to be installed with a reduced crowd force.

AB - Screw piles can be used as foundations for offshore energy applications, thanks to their silent mode of installation and considerable uplift capacity, although a significant upscaling of onshore dimensions is necessary. However, the crowd (vertical) force necessary to install upscaled screw piles was previously shown to be far too great for practical installation. Although guidance recommends that the pile's vertical displacement must be one helix pitch (helix height) per each pile revolution, it is shown in this paper that a lower vertical displacement per revolution can significantly reduce the necessary crowd force during installation or even generate some pull-in. In addition, it was shown that the uplift stiffness and capacity of the pile were enhanced by this installation process, at a shallow (relative) depth in sand. This paper gathers 19 centrifuge tests, with varying screw pile geometries (shaft diameter, base shape), sand relative density and advancement rates. A predictive framework for the pull-in potential of a given pile geometry was proposed to assess its ability to be installed with a reduced crowd force.

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KW - Installation Effects

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KW - Offshore energy

KW - renewable energy

KW - sand

KW - anchors & anchorages

KW - centrifuge modelling

KW - offshore engineering

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Control of screw pile installation to optimise performance for offshore energy applications

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Other files and links

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Development of Screw Anchors for Floating Marine Renewable Energy Systems Arrays Incorporating Anchor Sharing (SAFS) (Joint with University of Liege)

Supergen Wind Challenge 2015: Screw Piles for Wind Energy Foundation Systems (Joint with Universities of Durham and Southampton)

3D numerical analysis of screw pile subjected to axial compressive and lateral load

Anchor geotechnics for floating offshore wind: Current technologies and future innovations

DEM analysis of helix number effects on offshore screw pile installation and in-service performance

Screw piles as offshore foundations : Numerical and physical modelling

Public Engagement Lecture: Geotechnical modelling for the advancement of offshore renewable energy application

Public Engagement: Tayport Episcopalian Chuqrch Talk, Sea Sunday: Local Offshore Renewable Energy Investigation and Development

Invited Speaker British Geotechnical Association Annual Conference Modelling of Large Helical Piles for offshore renewable applications

Institution of Civil Engineers Geotechnical Research Medal 2023

Cite this

Control of screw pile installation to optimise performance for offshore energy applications

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

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