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The governing load bearing mechanism of multi-pile foundations is often the shaft friction. Under cyclic loading the soil particles next to the foundation rearrange and tend to compact leading to a decrease of the surrounding normal stress. The reduction of the normal stress leads to a lower threshold for shear stress (friction fatigue), which results in a degraded shaft bearing capacity. The common interface models used for numerical simulations (e.g. Mohr-Coulomb) are not able to capture such behavior. This work aims to develop an interface material model that incorporates such features of the contact behavior at the soil-structure interface.
The response of many geotechnical systems, whose structural behavior depends on shearing effect, is closely related to soil structure interaction phenomenon. Experimentally it is found that the localisation of these effect happens at a narrow soil layer next to the structure. Numerically, this behavior can be modelled through interface elements and adequate constitutive models. In this work, a constitutive model in the framework of Generalized Plasticity for sandy soils has been chosen to be adapted for the interface zone.
From the direct shear experiments a sandy soil at loose and dense states under different normal pressures is considered. The adapted constitutive model is able to reproduce contraction and dilatation of the soil according to its relative density and it shows a good agreement with the experimental data.
The response of many geotechnical systems, whose structural behavior depends on granular friction and a shearing effect with the ground, is characterized by a complex soil-structure interaction at their interfaces. Experimentally it is found that this interaction is highly non-linear, state-dependent and localized within a narrow layer of soil next to the structure, whereby cyclic loads can play a key role. Numerically, this behavior is often modelled with overly simplified models of interface elements that neglect cyclic effects within the soil. This work introduces a new perspective with an adequate constitutive model in the framework of Generalized Plasticity for sandy soils for an improved consideration of the interface mechanics.
Within the presented research project, experimental and numerical investigations were performed to develop a thin-shelled, modular, mobile element system made of a micro-reinforced ultra-high-performance ductile concrete (DUCON®). Material parameters were experimentally determined to adapt the material model within the numerical analysis applying the Drucker-Prager relationship. Afterwards, for validation of the numerical models, quasi-static and high-velocity impact tests were performed on plate-like structures. Finally, a suitable geometry of transportable barrier elements will be designed, which provides a maximum of resistance against impact by a minimum of weight and a maximum of mobility.
Within the presented research project, experimental and numerical investigations were performed to develop a thin-shelled, modular, mobile element system made of a micro-reinforced ultra-high-performance ductile concrete (DUCON®). Material parameters were experimentally determined to adapt the material model within the numerical analysis applying the Drucker-Prager relationship. Afterwards, for validation of the numerical models, quasi-static and high-velocity impact tests were performed on plate-like structures. Finally, a suitable geometry of transportable barrier elements will be designed, which provides a maximum of resistance against impact by a minimum of weight and a maximum of mobility.
In recent years, several high temperature low sag conductors (HTLS) have been developed and are now commercially available. Very few utilities have long-term experience with all the technologies. Moreover, most of the operational experience is at low temperatures. An independent testing program at maximum operational temperatures comparing most of the available technologies would provide useful guidance to utilities considering using such conductors.
This paper describes the approach and results of an international research project assessing the long-term reliability of a wide range of commercially available high temperature conductor systems. Each system was exposed to 4,400 hours of simultaneous mechanical and electrical stresses. A set of standard mechanical and electrical tests were carried out to determine any changes. A conventional ACSR conductor was also tested and provided a validation that the testing program was realistic.
The majority of the conductor systems performed satisfactorily. However the ACSS system joint resistance and the grease on the TACSR performed poorly.
This presentation gives an overview of the recent achievements in simulating piping erosion during the installation process of suction bucket foundations for offshore wind turbines. The physical correctness of the code is validated, and the simulation code's performance on the LUMI supercomputer is presented. The simulation results are compared to experimental data.
We present our approach and methodology for simulating piping erosion, which occurs during the installation process of suction bucket foundations for offshore wind turbines. We show several simulations and analyze the hydrodynamic and contact forces acting on the granular fabric and the differential pressure of the fluid phase. We demonstrate weak scaling performance on the LUMI supercomputer with a parallel efficiency of up to 90% for 4096 Graphics Compute Dies.
Global energy consumption will increase in the future necessitating both fossil fuels and renewable energy choices - especially wind energy. Such high energy demand requires installation of offshore energy structures, rigs, platforms and towers, which are susceptible to adverse environmental conditions along with maintenances. Due to their large size and remote locations, cylindrical grouted joints are often adopted between substructure and foundation in these offshore platforms and wind structures such as monopiles. However, these connections are composite structures with exterior sleeve, interior pile and infill mortar. Degradation and settlements were reported inside similar connections, which were installed in last three decades. Besides, grouting in the offshore sites were proven difficult to obtain ideal load bearing capacity. In-situ loading conditions were also found to be affecting the failure mechanism inside such connections. This study aims at characterizing the nature of cracks generated in these grouted connections under both static and cyclic loading. Scaled grouted joints were manufactured using a novel reusable mold, and connections were loaded to failure to visualize the main failure patterns. An assessment between failure under these two types of load is drawn along with comparison to previously available literature.
Grouted connections are intensively used in offshore rigs, platforms as well as jacket and monopile offshore wind turbine structures. Being located in remote offshore conditions, these connections can experience considerable adverse loading during their lifetimes. Degradation was reported inside similar connections, which were installed in the last three decades. Grouting in the offshore sites may often be proven difficult, which eventually leads to reduced load-bearing capacity of connections in the long run. Thus, repair and rehabilitation of such connections should be planned ahead to minimize operational delays and costs. In this study, scaled grouted connections were manufactured using a novel mould, whose integrity were monitored using digital image correlation (DIC). The connections were loaded under static load to visualize the main failure pattern using distributed fibre optic sensors and acoustic emission (AE) analysis. Grouted connections were then repaired using a cementitious injectable grout. The effectiveness of the grout injection was monitored using dye penetration technique. Finally, specimens are reloaded to identify the potential of such repair for grouted connections.
Global energy consumption will increase in the future necessitating both fossil fuels and renewable energy choices - especially wind energy. Such high energy demand requires installation of offshore energy structures, rigs, platforms and towers, which are susceptible to adverse environmental conditions along with maintenances. Due to their large size and remote locations, cylindrical grouted joints are often adopted between substructure and foundation in these offshore platforms and wind structures such as monopiles. However, these connections are composite structures with exterior sleeve, interior pile and infill mortar. Degradation and settlements were reported inside similar connections, which were installed in last three decades. Besides, grouting in the offshore sites were proven difficult to obtain ideal load bearing capacity. In-situ loading conditions were also found to be affecting the failure mechanism inside such connections. This study aims at characterizing the nature of cracks generated in these grouted connections under both static and cyclic loading. Scaled grouted joints were manufactured using a novel reusable mold, and connections were loaded to failure to visualize the main failure patterns. An assessment between failure under these two types of load is drawn along with comparison to previously available literature.
Grouts are particularly favoured in rehabilitation of structures due to penetrability and convenience of application. Grouts for repair applications typically require high-performance properties such as rapid strength development and superior shrinkage characteristics. Sometimes industrial by-products referred as supplementary cementitious materials (SCM) are used with neat cement due to their capabilities to provide binding properties at delayed stage. Micro silica, fly ash and metakaolin are such SCMs, those can modify and improve properties of cement products. This study aims at investigating long-term mass loss and linear shrinkage along with long-term compressive and flexural strength for grouts produced from ultrafine cement and SCMs. A series of mixtures were formulated to observe the effect of SCMs on these grout properties. Properties were determined after 365 days of curing at 23 °C and 55% relative humidity. The effect of SCMs on the properties are characterised by statistical models. Response surfaces were constructed to quantify these properties in relation to SCMs replacement. The results suggested that shrinkage was reduced by metakaolin, while micro silica and fly ash had positive effects on compressive and flexural strength, respectively.
This work describes a vibration-based structural health monitoring of a prestressed-concrete box girder bridge on the A100 Highway in Berlin by applying statistical pattern recognition technique to a huge amount of data continuously collected by an integrated monitoring system during the period from 2000 to 2013. Firstly, the general condition and potential damage of the bridge is described. Then, the dynamic properties are extracted from 20 velocity sensors. Environmental variability captured by five thermal transducers and traffic intensity approximately estimated by strain measurements are also reported. Nonlinear influences of temperature on natural frequencies are observed. Subsequently, the measurements during the first year are used to build a baseline health index. The multiple linear regression (MLR) method is used to characterize the nonlinear relationship between natural frequencies and temperatures. The Euclidean distance of the residual errors is calculated to build a statistical health index. Finally, the indices extracted from the following years gradually deviate; which may indicate structural deterioration due to loss of prestress in the prestressed tendons.
This paper proposes a novel method to estimate the lateral displacement of high-rise structures under wind loads. The coefficient β(x) is firstly derived, reflecting the relation between the structural lateral dynamic displacement and the inclination angle at the height x of a structure. If the angle is small, it is the ratio between the structural fundamental mode shape and its first-order derivative without influence of external loads. Several dynamic experiments of structures are performed based on a laser remote sensing vibrometer and an inclinometer, which shows that the fundamental mode is dominated in the structural displacement response under different types of excitations. Once the coefficient β(x) is curve-fitted by measuring both the structural lateral dynamic displacement and the inclination angle synchronously, the real-time structural lateral displacement under operational conditions is estimated by multiplying the coefficient β(x) with the inclination angle. The advantage of the proposed method is that the coefficient β(x) can be identified by lateral dynamic displacement measured in high resolution by the remote sensing vibrometer, which is useful to reconstruct the displacement accurately by the inclination angle under operational conditions
A strain-based automated operational modal analysis algorithm is proposed to track the long-term dynamic behavior of a horizontal wind turbine under operational conditions.
This algorithm is firstly validated by a scaled wind turbine model, and then it is applied to the dynamic strain responses recorded from a 5 MW wind turbine system. We observed variations in the fundamental frequency and 1f, 3f excitation frequencies due to the mass imbalance of the blades and aerodynamic excitation by the tower dam or tower wake. Inspection of the Campbell diagram revealed that the adverse resonance phenomenon and Sommerfeld effect causing excessive vibrations of the wind tower.
Classic non-destructive fatigue crack detection methods reveal the state of the fatigue damage evolution at the moment of application, generally not under operational conditions. The here introduced crack luminescence method realizes a clear visibility of the occurred and growing crack in loaded components during operation. Different established experiments show that due to the sensitive coating a crack Formation can be detected even in early stage under the premise the crack reached the surface. The coating consists of two layers with different properties and functions. The bottom layer emits light as fluorescence under UV radiation. The top layer covers the fluorescing one and prevents the emitting of light in case of no damage at the surface. In case of surface crack occurrence, the luminescent light is clearly noticeable by visual observations and also by standard camera equipment which makes automated crack detection possible as well. It is expected that crack luminescence can increase structural safety as well as reduce costs and time for inspections and preventive maintenance.
The contribution discusses the processing and analysis of data generated on two different ways of investigations for impact damage in reinforced concrete structures. Damage investigations are essential to determine type and characteristics of damage and thus the residual capacity. Damage describing data is generated using two different types of investigation, a non-destructive tomographic as well as numerical examination. Subsequently, data of both sources was merged and analysed. Within the research project “Behaviour of structural components during impact load conditions caused by aircraft fuel tank collision” reinforces concrete plates were damaged by impact loading, see Hering (2020). Afterwards the damaged specimens were investigated tomographically as well as numerically using several methods and models. Aim of the presented research work was to specify an objective comparability of numerical data with experimentally determined damage patterns and based on this, to establish a quantitative damage evaluation.
The contribution discusses the processing and analysis of data generated on two different ways of investigations for impact damage in reinforced concrete structures. Damage investigations are essential to determine type and characteristics of damage and thus the residual capacity. Damage describing data is generated using two different types of investigation, a non-destructive tomographic as well as numerical examination. Subsequently, data of both sources was merged and analysed. Within the research project “Behaviour of structural components during impact load conditions caused by aircraft fuel tank collision” reinforces concrete plates were damaged by impact loading, see Hering (2020). Afterwards the damaged specimens were investigated tomographically as well as numerically using several methods and models. Aim of the presented research work was to specify an objective comparability of numerical data with experimentally determined damage patterns and based on this, to establish a quantitative damage evaluation.
Within the presented research project, experimental and numerical investigations were performed to develop a thin-shelled, modular, mobile element system made of a micro-reinforced ultra-high-performance ductile concrete (DUCON®). Material parameters were experimentally determined to adapt the material model within the numerical analysis applying the Drucker-Prager relationship. Afterwards, for validation of the numerical models, quasi-static and high-velocity impact tests were performed on plate-like structures. Finally, a suitable geometry of transportable barrier elements will be designed, which provides a maximum of resistance against impact by a minimum of weight and a maximum of mobility.
The identification of the dynamic behavior of structures, like bridges and towers, is relevant to address multiple issues. In many cases the dynamic parameters should be acquired only once or at a frequency that doesn’t justify the installation of distinct vibration sensors for a long-term monitoring. To identify modal frequencies of a structure, a drone based mobile sensing platform has been implemented. This sensing platform measures the relative displacement be-tween the structure and the drone, which also shows a strong dynamic behavior under wind tur-bulences. By regarding the dynamic model of the drone and additional measurements at the dis-tance sensor the absolute movement of the structure can be estimated based on the measured relative distance. This time domain data is a suitable input for various operational modal analysis algorithms. The system has been used to identify the dynamic properties of test and real structure, like a 1.5 MW wind turbine tower.
At the Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM) full scale specimens for nuclear transport and storage containers (casks) are tested for their structural integrity in a series of drop tests on the Test Site Technical Safety in Horstwalde, 50 km south of Berlin. These drop tests cause a major stress not only on the casks, but also on the steel tower structure of the test facility, itself. The load pattern makes the structure very interesting for detailed investigation. The focus of the monitoring lies on the bolted joints of the flange connections that are a typical connection for cylindrical elements if welding is technical or economical unfavorable. The definition of the monitoring takes was done by investigating the existing documents and inspection results accompanied by building an initial digital representation of the structure, consisting of two finite element (FE) models and a geometrical 3D point cloud representation. As a first step the structures behavior during static and dynamic loading was analyzed using measurement data and an updated numerical FE Model. The idea behind is to use models for a digital planning and operation/evaluation of the structural health monitoring. A static FE simulation and a dynamic FE simulation are generated, to investigate how the structure behaves under the load conditions.
The identification of the dynamic behavior of structures, like bridges and towers, is relevant to address multiple issues. In many cases the dynamic parameters should be acquired only once or at a frequency that doesn’t justify the installation of distinct vibration sensors for a long-term monitoring. To identify modal frequencies of a structure, a drone based mobile sensing platform has been implemented. This sensing platform measures the relative displacement be-tween the structure and the drone, which also shows a strong dynamic behavior under wind tur-bulences. By regarding the dynamic model of the drone and additional measurements at the dis-tance sensor the absolute movement of the structure can be estimated based on the measured relative distance. This time domain data is a suitable input for various operational modal analysis algorithms. The system has been used to identify the dynamic properties of test and real structure, like a 1.5 MW wind turbine tower.
At the Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM) full scale specimens for nuclear transport and storage containers (casks) are tested for their structural integrity in a series of drop tests on the Test Site Technical Safety in Horstwalde, 50 km south of Berlin. These drop tests cause a major stress not only on the casks, but also on the steel tower structure of the test facility, itself. The load pattern makes the structure very interesting for detailed investigation. The focus of the monitoring lies on the bolted joints of the flange connections that are a typical connection for cylindrical elements if welding is technical or economical unfavorable. The definition of the monitoring takes was done by investigating the existing documents and inspection results accompanied by building an initial digital representation of the structure, consisting of two finite element (FE) models and a geometrical 3D point cloud representation. As a first step the structures behavior during static and dynamic loading was analyzed using measurement data and an updated numerical FE Model. The idea behind is to use models for a digital planning and operation/evaluation of the structural health monitoring. A static FE simulation and a dynamic FE simulation are generated, to investigate how the structure behaves under the load conditions.
The long-term preservation of our infrastructure requires not only intelligent sensor technology and highly developed monitoring procedures, but also innovative digital tools for analyzing, evaluating and utilizing the results. This includes mathematical and, in particular, probabilistic methods for damage detection and tracking as well as for calculating service life and maintenance cycles and data management. The example project Maintal Bridge Gemuenden as part of the AISTEC project shows the workflow for the implementation of structural health monitoring and experimental tests with a train of Deutsche Bahn. The influence lines, as one possible way for damage detection, were measured with a highly accurate GNSS System to locate the trains position when crossing the bridge. The results were compared to measurements from 1987 just before the bridge went in operation.
In this article, a partial selection of experiments on enhancing the impact resistance of structural components with non-metallic, textile-reinforced concrete is discussed. The focus is on the experimental investigations in which the impact resistance of thin, textile-reinforced concrete plates is characterized. The article discusses the materials, fabrics and test setup used. For the experimental work, a drop tower from the Otto Mohr Laboratory, which belongs to the Technische Universtät Dresden, was used. Furthermore, the experimental results are presented and evaluated using different methods. Based on the collected data, a suitable approach to determining the perforation velocity of an impactor through the investigated thin, textile-reinforced concrete plates is shown.
The structural integrity of outer reinforced concrete (RC) containments of nuclear power plants provides an essential shield against external hazards. If this containment is damaged by an impact event, such as an aircraft crash, the question arises to which degree the reinforced concrete containment still has its protective capability. This concerns both purely structural protection and protection against liquids penetrating the interior of the containment. Due to the dimensions of the containment structures, it is difficult to perform real scale impact experiments, so in the past decades plate geometries at medium scale have been used for investigations. Detailed investigations on the structural behaviour of RC members or RC plates subjected to impact loading have already been presented in Just et al., Hering, Hering et al., Bracklow et al., Hille et al. and Nerger et al.
The following investigations deal with the single and multiple impact event (first hard impact and/or subsequent soft impact) on a RC specimen, which provides the basis for further investigations. A description of the test setup and the test procedure as well as a presentation of the test results from the impact tests are provided.
Furthermore, the experimental program is presented, which the damaged RC specimens are to undergo to deal with the question of how much the impact-damaged RC structure has become permeable to liquid media, such as water and kerosene, depending on the intensity of the impact. The aim of these following investigations is to develop a test setup that can be applied to investigate the liquid penetration behaviour (LPB) of small, medium, and large-scale RC members.
In addition to the liquid penetration experiments, the damaged specimens are to be examined by planar tomography to obtain the damage inside the specimen. The combination of damaging event, fluid penetration behaviour and tomography should enable a comprehensive understanding of the damage to the RC specimen.
Wind turbines are exposed to a high number of load cycles during their service lifetime. Therefore, the fatigue strength verification plays an important role in their design. In general, the nominal stress method is used for the fatigue verification of the most common used butt-welded joints. The Eurocode 3 part 1–9 is the current design standard for this field of application. This paper presents recent results of fatigue tests on small-scaled specimens and large components with transverse butt welds to discuss the validity of the FAT-class. Furthermore, results from numerical simulations for the verification with the effective notch stress and the crack propagation approach are used for comparison. Based on the consistency between the numerical results and the fatigue tests, the influence of the seam geometry on the fatigue resistance was investigated. Finally, a prediction of the fatigue strength of butt-welded joints with plate thicknesses up to 80 mm was carried out.
The new crack luminescence method offers the possibility of making fatigue surface cracks in metallic materials more visible during inspections through a special coating system. This coating system consists of two layers, whereby the first layer has fluorescent properties and emits visible light as soon as it is irradiated by UV light. The top layer is black and is designed to prevent the fluorescent layer from emitting if no crack develops in the underlying material. The technique proved particularly useful in a wide variety of fatigue tests of steel components under laboratory conditions. Moreover, it has the potential to be used in various industrial applications. To enable industrial deployment and integration into maintenance strategies, a concept study is developed in this contribution, resulting in a qualification framework that can serve as a foundation for determining the reliability of the crack luminescence system in terms of a probability of detection curve. Within this study, factors causing measurement variability and uncertainty are being determined and their influences assessed. Due to the extension of the system by a moving computer vision system for automated crack detection using artificial intelligence, additional long-term effects associated with structural health monitoring systems need to be incorporated into an extended probability of detection study as part of the technical justification. Finally, important aspects and findings related to design of experiments are discussed, and a framework for reliability assessment of a new optical crack monitoring method is presented, emphasizing the influence of various uncertainty parameters, including long-term effects such as system ageing.
The new crack luminescence method offers the possibility of making fatigue surface cracks in metallic materials more visible during inspections through a special coating system. This coating system consists of two layers, whereby the first layer has fluorescent properties and emits visible light as soon as it is irradiated by UV light. The top layer is black and is designed to prevent the fluorescent layer from emitting if no crack develops in the underlying material.
The technique proved particularly useful in a wide variety of fatigue tests of steel components under laboratory conditions. Moreover, it has the potential to be used in various industrial applications. To enable industrial deployment and integration into maintenance strategies, a concept study is developed in this contribution, resulting in a qualification framework that can serve as a foundation for determining the reliability of the crack luminescence system in terms of a probability of detection curve. Within this study, factors causing measurement variability and uncertainty are being determined and their influences assessed. Due to the extension of the system by a moving computer vision system for automated crack detection using artificial intelligence, additional long-term effects associated with structural health monitoring systems need to be incorporated into an extended probability of detection study as part of the technical justification.
Finally, important aspects and findings related to design of experiments are discussed, and a framework for reliability assessment of a new optical crack monitoring method is presented, emphasizing the influence of various uncertainty parameters, including long-term effects such as system ageing.
The aim of an ongoing research project is to develop a design approach for typical offshore driven piles (e.g. Jacket piles) based on the application of injections by compaction grouting directly at the pile shaft. The paper aims to present the results of laboratory and in-situ tests, which reveal the efficiency and the promising potential of the optimised foundation concept for a more economic dimensioning of pile foundations and to increase their bearing capacity in non-cohesive soil at any moment after installation.
The authors are currently investigating the possibility to apply compaction grouting for offshore pile foundations (Jacket piles as well as monopiles) as a possible retrofitting technique for an optimised foundation concept. In this research project, we are developing a design approach aiming to predict the ideal amount and properties of a grout for a specific soil situation and desired improvement of pile bearing capacity after Installation and during service time. Both numerical and experimental tests have been carried out to investigate the injection process during which a highly viscous grout is injected into the soil under high pressure to displace and compact the surrounding soil without fracturing it. The implicit Material Point Method (MPM) based on a mixed formulation is the numerical technique chosen to deal with the expected large deformations and the arbitrary shape of the developing grout bulb. The usage of MPM prevents both the need of remeshing and the numerical instability induced by extensive mesh distortion. For validation with experimental results, we have constructed a testing chamber with one transparent sidewall. This chamber enables us to observe the injection process directly at the transparent vertical window and to measure the in-plane soil displacements and strains by means of the Digital Image Correlation (DIC) technique.
The results already reveal the interrelation of soil and grout properties for a successful usage of this common ground improvement technique.
The authors are currently investigating the possibility to apply compaction grouting for offshore pile foundations (Jacket piles as well as monopiles) as a possible retrofitting technique for an optimised foundation concept. In this research project, we are developing a design approach aiming to predict the ideal amount and properties of a grout for a specific soil situation and desired improvement of pile bearing capacity after Installation and during service time. Both numerical and experimental tests have been carried out to investigate the injection process during which a highly viscous grout is injected into the soil under high pressure to displace and compact the surrounding soil without fracturing it. The implicit Material Point Method (MPM) based on a mixed formulation is the numerical technique chosen to deal with the expected large deformations and the arbitrary shape of the developing grout bulb. The usage of MPM prevents both the need of remeshing and the numerical instability induced by extensive mesh distortion. For validation with experimental results, we have constructed a testing chamber with one transparent sidewall. This chamber enables us to observe the injection process directly at the transparent vertical window and to measure the in-plane soil displacements and strains by means of the Digital Image Correlation (DIC) technique.
The results already reveal the interrelation of soil and grout properties for a successful usage of this common ground improvement technique.
The increasing use of renewable energies leads to a constant search for optimised foundation concepts aiming to reduce the costs for offshore wind turbines. In an ongoing research project, we are developing a design approach for typical offshore driven piles based on the application of injections by compaction grouting directly at the pile shaft. Compaction grouting as a ground improvement technique has been used widely as a countermeasure against liquefaction, settlement and low bearing capacity of soil under new or already existing structures. It is performed by forcing highly viscous grout into the soil to displace and compact the surrounding soil without fracturing or penetrating it. Regarding this injection method, this paper gives a brief overview about general aspects such as appropriate soil characteristics and grouting parameters, grouting equipment and fields of application particularly in the offshore sector. This indicates the ability of our optimisation concept to provide an economic alternative to larger pile dimensions and a retrofitting technique, which is available during the entire lifetime of the foundation and can be deployed only in case of necessity (e.g. excessive deformations or insufficient structural stiffness after an extreme load event).
Besides the material feasibility and the constructive realisation of this improvement measure, the development of a corresponding verification concept is crucial in order to ensure the safety and durability of the retrofitted offshore piles. Here we will examine various verification concepts with their respective limitations in the framework of the limit state design. Furthermore, we will present the experimental findings from field tests in sand indicating the advantages of several local injections by compaction grouting for the enhancement of the load bearing behaviour of pile foundations. The test results were also used to validate a numerical model, developed with the finite element program PLAXIS, aiming to predict the expected bearing capacity for different injection scenarios (e.g. grout volume, location of injection points) along a pile shaft.
Severe mechanical fatigue conditions for worldwide proliferating windfarms are a Major challenge for high-performance concrete in towers, connecting joints and foundations of wind turbines. High-performance concrete offers potential for the application in offshore windfarms, not only regarding its good mechanical, but also chemical resistivity due to low diffusivity in the highly densified microstructure. For a more reliable fatigue assessment, monitoring based on nondestructive testing can be a valuable complement to design rules. Both approaches demand reliable experimental data, information about scalability and the development of standardized testing methods. This article presents results of an ongoing research program of BAM (Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung), which is a part of a joint national project (WinConFat) funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. The subproject implemented by BAM examines the fatigue behavior in dependence of size and slenderness for varying concrete strength at different stress levels. Besides fatigue strength, nondestructive testing is carried out additionally.
Methods used are strain measurement and ultrasonic testing. The change of strain, stiffness and ultrasonic pulse velocity in the fatigue process is discussed. Results disclose a deeper insight into the damage process under cyclic loading of high-performance concrete and contribute to improve nondestructive monitoring.
The worldwide spread of windfarms brings new challenges, especially for concrete structures as a part of towers, connecting joints and foundations of wind turbines. High-cyclic loadings in such structures lead to a high relevance of the subject of fatigue. A proper assessment of the fatigue strength of concrete demands therefore a basis of reliable experimental data and the development of standardized testing methods. This article presents first results of an ongoing research program of BAM (Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung) which is a part of a joint project (WinConFat) funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. The subproject investigates the effects of size and slenderness of the specimens on the fatigue behaviour of high strength concrete at different stress levels. Not only the fatigue strength, but also the fatigue process itself is monitored by means of several measurement methods. Strain measurements are used to calculate the load dependent elastic modulus in the fatigue hysteresis as indicators for fatigue development. Furthermore, the application of non-destructive methods like acoustic emission analysis and ultrasonic measurement in laboratory tests gives a deeper insight into damage processes under cyclic loading. The results shall be used to improve design rules for concrete members under fatigue load and to develop or improve non-destructive techniques for in-service structural health monitoring.
Severe mechanical fatigue conditions for worldwide proliferating windfarms are a Major challenge for high-performance concrete in towers, connecting joints and foundations of wind turbines. High-performance concrete offers potential for the application in offshore windfarms, not only regarding its good mechanical, but also chemical resistivity due to low diffusivity in the highly densified microstructure. For a more reliable fatigue assessment, monitoring based on nondestructive testing can be a valuable complement to design rules. Both approaches demand reliable experimental data, information about scalability and the development of standardized testing methods. This article presents results of an ongoing research program of BAM (Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung), which is a part of a joint national project (WinConFat) funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. The subproject implemented by BAM examines the fatigue behavior in dependence of size and slenderness for varying concrete strength at different stress levels. Besides fatigue strength, nondestructive testing is carried out additionally.
Methods used are strain measurement and ultrasonic testing. The change of strain, stiffness and ultrasonic pulse velocity in the fatigue process is discussed. Results disclose a deeper insight into the damage process under cyclic loading of high-performance concrete and contribute to improve nondestructive monitoring.
The worldwide spread of windfarms brings new challenges, especially for concrete structures as a part of towers, connecting joints and foundations of wind turbines. High-cyclic loadings in such structures lead to a high relevance of the subject of fatigue. A proper assessment of the fatigue strength of concrete demands therefore a basis of reliable experimental data and the development of standardized testing methods. This article presents first results of an ongoing research program of BAM (Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung) which is a part of a joint project (WinConFat) funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. The subproject investigates the effects of size and slenderness of the specimens on the fatigue behaviour of high strength concrete at different stress levels. Not only the fatigue strength, but also the fatigue process itself is monitored by means of several measurement methods. Strain measurements are used to calculate the load dependent elastic modulus in the fatigue hysteresis as indicators for fatigue development. Furthermore, the application of non-destructive methods like acoustic emission analysis and ultrasonic measurement in laboratory tests gives a deeper insight into damage processes under cyclic loading. The results shall be used to improve design rules for concrete members under fatigue load and to develop or improve non-destructive techniques for in-service structural health monitoring.
We evaluate masked block-structured grids for ocean domains which allow to represent small-scale geometric features without resorting to very small blocks or excessive mesh resolution. The considered approach aims to combine the geometric flexibility of unstructured meshes with the computational efficiency of stencil-based discretizations and is implemented and tested in a quadrature-free discontinuous Galerkin shallow water solver. We investigate the accuracy and the computational performance of the scheme on a range of realistic ocean domains meshed with blocks of different size and provide some comparisons to results obtained on unmasked block-structured grids and unstructured meshes.
A digital structural integrity management of offshore structures enables an optimized planning of inspections and repairs with risk-based methods. In a risk-based approach, the inspection and repair strategy that minimizes the expected lifetime costs consisting of the expected inspection, repair and failure costs is determined. In addition to inspections, information on the structural condition can be continuously obtained by monitoring the vibration response of the structural system. Changes in the vibration characteristics quantified in terms of modal properties can be an indication of structural damage. In risk-based inspection and repair planning, the effect of monitoring results is determined via Bayesian updating of the structural condition and reliability. This information should be applied to inform decisions on inspections and may result in a reduced inspection effort. The benefit of continuously monitoring the structural health can be quantified in terms of the value of information, which corresponds to the difference between the expected lifetime costs with and without monitoring. In this work, we demonstrate in a numerical example how an optimized sensor placement for a vibration-based structural health monitoring system can be determined by maximizing the value of information.
Information on the condition and reliability of an offshore jacket structure provided by a vibration-based structural health monitoring system can guide decisions on inspection and maintenance. When selecting the sensor setup, the designer of the monitoring system must assess its overall benefit compared to its costs before installation. The potential benefit of continuously monitoring the dynamic response of a jacket structure can be formally quantified through a value of information analysis from Bayesian decision theory. In this contribution, we present a framework for optimizing the placement of vibration sensors on offshore jacket structures by maximizing the value of information of the monitoring system. To solve the resulting discrete optimization problem, we adapt a genetic algorithm. The framework is demonstrated in a numerical example considering a redundant jacket-type steel frame. The numerical study shows that monitoring the vibration response of the frame is beneficial. Good sensor setups consist of relatively few sensors located towards the upper part of the
frame. The adapted genetic algorithm performs similarly well as established sequential sensor placement algorithms and holds substantial promise for application to real jacket structures.
One crucial metric of interest to wind farm operators is the remaining useful life (RUL) of single components, wind turbines, or even entire wind farms. Occasionally, questions arise regarding how to operate a turbine, even in the presence of manufacturing or design errors, which from a computational design standpoint reduce the remaining lifetime below the intended service life. A typical measure involves adapting the monitoring and inspection plan. Using such a maintenance plan, the author intends to simulate the lifetime of jacket-type structure in a fatigue test. The objective of the experiment is to demostrate that systems like three-dimensional jackets possess redundancies that enable reliable continued operation, despite the reduced fatigue life of individual components due to technical flaws, if an appropriate maintenance concept is in place. This presentation discusses the steps leading to the procedure of the experiment including the design process and the maintenance planning.
A digital structural integrity management of offshore structures enables an optimized planning of inspections and repairs with risk-based methods. In a risk-based approach, the inspection and repair strategy that minimizes the expected lifetime costs consisting of the expected inspection, repair and failure costs is determined. In addition to inspections, information on the structural condition can be continuously obtained by monitoring the vibration response of the structural system. Changes in the vibration characteristics quantified in terms of modal properties can be an indication of structural damage. In risk-based inspection and repair planning, the effect of monitoring results is determined via Bayesian updating of the structural condition and reliability. This information should be applied to inform decisions on inspections and may result in a reduced inspection effort. The benefit of continuously monitoring the structural health can be quantified in terms of the value of information, which corresponds to the difference between the expected lifetime costs with and without monitoring. In this work, we demonstrate in a numerical example how an optimized sensor placement for a vibration-based structural health monitoring system can be determined by maximizing the value of information.
Support structures of wind turbines in German offshore wind farms are regularly inspected. Currently, inspection outcomes are generally not systematically recorded. This prevents their consistent handling and processing, which is a key requirement to enable an efficient structural integrity management. As part of the DiMoWind-Inspect project, a data model and reference designation system for such inspection results is developed to facilitate their identification, localization, quantification, tracing and linking throughout the lifetime of a wind farm and beyond. The inspection results together with structural health monitoring results and information on repairs form the basis for assessing and predicting the structural condition, estimating the remaining lifetime, and planning of future inspections, structural health monitoring, and repairs. As a basis for developing a digital structural integrity management, a generic framework is proposed in this paper, which describes the stakeholders, data, models, processes and workflows of the integrity management of support structures in offshore wind farms and their interrelations. The framework adopts a building information modelling approach to describe the information relevant to the structural integrity management. The central digital space of the framework is a common data environment. An implementation of the framework will enable a digital structural integrity management in which inspection, structural health monitoring, repair, assessment and planning outcomes generated throughout the life cycle of a wind farm can be consistently collected, managed, shared and processed by the relevant shareholders.
Automatic vibration-based structural health monitoring has been recognized as a useful alternative or addition to visual inspections or local non-destructive testing performed manually. It is, in particular, suitable for mechanical and aeronautical structures as well as on civil structures, including cultural heritage sites. The main challenge is to provide a robust damage diagnosis from the recorded vibration measurements, for which statistical signal processing methods are required. In this chapter, a damage detection method is presented that compares vibration measurements from the current system to a reference state in a hypothesis test, where data9
related uncertainties are taken into account. The computation of the test statistic on new measurements is straightforward and does not require a separate modal identification. The performance of the method is firstly shown on a steel frame structure in a laboratory experiment. Secondly, the application on real measurements on S101 Bridge is shown during a progressive damage test, where damage was successfully detected for different damage scenarios.
This talk provides a brief overview on some geomechanical phenomena and problematic issues in the field of offshore wind-energy geotechnics, with reference to their associated challenges for a numerical analysis/simulation. These may include large deformations, fluid coupling and grain-scale phenomena, all of which are generally difficult to be addressed with conventional FE techniques.
These challenges are illustrated here with a practical example for the retrofit of axially loaded piles using compaction grouting techniques. In this case, the mechanical effects of the retrofit may be analysed with standard FE techniques, but require the adoption of strong assumptions, while the injection process itself can only be analysed with special techniques such as the MPM.
Finally, an LBM-DEM framework for the micromechanical analysis of such problems is introduced and a practical application for the estimation of the soil resistance to driving (SRD) in layered profiles is discussed.
This presentation deals with the phenomenology and design of pile foundations for offshore wind turbines, and is divided into two lectures.
The first lecture presents a brief introduction to the context and peculiarities of such foundations, and then focuses on the particular case of axially loaded piles. This part is most relevant for the relatively slender piles of the multi-pile substructures (i.e. jackets and tripods). A clear distinction between physical phenomenology and practical design is drawn here.
Design challenges for offshore wind-farms. From foundation mechanics to wind-farm aerodynamics
(2018)
This talk provides a brief introduction on general engineering aspects of offshore wind energy production. Then some geomechanical issues for the foundation of OWTs into the seabed are introduced, while the results from experimental investigations and coupled computational analysis are discussed.
In the second part of the seminar, the hydromechanical Wave–Tower interaction is firstly discussed. Then, some general aspects of the windfarm aerodynamics are introduced. On the one hand, some modelling possibilities for the wake analysis of single turbines and turbine groups are discussed. And on the other hand the relevance of such analyses for a proper windfarm layout optimization is pointed out.
Concerning the geomechanical issues the talk shows that: i) The pile’s bearing capacity can degrade under cyclic loading (waves, wind, …). ii) The time effects can be relevant: Capacity improvement can be substantial, but also fragile. iii) There are cyclic PWP effects: Cyclic interaction with pore water may lead to soil softening and an uncoupled analysis (current design practice) is potentially unsafe.
And concerning the hydromechanical and aerodynamical design considerations, this seminar shows that: i) Numerical analysis of turbine’s interaction with wind/waves is useful and affordable. ii) Simplified models can provide insight into windfarm aerodynamics. iii) Turbulent wake analysis is very relevant for the windfarm layout.
This presentation deals with the phenomenology and design of pile foundations for offshore wind turbines, and is divided in two lectures.
The first lecture presents a brief introduction to the context and peculiarities of such foundations, and then focuses on the particular case of axially loaded piles. This part is most relevant for the relatively slender piles of the multi-pile substructures (i.e. jackets and tripods). A clear distinction between physical phenomenology and practical design is drawn here.
The second lecture continues with the case of lateraly loaded offshore piles, which bears most relevance for the case of the monopile foundations. Here again, a clear separation between physical reality and design methods is intended.
Finally, the last part of the second lecture introduces several advanced topics which lie outside the classical design approaches, namely the cyclic pile fatigue and the so-called pile setup (i.e. the time effects on the axial pile capacity). The relevance of these two topics is illustrated with experimental results from a field testing campaign on real large-scale piles.
This presentation deals with the phenomenology and design of pile foundations for offshore wind turbines, and is divided into two lectures.
The first lecture presents a brief introduction to the context and peculiarities of such foundations, and then focuses on the particular case of axially loaded piles. This part is most relevant for the relatively slender piles of the multi-pile substructures (i.e. jackets and tripods). A clear distinction between physical phenomenology and practical design is drawn here.
Deep foundations for offshore wind turbines. Lecture 2: lateral behaviour and advanced topics
(2020)
This presentation deals with the phenomenology and design of pile foundations for offshore wind turbines, and is divided into two lectures. The second lecture continues with the case of lateraly loaded offshore piles, which bears most relevance for the case of the monopile foundations. Here again, a clear separation between physical reality and design methods is intended.
Finally, the last part of the second lecture introduces several advanced topics which lie outside the classical design approaches, namely the hydromechanical coupling effects (i.e. the excess pore-pressure generation around the monopiles), the cyclic pile fatigue and the so-called pile setup (i.e. the time effects on the axial pile capacity). The relevance of the latter two topics is illustrated with experimental results from a field testing campaign on real large-scale piles.
This presentation provides an overview on general issues related to erosive failures in civil constructions like hydraulic infrastructures and offshore foundations. A brief introduction to the related research activities of BAM in the field of offshore wind energy is first provided, and the general possibilities for micromechanical modelling approaches are outlined. Finally, the ongoing DFG-ANR research project COMET is introduced.
This talk provides a brief introduction on general engineering challenges for the offshore (marine) wind energy production, focusing on material, structural and hydromechanical aspects.
The talk begins with a broad overview on general trends for offshore wind-farms, with insights on some characteristic structural features and their associated loads. Then, some particular open issues for the foundation of the offshore wind turbines into the seabed are introduced. Here, different research approaches are discussed, from experimental investigations to coupled computational analysis at micro- and macroscopic scales.
In the second part of the seminar, both the hydromechanical Wave–Tower interaction and some general aspects of the windfarm aerodynamics (wake analysis) are discussed. Some modelling possibilities in the frame of CFD (computational fluid dynamics) are introduced and the relevance of such analyses for a proper windfarm layout optimization is pointed out.
Summing up, this seminar aims to show that: i) Numerical analysis of the turbine’s interaction with wind/waves and with the seabed is both useful and affordable. ii) Simplified models can provide an insight into windfarm aerodynamics. iii) Turbulent wake analysis is very relevant for the windfarm layout.
Driven steel piles are commonly used as deep foundations for a wide range of engineering structures, particularly in the offshore branch. They are also an interesting example among the broad spectrum of geotechnical applications where the fluid-solid interaction at the pore-scale can play a major role for the macromechanical behaviour of the whole system.
In the context of the geotechnical practice for offshore wind-farm structures, both the industrial design and the actual dimensions of the large piles used as foundations in the seabed are often driven by factors such as the soil resistance to driving (SRD), which are still not well understood and often estimated based on mere empirical correlations or overly simplified one-dimensional models. In particular, the role of the micromechanical effects during the installation process (e.g. local dilatancy or contractancy) and their consequences on the pore pressure levels at the pile-tip and on the effective resistance to driving, are generally either disregarded or at most assumed to be covered by the simplified engineering “black-box” solutions.
Here, we propose a general framework to address such local aspects of a geotechnical application involving fluid-saturated soils while retaining the focus on the micro-scale phenomena. We advocate for an approach that combines the relative simplicity of the Discrete Element Method (DEM) for the solid mechanics with the capabilities of the Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM) for the fluid dynamics. In this sense, we aim to compile some useful techniques and practical recommendations for an efficient GPU-based implementation of a micromechanical LBM-DEM simulation tool.
We present here a set of conceptual and numerical tools for a micromechanical simulation of general erosion problems involving fluid-saturated granular assemblies, whether frictional or cohesive. We propose a parallel computation using graphical processing units (GPUs) to treat large numbers of degrees of freedom with conventional desktop computers.
The fluid phase is here simulated with a particle-resolved approach in the frame of the Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM) while the granular solid phase is modelled as a collection of discrete particles from a Molecular Dynamics DEM perspective. The range of possible material behaviors for the solid granular phase is intended here to cover a broad spectrum from purely frictional to viscous cohesive materials with either brittle or transient debonding features. Specific details of the implementation and some validation cases will be put forward.
To conclude we provide some exemplary applications in the field of soil erosion along with details on the parallel performance of the models. The results show that a micromechanical approach can be feasible and useful in practice, providing meaningful insights into complex phenomena like the erosion threshold and kinetics of weakly cemented soils.
State of the art and development perspectives of deep foundations for offshore wind converters
(2020)
This presentation provides an overview of the main geotechnical aspects associated with deep foundations in the context of offshore wind generation. The most common deep foundation typologies (large diameter monopiles and multipile typologies) as well as new trends under development (e.g. suction buckets) and their current limits will be briefly described. The talk concludes with a brief review of advanced topics not covered in classical pile design, such as hydromechanical coupling effects (pore pressure generation), cyclic accumulation of deformations, cyclic degradation of axial capacity or pile-setup gains.
Design challenges for Offshore wind-farms. From foundation mechanics to wind-farm aerodynamics
(2021)
This talk provides a brief introduction on general engineering design challenges for the offshore wind energy production. Some general features of the offshore wind-energy field from a civil engineering perspective are firstly presented, followed by a brief discussion of some of the main geomechanical issues for the foundation of the offshore turbines into the seabed.
In the following part, an overview of relevant fluid-structure interactions and some options for an efficient numerical analysis are provided, where the hydromechanical Wave–Tower interaction is firstly discussed. Then, some general aspects of the windfarm aerodynamics are introduced. On the one hand, some modelling possibilities for the wake analysis of single turbines and turbine groups are discussed. And on the other hand the relevance of such analyses for a proper windfarm layout optimization is pointed out.
In particular, this talk shows that: i) The bearing capacity of turbine multi-pile foundations can degrade under cyclic loading (waves, wind, …), while for monopile foundations cyclic hydromechanical coupling effects may take place, which may lead to a foundation softening; ii) Numerical analysis of a turbine’s interaction with wind/waves is useful and affordable, while simplified models can already provide a useful insight into the windfarm aerodynamics. iii) Turbulent wake analysis is very relevant for the windfarm layout.
This presentation deals with the phenomenology and design of pile foundations for offshore wind turbines, and is divided into two lectures.
The first lecture presents a brief introduction to the context and peculiarities of such foundations, and then focuses on the particular case of axially loaded piles. This part is most relevant for the relatively slender piles of the multi-pile substructures (i.e. jackets and tripods). A clear distinction between physical phenomenology and practical design is drawn here.
his presentation deals with the phenomenology and design of pile foundations for offshore wind turbines, and is divided into two lectures.
The second lecture continues with the case of laterally loaded offshore piles, which bears most relevance for the case of the monopile foundations. Here again, a clear separation between physical reality and design methods is intended.
Finally, the last part of the second lecture introduces several advanced topics which lie outside the classical design approaches, namely the hydromechanical coupling effects (i.e. the excess pore-pressure generation around the monopiles), the cyclic pile fatigue and the so-called pile setup (i.e. the time effects on the axial pile capacity). The relevance of the latter two topics is illustrated with experimental results from a field testing campaign on real large-scale piles.
This presentation deals with the phenomenology and design of pile foundations for offshore wind turbines, and is divided in two lectures.
The first lecture presents a brief introduction to the context and peculiarities of such foundations, and then focuses on the particular case of axially loaded piles. This part is most relevant for the relatively slender piles of the multi-pile substructures (i.e. jackets and tripods). A clear distinction between physical phenomenology and practical design is drawn here.
The second lecture continues with the case of lateraly loaded offshore piles, which bears most relevance for the case of the monopile foundations. Here again, a clear separation between physical reality and design methods is intended.
Finally, the last part of the second lecture introduces several advanced topics which lie outside the classical design approaches, namely the cyclic pile fatigue and the so-called pile setup (i.e. the time effects on the axial pile capacity). The relevance of these two topics is illustrated with experimental results from a field testing campaign on real large-scale piles.
This talk provides a brief introduction on general engineering aspects of offshore wind energy production. Some geomechanical issues for the foundation of OWTs into the seabed are introduced, while the results from experimental investigations and coupled computational analysis are discussed.
In the second part of the seminar, the hydromechanical Wave–Tower interaction is firstly discussed. Then, some general aspects of the windfarm aerodynamics are introduced. On the one hand, some modelling possibilities for the wake analysis of single turbines and turbine groups are discussed. And on the other hand the relevance of such analyses for a proper windfarm layout optimization is pointed out.
Concerning the geomechanical issues the talk shows that: i) The pile’s bearing capacity can degrade under cyclic loading (waves, wind, …). ii) The time effects can be relevant: Capacity improvement can be substantial, but also fragile. iii) There are cyclic PWP effects: Cyclic interaction with pore water may lead to soil softening and an uncoupled analysis (current design practice) is potentially unsafe.
And concerning the hydromechanical and aerodynamical design considerations, this seminar shows that: i) Numerical analysis of turbine’s interaction with wind/waves is useful and affordable. ii) Simplified models can provide insight into windfarm aerodynamics. iii) Turbulent wake analysis is very relevant for the windfarm layout.
This presentation deals with the phenomenology and design of pile foundations for offshore wind turbines, and is divided into two lectures.
The first lecture presents a brief introduction to the context and peculiarities of such foundations, and then focuses on the particular case of axially loaded piles. This part is most relevant for the relatively slender piles of the multi-pile substructures (i.e. jackets and tripods). A clear distinction between physical phenomenology and practical design is drawn here.
The second lecture continues with the case of lateraly loaded offshore piles, which bears most relevance for the case of the monopile foundations. Here again, a clear separation between physical reality and design methods is intended.
Finally, the last part of the second lecture introduces several advanced topics which lie outside the classical design approaches, namely the hydromechanical coupling effects (i.e. the excess pore-pressure generation around the monopiles), the cyclic pile fatigue and the so-called pile Setup (i.e. the time effects on the axial pile capacity). The relevance of the latter two topics is illustrated with experimental results from a field testing campaign on real large-scale piles.
Design challenges for Offshore wind-farms. From foundation mechanics to wind-farm aerodynamics
(2023)
This talk provides a brief introduction on general engineering design challenges for the offshore wind energy production. Some general features of the offshore wind-energy field from a civil engineering perspective are firstly presented, followed by a brief discussion of some of the main geomechanical issues for the foundation of the offshore turbines into the seabed.
In the following part, an overview of relevant fluid-structure interactions and some options for an efficient numerical analysis are provided, where the hydromechanical Wave–Tower interaction is firstly discussed. Then, some general aspects of the windfarm aerodynamics are introduced. On the one hand, some modelling possibilities for the wake analysis of single turbines and turbine groups are discussed. And on the other hand the relevance of such analyses for a proper windfarm layout optimization is pointed out.
In particular, this talk shows that: i) The performance and behavior of the turbine's foundation is often conditioned by the appearance of large deformations, fluid couplings and grain-scale phenomena, whereby specific physical testing (both in field and lab conditions) and ad-hoc simulation techniques can provide useful insights for design; ii) Numerical analysis of a turbine’s interaction with wind/waves is already affordable in engineering scales, while simplified models can already provide a useful insight into the windfarm aerodynamics. iii) Turbulent wake analysis is very relevant for the windfarm layout.
This presentation deals with the phenomenology and design of pile foundations for offshore wind turbines, and is divided into two lectures.
The second lecture continues with the case of laterally loaded offshore piles, which bears most relevance for the case of the monopile foundations. Here again, a clear separation between physical reality and design methods is intended.
Finally, the last part of the second lecture introduces several advanced topics which lie outside the classical design approaches, namely the hydromechanical coupling effects (i.e. the excess pore-pressure generation around the monopiles), the cyclic pile fatigue and the so-called pile setup (i.e. the time effects on the axial pile capacity). The relevance of the latter two topics is illustrated with experimental results from a field testing campaign on real large-scale piles.
Protection against terroristic or accidental scenarios in industrial settings requires suitable designs of structures to resist blast loads. Field testing as well as finite element simulations are among the techniques available to engineers in the understanding of the structural behavior against blast loading.
As blast testing of complex scenarios can be very resource intensive, tests are generally performed for simplified scenarios. Numerical tools can be used to model these scenarios to get better insight into blast loading, structural response, and the resulting damage to the structure. During the next steps, the simplified scenario is successively modified in numerical simulations to incorporate complexities that cannot be covered in blast testing experiments. One of the conditions for this approach to work is that the original simplified numerical simulation is valid. The scopes and challenges encountered in such a validation are the focus of this presentation/article.
A relatively ‘simple’ field test of a horizontal reinforced concrete (RC) slab subjected to blast loading is taken as an example for validation of the performance of numerical tools. The blast test incorporated various measurement techniques to quantify the blast load as well as the behavior of the RC slab. Blast load was measured using flush mounted piezoelectric pressure gauges, whereas acceleration sensors and fiber-optic sensor cables were used to characterize the dynamic behavior of the slab under blast loading. Additionally, damage characteristics were ascertained also using fiber optic sensing. The application of such measurement techniques, along with different numerical software available for the analysis of the scenario in question, demonstrate the scope of our contribution.
When it comes to the challenges, it begins with proper instrumentation of the test specimen followed by the data processing. For numerical modelling, geometric conditions with appropriate boundary constraints, physical conditions such as the configuration of the rebars, as well as material parameters add to this challenge. The issues of choosing appropriate material models and comparison of results with multiple software tools will be discussed. This discussion forms the basis for a coherent approach to technical-safety assessment of blast effects on structures in its broader sense.
The erosion of natural sediments by a superficial fluid flow is a generic situation in many usual geological or industrial contexts. However, there is still a lack of fundamental knowledge about erosional processes, especially concerning the role of internal cohesion and adhesive stresses on issues such as the critical flow conditions for the erosion onset or the kinetics of soil mass loss. This contribution investigates the influence of cohesion on the surface erosion by an impinging jet flow based on laboratory tests with artificially bonded granular materials. The model samples are made of spherical glass beads bonded either by solid bridges made of resin or by liquid bridges made of a highly viscous oil. To quantify the intergranular cohesion, the capillary forces of the liquid bridges are here estimated by measuring their main geometrical parameters with image-processing techniques and using well-known analytical expressions. For the solid bonds, the adhesive strength of the materials is estimated by direct measurement of the yield tensile forces and stresses at the particle and sample scales, respectively, with specific traction tests developed for this purpose. The proper erosion tests are then carried out in an optically adapted device that permits a direct visualization of the scouring process at the jet apex by means of the refractive index matching technique. On this basis, the article examines qualitatively the kinetics of the scour crater excavation for both scenarios, namely, for an intergranular cohesion induced by either liquid or solid bonds. From a quantitative perspective, the critical condition for the erosion onset is discussed specifically for the case of the solid bond cohesion. In this respect, we propose here a generalized form of the Shields criterion based on a common definition of a cohesion number from yield tensile values, derived at both micro- and macroscales. The article finally shows that the proposed form manages to reconcile the experimental data for cohesive and cohesionless materials, the latter in the form of the so-called Shields curve along with some previous results of the authors which have been appropriately revisited.
The mechanical properties of unstabilised earthen building materials are distinctively influenced by changes in material moisture content. However, this moisture-dependency often remains unconsidered in the calculation of the load-bearing capacity of earth constructions. This paper aims to derive a convenient way to sufficiently consider the impact of different material moisture contents on the mechanical properties of unstabilised earth masonry. Therefore, the influence of relative humidity and temperature on the strength and deformation characteristics of unstabilised earth blocks, earth mortar and earth masonry is evaluated by conducting compression tests under various climate conditions. The results show that the compressive strength and the modulus of elasticity are linearly correlated with the relative humidity, whereas changes in temperature at constant relative humidity have no significant influence. To account the distinct moisture-dependency, a general applicable modification factor for unstabilised earthen materials is provided, which enables the adjustment of the compressive strength and the modulus of elasticity in dependency of arbitrary hygroscopic material moisture contents.
The Stochastic Dynamic Damage Locating Vector (SDDLV) approach is a vibration-based damage localization method based on both a finite element model of a structure and modal parameters estimated
from output-only measurements in the damage and reference states. A statistical version of the Approach takes into account the inherent uncertainty due to noisy measurement data. In this paper, the effect of temperature fluctuations on the performance of the method is analyzed in a model-based approach using a finite element model with temperature dependent parameters. Robust damage localization is carried out by rejecting the temperature influence on the identified modal parameters in the damaged state. The algorithm is illustrated on a simulated structure.
The Stochastic Dynamic Damage Locating Vector (SDDLV) approach is a vibration-based damage localization method based on both a finite element model of a structure and modal parameters estimated from output-only measurements in the damage and reference states. A statistical version of the Approach takes into account the inherent uncertainty due to noisy measurement data. In this paper, the effect of temperature fluctuations on the performance of the method is analyzed in a model-based approach using a finite element model with temperature dependent parameters. Robust damage localization is carried out by rejecting the temperature influence on the identified modal parameters in the damaged state. The algorithm is illustrated on a simulated structure.
Damage detection and localization in civil or mechanical structures is a subject of active development and research. A few vibration‐based methods have been developed so far, requiring, for example, modal parameter estimates in the reference and damaged states of the investigated structure, and for localization in addition a finite element model. For structures in operation, temperature has been shown to be a major nuisance to the efficiency of such methods because the modal parameters are varying not only with damage but also due to temperature variations. For detection, a few rejection approaches have been developed. Besides the increased complexity, environmental variation is hardly taken into account in localization approaches. In this paper, we propose a sensitivity‐based correction of the identified modal parameters in the damaged state with respect to the temperature field in the reference state, on the basis of a sensitivity analysis with respect to temperature dependent Parameters of the finite element model in the reference state. The approach is then applied to the stochastic dynamic damage locating vector method, where its improved performance under nonuniform temperature variations is shown in a numerical application on a beam.
The subject of damage localization is an important issue for Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) particularly in mechanical or civil structures under ambient excitation. In this paper, the statistical subspacebased damage localization method has been applied on a benchmark application, namely a 1/200 scale model of the Saint-Nazaire Bridge, which is a cable-stayed bridge located on the Loire River near the river’s mouth. The employed damage localization method combines data-driven features with physical parameter information from a finite element model in statistical tests, avoiding typical ill-conditioning problems of FE model updating. Damage is introduced in the mockup for cable failures on some of the 72 cables. The purpose of the experiment is to assess the capability of damage assessment methods to find a cable failure.
The subject of damage localization is an important issue for Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) particularly in mechanical or civil structures under ambient excitation. In this paper, the statistical subspacebased damage localization method has been applied on a benchmark application, namely a 1/200 scale model of the Saint-Nazaire Bridge, which is a cable-stayed bridge located on the Loire River near the river’s mouth. The employed damage localization method combines data-driven features with physical parameter information from a finite element model in statistical tests, avoiding typical ill-conditioning problems of FE model updating. Damage is introduced in the mockup for cable failures on some of the 72 cables. The purpose of the experiment is to assess the capability of damage assessment methods to find a cable failure.
This paper presents an erosion interpretation of cohesive granular materials stressed by an impinging jet based on the results of a micromechanical simulation model. The numerical techniques are briefly described, relying on a two-dimensional Lattice Boltzmann Method coupled with a Discrete Element Methods including a simple model of solid intergranular cohesion.
These are then used to perform a parametric study of a planar jet in the laminar regime impinging the surface of granular samples with different degrees of cohesive strength. The results show the pertinence of using a generalized form of the Shields criterion for the quantification of the erosion threshold, which is valid for cohesionless samples, through empirical calibration, and also for cohesive ones. Furthermore, the scouring kinetics are analysed here from the perspective of a selfsimilar expansion of the eroded crater leading to the identification of a characteristic erosion time and the quantification of the classical erosion coefficient. However, the presented results also challenge the postulate of a local erosion law including erodibility parameters as intrinsic material properties. The paper then reviews the main limitations of the simulation and current interpretation models, and discusses the potential causes for the observed discrepancies, questioning the pertinence of using time-averaged macroscopic relations to correctly describe soil erosion. The paper concludes addressing this question with a complementary study of the presented simulations re-assessed at the particle-scale. The resulting local critical shear stress of single grains reveals a very wide dispersion of the data but nevertheless appears to confirm the general macroscopic trend derived for the cohesionless samples, while the introduction of cohesion implies a significant but systematic quantitative deviation between the microscopic and macroscopic estimates. Nevertheless, the micro data still shows consistently that the critical shear stress does actually vary approximately in linear proportion of the adhesive force.
The surface erosion of soil samples caused by an impinging jet can be analyzed using the jet erosion test (JET), a standard experimental test to characterize the erosion resistance of soils. This paper specifically addresses the flow characteristics of a laminar impinging jet over the irregular surface of granular beds to discuss the pertinence and relevance of commonly used empirical estimations based on a selfsimilar model of a free jet. The JET is here investigated at the microscale with a coupled fluid-particle flow numerical odel featuring the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) for the fluid phase combined with the discrete element method (DEM) for the mechanical behavior of the solid particles. The hydrodynamics of a laminar plane free jet are confronted with the results from a parametric study of jet impingement, both on solid smooth and fixed granular surfaces, that take into account variations in particle size, distance from jet origin, and jet Reynolds number. The flow characteristics at the bed surface are here quantified, including the maximal values in tangential velocity and wall shear stress, which can be regarded as the major cause of particle detachments under hydrodynamic solicitation. It is shown that the maximal velocity at the impinged surface can be described by the free jet self-similar model, provided that a simple empirical coefficient is introduced. Further, an expression is proposed for the maximal shear stress in laminar conditions, including a Blasius-like friction coefficient that is inversely proportional to the square root of the jet Reynolds number. To conclude, finally, the JET erosion of different cohesionless granular samples is analyzed, confirming that the threshold condition at the onset of granular motion is consistent with the Shields diagram and in close agreement with previous experimental results.
This article deals with the relevance and practical feasibility of micromechanical simulations for their application to general geomechanical problems involving fluid-saturated granular assemblies, whether frictional or cohesive. A set of conceptual and numerical tools is here presented, advocating for a parallel computation using graphical processing units (GPUs) to treat large numbers of degrees of freedom with conventional Desktop computers. The fluid phase is here simulated with a particle-resolved approach in the frame of the Lattice Botzmann Method (LBM) while the granular solid phase is modelled as a collection of discrete particles from a Molecular Dynamics DEM perspective. The range of possible material behaviours for the solid granular phase is intended here to cover a broad spectrum from purely frictional to viscous cohesive materials with either brittle or transient debonding features. Specific details of the implementation and some validation cases are put forward.
Finally, some exemplary applications in the fields of soil erosion and geotechnical profile installation are provided along with a discussion on the parallel performance of the presented models. The results show that a micromechanical approach can be feasible and useful in practice, providing meaningful insights into complex engineering problems like the erosion kinetics of a soil under an impinging jet or the penetration resistance of a deep foundation in a layered soil profile.
Surface erosion of a cohesive granular soil by a fluid flow is investigated numerically by coupling the Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM) for the fluid phase and the Discrete Element Method (DEM) for describing the motion of the solid particles. In addition, inter-particles cohesion is insured by a contact model featuring a paraboloidal yield surface. The use of a fully resolved LBM-DEM coupling technique is currently limited due to the computational cost when simulating a large number of particles. This issue can be overcome using the graphics processing unit (GPU) thanks to ist massively parallel hardware architecture. Here, we first present a 2D GPU implementation of LBM-DEM coupling for a granular assembly. The GPU implementations are approximatively 30 times faster than a single core CPU version. Then, we apply the parallelization technique to practical erosional cases, namely the jet erosion test (JET) and the shear-driven erosion by a Couette flow. These numerical tests aim to relate micro parameters of a cohesive material (eg. cohesion) to macro parameters (eg. soil erodibility, mechanical strengths). Preliminary results show that micromechanical features indeed provide a novel insight of soil erosion phenomena.
The erosion phenomena is the main cause of the most serious incidents observed on earthen hydraulic structures such as dams and dikes. Thus, there is a real need to explore in depth and understand the mechanisms at work in such complex erosional processes for preventing similar risks.
The aim of this study is to provide a micromechanical insight into the mechanisms taking place during the erosion of a cohesive granular material driven by a fluid flow, the objectives are summarized as follows:
Perform numerical erosion tests.
Parallelization of the code (Gpu).
Extensive parametric analysis => rely micro parameters (eg. Cohesion) to macro parameters (eg. Soil erodibility, mechanical strengths).
Use of DEM-LBM modeling to prove the relevance of free jet model for soil erosion by impinging jet
(2018)
The aim of this study is to provide a micromechanical insight into the mechanisms taking place during the erosion of a cohesive granular material driven by a fluid flow, the objectives are summarized as follows:
Perform numerical erosion tests.
Parallelization of the code (Gpu).
Extensive parametric analysis => rely micro parameters (eg. Cohesion) to macro parameters (eg. Soil erodibility, mechanical strengths).
Acceleration sensors are vital for assessing engineering structures by measuring properties like natural frequencies. In practice, engineering structures often have low natural frequencies and face harsh environmental conditions. Understanding sensor behavior on such structures is crucial for reliable masurements. The research focus is on understanding the behavior of acceleration sensors in harsh environmental conditions within the low-frequency acceleration range. The main question is how to distinguish sensor behavior from structural influences to minimize errors in assessing engineering structure conditions. To investigate this, the sensors are tested using a long-stroke calibration unit under varying temperature and humidity conditions. Additionally, a mini-monitoring system configured with four IEPE sensors is applied to a small-scale support structure within a climate chamber. For the evaluation, a signal-energy approach is employed to distinguish sensor behavior from structural behavior. The findings show that IEPE sensors display temperature-dependent nonlinear transmission behavior within the low-frequency acceleration range, with humidity having negligible impact. To ensure accurate engineering structure assessment, it is crucial to separate sensor behavior from structural influences using signal energy in the time domain. This study underscores the need to compensate for systematic effects, preventing the underestimation of vibration energy at low temperatures and overestimation at higher temperatures when using IEPE sensors for engineering structure monitoring.
Monopiles are currently the predominant foundation type for offshore wind turbines in Europe. Due to the increasing dimensions of the turbines, pile diameters beyond 10m become necessary. A design-relevant failure mode of monopiles is the local buckling of the pile wall in the embedded sections. Relevant buckling guidelines do not consider the soil-structure interaction specifically, although the embedment may allow for a reduction of wall thickness. However, Eurocode-based design concepts require a validation with comparative buckling cases for validation, either in terms of buckling curve parameters for both the algebraic stress-based and semi-numerical LBA/MNA design concept or as a calibration factor kGMNIA for fully numerical GMNIA calculations. These parameters are not yet available for embedded shells. To close this gap, we have conducted experiments on piles embedded in sand to investigate local buckling under soil-structure-interaction. The results will be used to calibrate numerical models. This research was carried out as part of the VERBATIM research project, funded by PTJ/BMWK and supported by the Carbon Trust's Offshore Wind Accelerator consortium.
Monopile-Gründungen sind die mit Abstand am häufigsten verwendete Gründungskonstruktion für Offshore-Windenergieanlagen. Ein wesentliches Problem bei der Bemessung ist das lokale Beulen des Gründungspfahls, welches typischerweise im Bereich der Bettung auftritt. Aufgrund der Nichtlinearität der Bettungsrandbedingung sind klassische Bemessungsansätze nicht anwendbar, so dass der Bemessungsingenieur auf eine vollständig numerische Berechnung zurückgreifen muss. In diesem Vortrag wird eine experimentelle Versuchskampagne zur Erzeugung von Kalibrierungsdaten für solche numerischen Modelle vorgestellt. Eine ausführlichere Darstellung findet sich im gleichnamigen Artikel.
Right from the beginning of applying SHM to bridge structures it was obvious that environmental based perturbations on the measurement significantly influence the ability to identify structural damage.
Strategies are needed to classify such effects and consider them appropriately in SHM. Various methods have been developed and analyzed to separate environmental based effects from damage induced changes in the measures. Generally, two main approaches have emerged from research activity in this fields: (a) statistics based tools analyzing patterns in the data or in computed parameters and (b) methods, utilizing the structural model of the bridge taking into account environmental as well as damage based changes of stiffness values.
With the back-ground of increasing affordability of sensing and computing technology, effort should be made to increase sensitivity, reliability and robustness of procedures, separating environmental from damage caused changes in SHM measures. The contribution describes both general strategies and points out their Advantages and drawbacks. As basis, a review on relevant methods was conducted. The aim of the study is to classify approaches for separating damage describing information from environmental based perturbations in dependency of the SHM objective. And such, it is intended to describe a best practice in designing concepts for Monitoring infrastructure, naturally effected by environmental influences.
The stability and geometric nonlinearities of slender structures are a major topic in structural design. While this topic is most relevant in the field of Structural Engineering, e.g. for steel or concrete structures, only few applications take the role of soil-structure-interaction explicitly into account. The focus of this paper is placed on the impact of soil support and its modelling for the buckling analysis based on examples both for pile foundations and for railway track stability. The general interaction between steel design and the geotechnical input will be addressed. The paper discusses and summarizes a range of subtopics based on experience and current research at the author’s institute.
Environmental based perturbations influence significantly the ability to identify structural dam-age in Structural Health Monitoring. Strategies are needed to classify such effects and consider them appropri-ately in SHM. It has to be considered if seasonal effects just mask the structural response or if temperature itself correlates to a weakening of the structure. Various methods have been developed and analyzed to separate environmental based effects from damage induced changes in the measures. Generally, two main approaches have emerged from research activity in this fields: (a) statistics-based tools analyzing patterns in the data or in computed parameters and (b) methods, utilizing the structural model of the bridge considering environmental as well as damage-based changes of stiffness values. With the background of increasing affordability of sensing and computing technology, effort should be made to increase sensitivity, reliability and robustness of proce-dures, separating environmental from damage caused changes in SHM measures. The contribution describes an attempt to evaluate both general strategies, their advantages and drawbacks. In addition, two vibration moni-toring procedures are introduced, allowing for temperature-based perturbations of the monitoring data.
The risk of pile base buckling is a major reason for high pile wall thicknesses in monopiles. The VERBATIM project - Verification of the buckling detection and behaviour of large monopiles - aimed to investigate buckling phenomena related to both the plastic deformation of the pile tip during installation and the buckling of the embedded pile near the seabed.
Numerical models were developed and validated on the basis of extensive tests. This enables a better understanding of the buckling behaviour in order to reduce the wall thickness, which allows cost savings in the amount of steel and the development of safer and optimised structures. The previous design procedures were able to ensure the successful installation of the monopiles. However, as the size of monopiles continues to increase, the development of improved design methods for safe and cost-effective foundations is becoming increasingly important.
The presentation provides an overview of the investigations carried out and the results.
Right from the beginning of applying SHM to bridge structures it was obvious that environmental based perturbations on the measurement significantly influence the ability to identify structural damage. Strategies are needed to classify such effects and consider them appropriately in SHM. Various methods have been developed and analyzed to separate environmental based effects from damage induced changes in the measures. Generally, two main approaches have emerged from research activity in this fields: (a) statistics based tools analyzing patterns in the data or in computed parameters and (b) methods, utilizing the structural model of the bridge taking into account environmental as well as damage based changes of stiffness values.
With the back-ground of increasing affordability of sensing and computing technology, effort should be made to increase sensitivity, reliability and robustness of procedures, separating environmental from damage caused changes in SHM measures. The contribution describes both general strategies and points out their Advantages and drawbacks. As basis, a review on relevant methods was conducted. The aim of the study is to classify approaches for separating damage describing information from environmental based perturbations in dependency of the SHM objective. And such, it is intended to describe a best practice in designing concepts for Monitoring infrastructure, naturally effected by environmental influences.
The research project Verification of Buckling Assessment and Behaviour in Large Monopiles (VERBATIM) focuses on challenges arising due to the ongoing increase of dimensions of monopiles as foundation for offshore wind turbines. This project is focused on two main topics:
- Monopile tip buckling during pile installation
- Local buckling of embedded piles during operation
It is known from previous investigations and experiences in practice that large deformations of a monopile tip during offshore installation works can occur. These large deformations initiated at the tip of the monopile are commonly referred to as “pile tip buckling”. Own research focuses on optimising monopile dimensions to reduce the cost of monopile foundations for offshore wind turbines while preventing pile tip buckling.
Buckling of embedded cylindrical shells for offshore structures is a common engineering task. Structures can be analysed using standard software and have been done so in recent studies e.g., Gottschalk. However, the trend towards larger monopile and optimised structures has led to a fundamental need for better and verified models. A main challenge is the submodelling of the structure-soil-interaction. Developing such complex models is one main goal of the VERBATIM project.
For both main topics model tests were performed at the laboratories of BAM and TU Berlin. These experimental results were used to verify related numerical models and simulations.
A significant number of new wind farms has to be installed and, at the same time, existing wind farms reaching the end of their planned life need to be reused efficiently to ensure that the ambitous goals for deploying offshore wind are met. Some relevant reuse alternatives for offshore wind farms are lifetime extension, repowering utilizing existing substructures and full replacement. In this presentation - starting from experience gained from extending the lifetime of the of the U1 metro viaduct in Berlin - we discuss end-of-life decision making in offshore wind. We focus particularly on issues concerning substructures and highlight existing challenges and opprtunities in research and development.
A study on building vibrations has been performed by finite element calculations. Family houses, multi-storey residential buildings, office buildings and office towers have been modelled in detail. The frequency-dependent response due to a free-field excitation has been evaluated for walls, columns and floors. The ratio of building amplitudes to free-field amplitudes starts with uB/u0 = 1 at zero frequency and is usually lower than 1 at 50 Hz, the end of the frequency range considered here. In between, amplifications occur due to several reasons. There are „soil resonances“ where the whole building is vibrating on the compliant soil, “column resonances” where the upper storeys are vibrating on the compliant columns, and the “floor resonances” where the floors are vibrating excited by their supports. Results are presented for all building types, but a special focus is set on office buildings. A parameter study shows the influence of the stiffness of the soil, the number of storeys, and the width of the building. It has been found that the “soil resonance” is strongly modified by the low-frequency floor resonances for the normal office building. The main resonance of a twenty-storey office tower is determined equally by the “soil mode” and the “column mode”. It is an important observation for these office buildings that the resonances can differ for different parts of the building such as the centre, the edge, the corner, and the core of the building. This leads to non-uniform vibration modes across the building, which look like another type of “floor resonance” and which have been observed in several real building projects. Experimental results will be shown which can confirm the calculated phenomena.