O

OTC 23058

Dynamic Stability of Suctio

D on Caisso
on Found
ded Offsh
hore Wind
d Turbine
es
J Cox, and S Bhattacharya
a, University of
o Bristol

C
Copyright 2012, Offshore Technology Confere
ence

T
This paper was prepare
ed for presentation at the Offshore Technolog
gy Conference held in Houston, Texas, USA , 30 April3 May 2012 .

T
This paper was selected for presentation by an a OTC program comm mittee following review
w of information containned in an abstract subm mitted by the author(s)). Contents of the papeer have not been
re
eviewed by the Offshore Technology Confere ence and are subject to o correction by the autthor(s). The material dooes not necessarily reeflect any position of the Offshore Technologyy Conference, its
officers, or members. Electronic
E reproductionn, distribution, or stora
age of any part of this paper without the wriitten consent of the O Offshore Technology C Conference is prohibite
ed. Permission to
eproduce in print is res
re stricted to an abstract of
o not more than 300 words;
w illustrations mayy not be copied. The abbstract must contain co onspicuous acknowled dgment of OTC copyrig ght.

AAbstract
IIn recent yearss there has beeen a massive expansion in th he offshore winnd engineeringg sector with m millions of pouunds being
innvested. Most current wind turbine sites are a founded on n monopiles. F For future deveelopments sitedd in deeper waater further
ffrom shore, exiisting monopille technology will w be insufficcient. To this end alternativee foundations hhave been proposed, one
ssuch arrangemeent is the suctio on caisson.
This paper describes a seeries of 1:100 scale 1-g mod del tests conduucted on a sucction caisson supported Offshore Wind
TTurbine (OWT) founded in saand, with the aim a of replicatiing the dynamiic-soil-structurre interaction effects likely too be seen in
a real system. By B applying a dynamically representative
r loading
l cycle tthe structures dynamic respoonse was meassured by an
aarray of accelerrometers. Partiicular referencee was paid to th he First Modall Frequency (F FMF) of the sysstem to see if iit altered as
a result of cyclee dependent so oil stiffness chaange.
From the seeries of tests conducted it waas observed that the FMF off a suction caissson founded O OWT has the ppotential to
cchange under cyclic
c loading. Initially an in
ncrease in the natural
n frequenncy was observved. As other dynamic factoors are kept
cconstant this ch hange corresponds to an inccrease in soil stiffness and a densificationn of the near ffiled sand. Thiis apparent
cchange in the FMF
F follows ann approximatelly logarithmic profile.
p Under longer-term looading, the natuural frequencyy appears to
sstabalise this beehaviour is so far
f unclassified d although it iss believed the ssoil may have rreached a criticcal state.
This has significant appliications to futture OWT projjects. So far tthe long-term dynamic stabiility of OWTs has been
uunderappreciateed; a significan nt body of infformation is av vailable howevver it remains closely guardeed by the deveelopers. As
nnew foundation ns are broughtt into service there
t is a neceessity to undeerstand the behhaviour of the turbine system m over the
liifetime of the structure
s in ord
der to prevent adverse
a dynammic interaction eeffects.

Introduction
WWith the ever increasing
i dem
mand for renew wable energy an nd the shifting social attitudees toward nucleear power windd energy is
bbecoming a viaable way of pro oducing large quantities of energy.
e It wasnnt long beforee the advantagees posed by plaacing wind
tuurbines offsho ore became app parent, advantaages such as leess turbulent w
wind flow, highher wind speedds, with fewerr space and
nnoise restrictionns. These advaantages are howwever inconven nienced by imppeded access annd greater enviironmental loaading.
As the amo ount of knowleedge applying wind turbiness to offshore ssituations incrreased, designeers started to pplace wind
ffarms further from
f shore. Do oing so the water depth beccomes increasiingly great andd the loads thhe turbine is suubjected to
bbecome increassingly high. Th his combinatioon of deep water and exposur ure starts to cauuse problems ffor conventionnal offshore
tuurbine foundattions.
To date the majority of offfshore wind faarms use mono opile foundatioons. Monopile foundations coonsist of a largge diameter
ssteel pile that is simply drivenn into the seab
bed. Monopiless are however generally limitted to diameterrs in the regionn of 5m by
thhe size of the pile driving vessel
v used to
o install the fo
oundation. Theerefore for a tyypical turbine of 1-3 MW a monopile
ffoundation willl become increeasing unecon nomical to fabrricate in waterr depths beyonnd 30m, due too the pile wall thickness
rrequired. Furth her to this wh hen monopiles are used to support
s large ooutput turbinees in the regioon of 5MWs the viable
ffoundation dep pth reduces to around
a 20m [1]. As many sh hallow offshoree sites have alrready been devveloped or are unsuitable
ffor further deveelopment mostt new sites will be located in n increasingly ddeep water whhere conventionnal monopile ffoundations
wwill be econom mically unviablee.
In an effort to maintain thhe progress alreeady achieved by the UK off ffshore sector th
the Carbon Truust (UK) comm missioned a
ccompetition called the Offsh hore Wind Acccelerator. Thee aim of this ccompetition is to establish neew and more eeconomical
ddeep water foun ndations. In to
otal six compannies and corporrations were coontracted to coome up with neew foundation ideas. The
2 OTC 23058

overall winning proposal will be developed further and trailed at full scale. The arrangements proposed in the first stage
consist of a) drilled concrete monopile, b) concrete gravity base structure, c) suction caisson tripod, d) suction bucket
monopod, e) three legged piled twisted jacket and f) floating tension leg platform [2]. These arrangements are illustrated in
Figure 1.
So far the technology and experience gained from the oil and gas industry has been sufficient to allow development of
offshore wind power to its current stage. Most of this research has been on the installation and capacity of an offshore
foundation. The design of an offshore wind turbine (OWT) differs significantly to that of a conventional offshore platform.
Conventional platforms by necessity are heavy structures containing a significant amount of plant and machinery, such a
large vertical load allows for a significant amount of horizontal and moment capacity to be generated, as a result the
magnitude of the cyclic loads subjected to the structure are particularly small in comparison to its capacity. This is however
not true of offshore wind structures which tend to be very light, as a result the horizontal and moment capacities developed
are fairly small in comparison to the loads subjected to it. Such a condition has the effect of causing large strains and an
accumulation of strain within the soil surrounding the foundation. This cyclic loading can cause the soil structure to change
over time; this has the practical effect of either increasing or decreasing the stiffness of the soil. The change in foundation
stiffness is believed to depend on a mix of factors including, in situ stresses, load magnitude, particle size and pore water
pressure.
One of the main concerns when designing an OWT is maintaining the serviceability limits imposed on the structure
throughout its lifetime. The serviceability limitations of interest are the total rotations/deflections seen in the turbine structure
and the dynamic response (modal frequencies) of the complete system. In the design of a conventional offshore platform the
dynamic response is not a critical design parameter, however as OWTs have a large portion of their total mass at top of a
slender tower they are very dynamically sensitive [3]. Both of these design considerations are directly influenced by the
foundation stiffness [4].
So far the long-term dynamic stability of OWTs has been underappreciated. As new foundations are brought into service
there is a necessity to understand the behaviour of the turbine system over the lifetime of the structure, in order to prevent
adverse dynamic interaction effects. The aim of this paper is therefore to provide some guidance on the long-term dynamic
behaviour of suction caisson founded OWTs. This is to be achieved through the use of scale model tests, utilising such tests
time scales can be minimised allowing for long-term behaviour to be modeled over shorter time periods.

Model tests
These tests represent an initial investigation into the changing dynamics of suction caisson founded OWTs. Due to the
preliminary nature of this research it was decide that only typical conditions should be considered. A report by the
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) reasoned that suction caisson would be applied to one of three ground conditions: a)
Sand over bed rock, b) clay (of varying strength) over bed rock and c) layered sand and clay [5]. From a review of current
and proposed sites around the UK it was noted that suction caissons would be most possibly be deployed to sites with a sandy
sea bed such as the Dogger Bank, Firth of Forth, Rampion and Moray Firth sites.
Current two foundation arrangements have been proposed for utilising suction caissons offshore. The first of these is a
single large caisson that has sufficient width and depth to resist the moment applied to it as a result of environmental loading
on the wind turbine, figure 1.d). The second of these arrangements uses caisson grouped together in either a tripod or a tetra-
pod arrangement, figure 1.c). Unlike the single caisson arrangement the overturning force on the structure is resisted by the
self weight of the turbine and support structure. This means that the multi-footed caissons will only be loaded vertically,
creating a different set of design criteria. Both of these arrangements were submitted to the Offshore Wind Accelerator for
evaluation and possible further development. For the purposes of this investigation only the single caisson design will be
considered as information surrounding the application of multi-footed foundations at this time is very limited.
As this investigation is focused on serviceability, the cyclic load case considered was that of an average loading condition
i.e. optimal operating wind speeds for an OWT. The loads that an OWT would be subjected to under such conditions would
be those of the wind (including blade shadowing where the blades periodically obscure the load action upon the turbine
tower) and waves. Considering both these forces in their entirety would create a complex dynamic loading regime which
would be difficult to analyse, as each component will have its own effect on the system. As all forces are approximately
sinusoidal it was decided that a singular sine wave with a period and amplitude that approximately maps what would be
experienced by a prototype turbine under a typical load condition would be suitable. By considering such a regime the
fundamental behaviour of the system can be analysed, subsequent investigations may consider a more complex forcing
regime.
It is the intention that this dynamic loading condition will be applied to the model for a significant number of cycles. Most
cyclic loading tests on suction caisson have considered high load conditions for a few number of cycles. In contrast this
investigation will apply a high number of low load cycles will be applied to replicate the actual condition experienced by an
OWT. A real wind turbine with a service life of approximately 20 years would expect to be subjected to approximately 1
x108 cycles of loading, far in excess of any such tests conducted so far.
OTC 23058 3

Scaling laws
Before any such model test can be conducted it is first necessary to scale the experiments, this is achieved by creating so
called non-dimensional groups. These groups are created using the Buckingham Pi theorem or its subsequent adaptations [6],
with the aim of capturing the key behaviour of a specific aspect of the system. In this investigation a number of groups were
considered.

Caisson flexibility.
Considering the work conducted by Doherty and Deeks [7] it was discovered that the relative flexibility of a suction caisson
effects the foundation stiffness. The variability of this group will have an effect on both the dynamics and the transfer of
dynamic loads to the foundation. This relationship can be expressed by the following group:
2

Soil stiffness.
As the dynamics of the system are controlled by the strain, and its accumulation in the near filed soil mass it is necessary to
consider the magnitude of strain applied. This group was developed by Bhattacharya et al [8] for the scaling of the strain
around a pile describing the Cyclic Stress Ratio (CSR). As a suction caisson is merely a shallow (short) pile this group can be
cross applied. This is scaled using the following non-dimensialisation:

Loading magnitude.
A further consideration is that of the magnitude of the load acting upon the foundation. As the accumulation of strain is
dependent on the load applied (in an addition to other parameters) it is necessary to ensure the load experienced by the soil is
representative. This is achieved by considering the moblised foundation resistance in relation to the total theoretical capacity.
This is expressed as follows for the horizontal, vertical and moment capacities of suction caisson foundation:
, ,

Cyclic loading ratio.

From research conducted at Oxford University by LeBlanc [9] on the application of low strain cyclic load on piles it was
discovered that the nature of the cyclic loading effected the change in stiffness. From a series of tests it was possible to
evaluate the nature of the cyclic loading (be it one way or two way) and assign a correction factor the cyclic accumulation
model prediction. This can be expressed by the following non-dimensional group:

Frequency ratio.
The factor that separates these tests from similar investigations conducted at other institutions is the addition of a dynamic
system to the geotechnical model. To ensure the dynamic model is appropriately scaled it is necessary to consider the ratio of
the typical structural forcing frequency to that of the structural natural frequency. Maintaining such a ratio the effects of
dynamic amplification can be appropriately modeled. This is rationalised as follows:

Damping ratio.
Further to scaling the loading frequency it will be necessary to ensure that the damping experience by the model is the same
as that of the prototype system. This will further ensure the dynamics of the model are representative of that of the prototype
turbine. This group can be expressed as:

Aspect ratio.
The final group considered in this investigation was the aspect ratio of the caisson, i.e. the ratio of the caisson diameter to its
radius. This has the effect of controlling the relative magnitude of the bearing capacity and skin frictional components of the
total caisson capacity [10]. This is expressed as follows:
4 OTC 23058

In order to utilise these non-dimensional representations of a turbine system it will be necessary to consider a number of real
prototype systems to establish base line values. So far only three dynamically sensitive structures, all founded on a single
suction caisson have been constructed. These structures are the Horns Rev 2 mobile met mast and the Frederikshavn and
Wilhelmshaven wind turbines, 3MW and 5MW structures respectively. Evaluation the limited data available it was possible
to evaluate the non-dimensional scaling groups based on the real structures. The non-dimensional groups utilised are
illustrated in Table 1.
Using the base line data values it was possible to create a number of dynamic suction caisson founded wind turbine test
models. These models were created at a scale of 1:100, to be conducted under 1-g conditions. The model tower and top mass
was constructed from aluminum to maintain the mass vertical mass distribution whilst the caissons themselves were
constructed of Perspex to maintain the foundation flexibility. Blades were not included as contribution of aerodynamic
damping to the system would be significant and unrepresentative of a real turbine. All testing was conducted in a dry sand
medium representing a fully drained ground conditions. Some of these models are shown in Figure 2.

Testing procedure
In order to systematically assess the effect of cyclic loading on a dynamic turbine model system a generic testing procedure
was developed. Following this basic procedure a number of stress parameters were altered to gauge the sensitivity of the
combined system. This generic procedure is defined as follows:
i. A sand test medium was created by pluviating a body of Leighton Buzzard fraction B sand into a stiff box. Pluviation
allowed the density of the sand to be varied by changing the fall height and the aperture diameter, in this investigation
loose sands are considered with a relative density of approximately 12% for all tests.
ii. The shear modulus of the sand was then calculated using the Hardin and Drenvich [11] equation, such assessment
showed good correlation with actual shear velocities carried out as part of the RELIUS project [12]. This allowed an
assessment of the foundation stiffness to be made.
iii. The dynamic model was then carefully installed into the sand matrix under the application of a dead load. Care was
taken to not adversely disturb the sand surrounding the caisson.
iv. Once installed the model was instrumented with a series of accelerometers and attached to an electro dynamic actuator.
Through this actuator a white noise signal was applied to the structure. The corresponding acceleration response of the
system was analysed using a fast Fourier transform producing the First Modal Frequency (FMF) of the structure.
v. A dynamic loading regime was then applied to the structure via the actuator previously mentioned. The frequency and
magnitude of such loading was calibrated based on the caisson stiffness and the natural frequency of the structure with
respect to the previously defined scaling laws. This loading regime was then applied to the structure for a specified time
period (for most cases this was around an hour).
vi. After the desired number of loading cycles had been applied to the system the white noise signal was again applied to
the structure to assess the FMF of the structure. Subsequent to this the forcing regime was re-applied. Stages v and vi
were then repeated until a sufficient number of loading cycles had been completed.
vii. At the end of the testing period the experiment was halted and a final white noise test conducted. The change in FMF
with number of cycles was then analysed.
This procedure was applied to all tests with minor alterations to asses differing sand properties and loading regimes.

Results
All tests presented within this paper were conducted in the BLADE (Bristol Laboratory for Advanced Dynamic Engineering)
at the University of Bristol. The focus of this study will be a series of two long-term dynamic tests conducted on an OWT
founded on a single suction caisson. The model used in this investigation is based on that of the 5MW Wilhelmshaven wind
turbine, the system in question being 95cm tall and weighing 2.35kg, the caisson itself had a diameter of 15cm and a wall
thickness of 5mm, a schematic of the model set up can be seen in Figure 3. A summary of the non-dimensional scaled values
of these tests is given in Table 2. The results of this test are presented with the FMF plotted against the number of loading
cycles. As the fast Fourier transform is used to assess the FMF of the structure, the accuracy of the results can only be
guaranteed to a discrete frequency with an error of around 0.03 Hz. The results of test #1 are plotted in Figure 4, and the
results of test #2 are shown in Figure 5.
Test #1 was conducted at a forcing frequency of 14.04 Hz with a two way cyclic horizontal load of 4 N producing a
moment load of 1.2 Nm. The results show an initial increase in the FMF of the turbine structure from 14.4 Hz at the start of
the test to 14.6 Hz at 6 x106 cycles. After this point the FMF begins to drop, at the end of the experiment the system shows a
final increase in FMF to 14.5 Hz.
Test #2 was conducted at a forcing frequency of 12.97 Hz with a two way cyclic horizontal load of 5 N producing a
moment load of 1.5 Nm. The behaviour of test #2 on the other hand shows an initially rapid increase in the FMF with the rate
of change decreasing with time. This increase can be approximated as being roughly logarithmic stabilising at a mean of 14.6
Hz from a starting value of 14.1 Hz after some 14 x106 cycles.
OTC 23058 5

From initial observations both plots look to be describing two different systems, it can however be said that in general
that the natural frequency of the dynamic system changes with the number of loading cycles. Further to this the change in
natural frequency is non-monotonic, analysis of these results will be covered in the subsequent section.

Discussion
From analogy the change in natural frequency can be directly related to a change of the foundation stiffness as all other
dynamic factors remain unaltered throughout the experiment. This follows the dynamic simplifications of an OWTs
considered by Adhikari and Bhattacharya [3]. This simplification considers the turbine as a lumped mass at the top of a
slender tower; the entire foundation is simply modeled as a series of springs. These springs represent the stiffness of the
foundation in the vertical, horizontal and moment wise directions, this is illustrated in Figure 6.
The stiffness of these soil springs is influenced by a number of factors. Chief amongst these factors are the footing radius,
in addition to the depth and shear modulus of the soil layer in question. These spring factors have been calculated by a
number of authors [13] and in a number of regulations [4] by considering the foundation on an elastic half space. As the
footing dimensions and the layer thickness dont change throughout the experiment the change in foundation stiffness is
down to a change in soil shear strength.
This change in soil stiffness can be attributed to a number of factors, first of which is the accumulation of strain within the
near field soil. It is known from element testing that as a soil is subjected to increasing strain level experiences a reduction is
shear modulus. This reduction is the so called backbone curve which has been described mathematically by Hardin and
Drnevich [11]. Such a reduction in shear stiffness would correspond to reduction in natural frequency, this is however not
what was seen in the dynamic tests shown previously. Another factor that would cause a change in stiffness is a change in the
density of the sand. From the Hardin and Drnevich equation [11] described previously the shear strain is affected by the void
ratio of the sand and the confining stress. As the confining strength will remain constant, a change in void ratio will affect the
stiffness. From this definition it would be expected that a densification of the sand would cause an increase in natural
frequency and dilation a reduction.
From initial observations both plots look to be describing two different systems, despite this after some analysis the
systems do exhibit the same behaviour. At first glance the two tests seem to exhibit a different starting FMF. During
installation of the caisson care is taken to not disturb the sand matrix as far as possible, as the sand is initially very loose it
densifies fairly easily under any applied load. As such, the installation will cause the sand to densify, the amount by which
this occurs is however hard to define. The apparent disparity in the starting frequency can reasonably be attributed to small
differences in the installation loads applied to the caisson during installation.
In addition the two data sets show differing behaviour of the turbine systems. This is again a function of the data, looking
closely at the test #2 data there appears to be a number of small ripples in the FMF i.e. theres an increase in FMF followed
by an apparent decrease. These ripples occur throughout the test however in general the natural frequency shows an increase
with number of cycles. Considering the non-dimensional scaling values of the two tests, test #2 was conducted at a slightly
higher strain level, therefore it can be reasonable stated that any change in dynamic properties will occur more rapidly than in
test #1.
Considering both of these factors it should be possible to directly compare two sections of both test series with each other.
As test #2 was subjected to a lager cyclic load, the rate of stiffness change would occur quicker, as a result the data for test #2
was attenuated. All available data for test #1 was compared to the first 1 x107 loading cycles of test #2. Each data set is
presented in terms of FMF with number of cycles; the resulting behaviour can be seen in Figure 7. As can be seen the results
are comparably similar with test #2 experiencing a lower starting natural frequency.
Considering all of these factors the results show a steady almost logarithmic increase in natural frequency with number of
loading cycles. As all other dynamic factors remain constant this increase would correspond to an increase in the shear
stiffness of the soil, this is more than likely achieved through a densification of the local sand. This densification and increase
in shear strength would continue until the sand had reached its maximum density. Considering the behaviour of this system
the maximum density will most likely be reached asymptotically after a significant number of cycles. Once this peak density
has been achieved it is believed that the natural frequency will stabilise or reach a critical state.
At the current time this still remains a theory however steps are being taken to apply soil theory to this case. It is hoped
that such theories will explain the non-monotonic behaviour seen in the experimental results.

Conclusion
The response of a suction caisson founded OWT subjected to a sustained dynamic load has been investigated. From the
results presented in this paper a number of conclusions can be drawn about the nature of the dynamic performance of a singly
founded suction caisson OWT.
i. Very little is known about the operational performance of prototype offshore wind turbines, only a limited body of data
is available from instrumentally observed offshore wind turbines. Further to this the interrelationships of dynamic soil
structure interaction and combined damping effects are to date still unquantified despite the significant role they play
within the overall system behaviour.
6 OTC 23058

ii. From the experimental results presented earlier, the natural frequency of a cyclically loaded structure founded in sand
has the ability to change. This change occurs as a result of variations in foundation stiffness, the magnitude of which is
effected by the density and the total stress that is applied to the sand medium. This change is approximately logarithmic
and so far unclassified.
The importance of this behaviour should not be underestimated as it represents one of the main design considerations for
creating a successful offshore wind turbine. This research is currently ongoing, it is hoped that a theoretical framework can be
created to model this behaviour based on conventional soil mechanics theory.

Nomenclature
= Diameter of caisson (m)
= Elastic modulus of skirt (kN/m2)
= Minimum value of cyclic load (kN
= Maximum value of cyclic load (kN)
= Forcing frequency (Hz)
= Natural Frequency (Hz)
= Shear modulus of soil (MPa)
= Horizontal load (kN)
= Maximum horizontal capacity (kN)
= Moment load (kNm)
= Maximum moment capacity (kNm)
= Caisson skirt thickness (mm)
= Vertical load (kN)
= Maximum vertical capacity (kN)
= Depth of caisson (m)
= Damping (%)

Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the support and guidance offered throughout this project by Julian Garnsey, RWE
Innory.

References
[1] Davis, S. (2010). "Foundations bear the brunt of offshore wind's growing stature." Engineering and Technology
Magazine 5(2).

[2] Carbon-Trust (2011). "Offshore Wind Accelerator ". 2012, from http://www.carbontrust.co.uk/emerging-
technologies/current-focus-areas/offshore-wind/pages/offshore-wind.aspx.

[3] Adhikari, S., & Bhattacharya, S. (2011). "Vibrations of Wind-Turbines Considering Soil-Structure Interaction."
Wind and Structures 14(2): 85-112.

[4] Det-Norske-Veritas (2007). Design of Offshore Wind Turbine Structures.

[5] DTI (2005). The Application of Suction Caisson Foundations to Offshore Wind Turbines: 316.

[6] Butterfield, R. (1999). "Dimensional Analysis for Geotechnical Engineers." Geotechnique 49(3): 357-366.

[7] Doherty., J. P., Houlsby., G T, & Deeks., A J. (2005). "Stiffness of Flexible Caisson Foundations Embedded in
Nonhomogeneous Elastic Soil." Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering 131(12): 1498 - 1508.

[8] Bhattacharya., S., Lombardi., D, & Muir Wood., D, (2011). "Similitude relationships for physical modelling of
monopile-supported offshore wind turbines." International Journal of Physical Modelling in Geotechnics 11(2): 58 - 68.

[9] LeBlanc, C., Houlsby, G T. & Byrne, B W. (2010). "Response of stiff piles to random two-way lateral loading."
Gotechnique 60(9): 6.
OTC 23058 7

[10] Villalobos, F. A., Byrne, B W., & Houlsby, G T., (2005). Moment loading of caissons installed in saturated sand.
Frontiers in Offshore Geotechnics: ISFOG. G. Cassidy. Perth, Australia, Taylor & Francis Group, London,: 411 - 416.

[11] Hardin, B., O., & Drnevich, V, P. (1972). "Shear Modulus and Damping in Soils:Design equations and curves."
Journal of the Soil Mechanics and Foundations Division 98(7): 667-692.

[12] Dihoru, L., Taylor, C.A., Bhattacharya, S., Muir Wood, D., Moccia, F., Simonelli, A.L. and Mylonakis (2010).
Stiffness design for granular materials theoretical and experimental considerations. Proceedings of the 7th International
Conference on Physical Modelling in Geotechnics, Springman, Laue and Steward (eds) CRC press.

[13] Wolf, J. P. (1994). Foundation Vibration analysis Using simple physical models. NJ, Prentice-Hall.
8 OTC 23058

Figure 1: Offsh
hore wind accelerator foundatio
on proposals

Figure 2: Model suction caisson

F n foundations
O
OTC 23058 9

Figure 3: Sc
chematic model setup
10 OTC 23058

Figure 4:: Results for tes

st #1

F
Figure 5: Results for test #2
O
OTC 23058 11

F
Figure 6: Simpliffied dynamic model
m of an offsh
hore wind turbin
ne

F
Figure 7: Compa
arison of initial behaviour of test #1 and test #2.
#
12 OTC 23058

Table 1: Non-dimensionalised scaling groups

Group Frederikshavn Wilhelmshaven Offshore Average

28.5 17 25.5

-4 -4
1.02 x10 0.99 x10 -

0.021 0.015 -

0.062 0.032 -

0.90 0.22 -

0.97 0.42 -

0.92 (1P) - -

4% 4% -

2 1 2

Table 2: Non-dimensionalised scaling for model tests

Group Test #1 Test #2

25.8 26.3

-5 -5
2.30 x10 2.92 x10

0.073 0.091

0.051 0.051

0.22 0.27

-1 -1

1.00 0.92

- -

1 1