DEM modelling of small-scale plate and pile penetration through scour protections
H. Shi (TU Delft - Transport Engineering and Logistics)
J. Jovanova (TU Delft - Transport Engineering and Logistics)
Dingena Schott (TU Delft - Transport Engineering and Logistics)
C. Cengiz (Deltares)
G. Macaro (Deltares)
M Martinelli (Carleton University, Deltares)
B. Yenigul (Seaway7)
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Abstract
The offshore wind industry has grown significantly over the past decade with the increasing demand for clean energy, and over 80% of offshore wind turbines have monopile foundations. The installation of these foundations requires monopiles to penetrate several pre-installed scour protection rock layers before reaching the required penetration depth. With the increasing sizes of both monopiles and the extent of scour protection layers, various challenges arise during the monopile’s driving and self-weight penetration process, such as misalignment and early pile refusal. Lab scale testing and empirical modelling are time-consuming and normally not general enough to be applied to different scenarios. Within the Optimising Pile Installation through Scour Protection (OPIS) project, the high fidelity discrete element method (DEM) has been deployed to consider both the discrete nature and shapes of the scour protection rocks. A double-layer (armour & filter) scour protection with a sand layer underneath was simulated using the DEM. Detailed rock dynamics and the armour rocks dragging down during penetration are revealed and particle-geometry rolling friction is identified as the dominant parameter. The effects of the sand layer thickness and pile wall thickness on penetration resistance are also addressed.