3D foundation model library

Abstract

The REDWIN project (REDucing cost of offshore WINd by integrated structural and geotechnical design) is a 4-year research project, funded primarily by the Research Council of Norway (NFR) through the ENERGIX program, with the objective of reducing the cost in offshore wind turbine (OWT) design by developing new engineering tools that enable more accurate representation of soil and foundation behaviour in integrated analysis of these structures. One of the main outputs of the project is a library of new soil-foundation models for shallow (e.g. bucket foundations) and deep foundations (e.g. monopiles) for time-domain dynamic analysis of OWTs, that can be implemented in integrated analysis tools through standardized interfaces. The input to the foundation models are simple and intuitive nonlinear load-displacement curves that represent the foundation (pile or caisson) and soil response. The new models overcome several of the limitations inherent in existing foundation design tools and allow designers to adopt accurate, advanced, and validated foundation models in all phases of OWT design. This report presents an overview of the development and main features of the new soilfoundation models, outlines the required input to the models and how to obtain this input, and describes how the models can be implemented with software for integrated analyses of OWTs. The details of the mathematical formulation of the foundation models have been published in a series of journal papers (available on the REDWIN project website) and are therefore not included in this report. The new foundation models described in this report are freely available for use in research and engineering projects with proper reference, and can be obtained via the REDWIN project website: https://www.ngi.no/eng/Projects/REDWIN