Improved clinical investigation and evaluation of high-risk medical devices: the rationale and objectives of CORE-MD (Coordinating Research and Evidence for Medical Devices)

In the European Union (EU) the delivery of health services is a national responsibility but there are concerted actions between member states to protect public health. Approval of pharmaceutical products is the responsibility of the European Medicines Agency, whereas authorizing the placing on the market of medical devices is decentralized to...

Interlayer connectivity reconstruction for multilayer brain networks using phase oscillator models

Large-scale neurophysiological networks are often reconstructed from band-pass filtered time series derived from magnetoencephalography (MEG) data. Common practice is to reconstruct these networks separately for different frequency bands and to treat them independently. Recent evidence suggests that this separation may be inadequate, as there...

Rapid surface activation of carbon fibre reinforced PEEK and PPS composites by high-power UV-irradiation for the adhesive joining of dissimilar materials

Carbon fibre reinforced poly-etherether-ketone (PEEK) and poly-phenylene-sulfide (PPS) composites were rapidly surface-treated by high-power UV light, and then adhesively bonded to aluminium 2024-T3 and carbon fibre/epoxy composites. The results of a single lap-shear joint test demonstrated that a UV-treatment lasting for 5 s was sufficient...

Cyclic Laterally Loaded Medium Scale Field Pile Testing for the PISA Project

The PISA project explored the development of improved design methods for offshore wind turbine monopile foundations. Medium scale field pile testing for the project took place at Cowden in the UK, where the soil consists of a heavily over-consolidated glacial till, and Dunkirk in France, where the soil consists of a dense marine sand. The main...

PISA design model for monopiles for offshore wind turbines: Application to a stiff glacial clay till

Offshore wind turbines in shallow coastal waters are typically supported on monopile foundations. Although three-dimensional (3D) finite-element methods are available for the design of monopiles in this context, much of the routine design work is currently conducted using simplified one-dimensional (1D) models based on the p-y method. The p-y...

Finite-element modelling of laterally loaded piles in a stiff glacial clay till at Cowden

The PISA project was a combined field testing/numerical modelling study with the aim of developing improved design procedures for large-diameter piles subjected to lateral loading. This paper describes the development of a three-dimensional finite-element model for the medium-scale pile tests that were conducted in Cowden till as part of the...

Ground characterisation for PISA pile testing and analysis

This paper is the first of a set of linked publications on the PISA Joint Industry Research Project, which was concerned with the development of improved design methods for monopile foundations in offshore wind applications. PISA involved large-scale pile tests in overconsolidated glacial till at Cowden, north-east England, and in dense,...

Monotonic laterally loaded pile testing in a stiff glacial clay till at Cowden

This paper describes the results obtained from a field testing campaign on laterally loaded monopiles conducted at Cowden, UK, where the soil consists principally of a heavily overconsolidated glacial till. These tests formed part of the PISA project on the development of improved design methods for monopile foundations for offshore wind...

Monotonic laterally loaded pile testing in a dense marine sand at Dunkirk

The results obtained from a field testing campaign on laterally loaded monopiles, conducted at a dense sand site in Dunkirk, northern France are described. These tests formed part of the PISA project on the development of improved design methods for monopile foundations for offshore wind turbines. Results obtained from monotonic loading tests...

Finite-element modelling of laterally loaded piles in a dense marine sand at Dunkirk

The paper presents the development of a three-dimensional finite-element model for pile tests in dense Dunkirk sand, conducted as part of the PISA project. The project was aimed at developing improved design methods for laterally loaded piles, as used in offshore wind turbine foundations. The importance of the consistent and integrated...

PISA design model for monopiles for offshore wind turbines: Application to a marine sand

This paper describes a one-dimensional (1D) computational model for the analysis and design of laterally loaded monopile foundations for offshore wind turbine applications. The model represents the monopile as an embedded beam and specially formulated functions, referred to as soil reaction curves, are employed to represent the various...

New data analysis methods for instrumented medium-scale monopile field tests

The PISA Joint Industry Research Project was concerned with the development of improved design methods for monopile foundations in offshore wind applications. PISA involved large-scale pile tests in overconsolidated glacial till at Cowden, north-east England, and in dense, normally consolidated marine sand at Dunkirk, northern France. This...

PISA:: Recent developments in offshore wind turbine monopile design

This paper provides a brief overview of the Pile Soil Analysis (PISA) project, recently completed in the UK. The research was aimed at developing new design methods for laterally loaded monopile foundations, such as those supporting offshore wind turbine structures. The paper first describes the background to the project and briefly outlines the...

Performance of CPT-based methods to assess monopile driveability in North Sea sands

Offshore pile driving is a high-risk activity as delays can be financially punitive. Experience of pile driving for offshore jacket structures where pile diameters are typically < 2 m has led to the development of empirical pile driveability models with proven predictive capability. The application of these methods to larger diameter piles...

Hatch covers: maintenance and operation with reference to failures in service

Predicting natural ventilation in offshore modules using computational fluid dynamics