Plug monitoring during vibratory monopile driving in centrifuge testing

TY - CONF

T1 - Plug monitoring during vibratory monopile driving in centrifuge testing

AU - Fang, Liqun

AU - Brown, Michael

AU - Davidson, Craig

AU - Sharif, Yaseen

N1 - Conference code: 11

PY - 2026/6/8

Y1 - 2026/6/8

N2 - Monopiles are a common foundation type for offshore wind turbines. Compared with the impact driving method, vibratory installation is a potential alternative to improve the installation speed and reduce noise emissions. Plug development affects the soil resistance during driving (SRD) and the in-service capacity after monopile installation. However, studies on plug development in vibratory piling are limited compared to impact driving and jacking, which may hinder the application of purely vibration based installation. The driving properties and soil response of the vibration installation method are distinct from other methods and current understanding of plug evolution may not be applicable. This paper presents the setup of a centrifuge vibratory driving and monitoring system and outlines the preliminary results of a centrifuge model test investigating the plug development. A centrifuge model test was performed to drive an instrumented model pile in a dry medium-dense sand bed. Partial plugging was observed during the vibratory penetration, and the incremental filling ratio (IFR) showed that the partial plug was formed at the rapid installation stage of the driving. Further equipment development and testing will be undertaken based upon these preliminary findings.

AB - Monopiles are a common foundation type for offshore wind turbines. Compared with the impact driving method, vibratory installation is a potential alternative to improve the installation speed and reduce noise emissions. Plug development affects the soil resistance during driving (SRD) and the in-service capacity after monopile installation. However, studies on plug development in vibratory piling are limited compared to impact driving and jacking, which may hinder the application of purely vibration based installation. The driving properties and soil response of the vibration installation method are distinct from other methods and current understanding of plug evolution may not be applicable. This paper presents the setup of a centrifuge vibratory driving and monitoring system and outlines the preliminary results of a centrifuge model test investigating the plug development. A centrifuge model test was performed to drive an instrumented model pile in a dry medium-dense sand bed. Partial plugging was observed during the vibratory penetration, and the incremental filling ratio (IFR) showed that the partial plug was formed at the rapid installation stage of the driving. Further equipment development and testing will be undertaken based upon these preliminary findings.

KW - vibro driving

KW - Pile foundation

KW - Plug monitoring

KW - offshore renewable energy

UR - https://www.issmge.org/publications/publication/plug-monitoring-during-vibratory-monopile-driving-in-centrifuge-testing

U2 - 10.53243/ICPMG2026-184

DO - 10.53243/ICPMG2026-184

M3 - Paper

T2 - 11th International Conference on Physical Modelling in Geotechnics

Y2 - 8 June 2026 through 12 June 2026

ER -