The effect of installation advancement ratio on interaction between helices of screw piles for offshore renewable energy

Wei Wang (Lead / Corresponding author), Michael Brown, Matteo Ciantia, Marco Previtali, Yaseen Sharif, Craig Davidson

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Abstract

Upscaled screw piles have been proposed as a novel silent foundation solution for both offshore jacket structures and anchoring in various renewable energy applications. Replacing conventional pitch-matched installation approaches by over-flighted installation approaches has been proposed for single-helix screw piles to reduce installation vertical crowd force and torque whilst enhancing in-service tensile capacity and stiffness. This study, using DEM modelling, extends the scope of investigation to consider multi-helix screw piles and investigates installation and tensile in-service response, addressing the effect of helix spacing and installation advancement ratio together. The findings suggest that a pile featuring smaller helix spacing may necessitate less vertical force and torque for installation than a single-helix pile if over-flighted installation approaches are used, although the first (bottom) helix needs to be ‘deeply’ embedded to avoid the reduction of tensile capacity induced by additional helices. This differs from piles installed by pitch-matched approaches where additional helices typically increase installation force and torque. DEM micromechanical analyses help unveil the mechanisms behind the macroscopic response of such screw piles.
Original languageEnglish
Article number120000
Pages (from-to)1-17
Number of pages17
JournalOcean Engineering
Volume316
Early online date6 Dec 2024
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 15 Jan 2025

Keywords

  • screw anchors
  • screw pile
  • DEM analysis
  • SAND
  • installation effects

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
  • Civil and Structural Engineering
  • Geotechnical Engineering and Engineering Geology

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