UNIVERSITY OF JORDAN

School Of Engineering
Civil Engineering Department
Scientific Research Methodology (0901748)

“TERM PROJECT”

FALL 2019/2020

STUDENT NAME: Wasim Khaled Al Omari

STUDENT NUMBER: 8181582
SUPERVISOR: Dr.Rabab Allouzi
RESEARCH TOPIC
Test to determine the natural frequency of offshore wind turbines supported by suction caissons in
clay soil considering soil structure interaction under lateral loading

HYPOTHESIS
To study the long-term behaviour of the offshore Wind turbines (OWT) supported by bucket
foundation (also known as suction caissons) to have better understanding of the natural frequency
and damping of the system to help in design of the suction caisson foundation

RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE
Offshore wind turbines (OWT) are considered recently one of the main energy resources to get from
in the near future due to its advantages of short distances to the electricity demand areas, high wind
speed, small turbulence intensity and steady direction (1). However, the cost of installing this kind of
energy source is still higher than onshore wind turbines, one of the expensive parts regarding
installing OWT is its foundation.

Different types of foundations have been proposed: including monopile, gravity base, jacket, suction
caisson and floating systems. Although most of the offshore turbines currently in operation are
supported on driven monopiles, offshore wind turbines supported by bucket foundation (also known
as suction caissons) became popular recently due to its lower cast than the ones that are supported
by monopiles and its easier to be installed

Some researches and studies had been conducted to have better understanding of the behavior of
the suction caissons to support OWT but little is known about their long-term behavior. estimating
the natural frequency of the whole system taking into effect the flexibility of the foundation is one of
the major design considerations. The natural frequency is necessary to predict the long-term
performance as well as the fatigue life.

To study and have better understanding on their long-term behavior, a series of laboratory tests are
proposed to be conducted in which a scaled model wind turbine supported on suction caissons in
kaolin clay will be subjected to around 32,000 cycles of horizontal loading and the changes in natural
frequency and damping of the model will be monitored.

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RESEARCH OBJECTIVE

1. to summarize the external dynamic and cyclic loading acting on a typical offshore wind turbine
supported by suction caissons

2. To study the natural frequency and damping of offshore wind turbines supported by suction
caissons in long term behavior which will lead to provide more economical design for the
foundation of offshore wind turbines

LITERATURE REVIEW
The design and construction of foundations for offshore turbines are challenging because of the
harsh environmental conditions and as a result provide a focus of major research worldwide.
Different types of foundations have been proposed: including monopile, gravity base, jacket, suction
caisson and floating systems. However, most of Offshore wind turbines foundations are design as
monopile and recently suction caissons which has grown in popularity recently due to its lower cost
comparing to monopile foundation.

The suction bucket foundation was first considered to support offshore wind turbines in 2001 by
Byrne (3), The total installation cost is expected to drop up to 30% by using the suction bucket
foundation (Aspizua, 2015) (9) and Recently in 2017, two steel suction bucket foundation supported
OWTs were successfully installed in Xiangshui, China (4).

The lateral bearing behavior of the suction bucket foundation is an important aspect since the
offshore wind turbines are subjected to huge lateral loads. Liu et al. (2014) (5) performed some model
tests and numerical simulations to study the ultimate bearing capacity and the failure mode of the
suction bucket foundation. These tests have demonstrated that the foundation experienced large
lateral displacements that resulted from the rotation under lateral loads, and the rotation points are
influenced by the skirt length.

Zhu et al. (2012) (7) studied the long-term cyclic lateral response of the suction bucket foundation in
sand, the accumulated angular rotation was predicted by an empirical equation, and the cyclic
stiffness was found to be relatively unaffected by cycle numbers.

Wang et al. (Wang et al., 2017a) (6) performed a set of centrifuge tests to investigate the bearing
behavior of the suction bucket foundation in sand under lateral loadings, and a simplified analytical
method is proposed to estimate the lateral ultimate bearing capacity.

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(Wang et al., 2017b) (8) had also investigated the seismic response of the suction bucket foundation
supported OWT through the seismic centrifuge modelling. The soil was reinforced by the bucket,
and the liquefaction did not occur under the suction bucket foundation during the earthquake
loading.

In summary; many studies are being conducted on OWT supported by suction buckets due to its
lower cost than other types of foundation, tests and studies were conducted to estimate the lateral
ultimate bearing capacity, lateral displacements and a model was made to study the long-term cyclic
lateral response of the suction bucket foundation in sand. However, no tests were made yet to study
and estimate the natural frequency of suction bucket supported OWT in clay soil on the long term
which is necessary to do to understand the behavior of this type of foundation under different types
of soils.

RESEARCH DESIGN

A similar model like the one conducted by Domenico Lombardi (2013) (10), with adjustments taken
to test the suction bucket instead of monopiles.

Offshore wind turbines are characterized by a unique set of dynamic loading conditions as in Fig. 1.
The principal external excitations are:

a) Environmental dynamic loads arising from wind and waves. Fig. 2 shows the plot of power
spectral density of wind and wave loading around the UK coastline (particularly in the North
Sea). The predominant wave frequency is 0.1 Hz, which corresponds to 10 s wave period
(10).

b) Rotor loading at a frequency normally referred to as 1P, Fig. 2 shows the rotor frequency for
a 3.6 MW wind turbine having an operational range between 5 and 13 rpm, for example 0.14-
0.31 Hz. In the power spectral density plot the 1P frequency appears as a band.
c) The blade passing frequency is a forced loading created from from the effect of wind
deficiency that occurs as each blade passes through the shadow of the tower. Fig. 2 shows
the blade passing frequency for the 3.6 MW wind turbine generator.

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From Fig. 2 it can be observed that
in order to avoid resonance of the
system, the frequency that should
be designed must be kept away
from the frequency content of
applied loads.

DNV (11) suggests that the natural

frequency of wind turbines should
be at least 10% away from the 1P
Fig. 1 External loads acting on offshore wind turbine (10)
and 2P/3P frequencies.

There are 3 possible ranges in

which the natural frequency of the
system may lie. They correspond
to three methods of design:
A) Soft-Soft(natural frequency
< 1P)
B) Soft-stuff(natural frequency
between 1P and (2P or 3P))
C) Stiff-Stiff (natural frequency
> 2P or 3P)

The most common one used for Fig. 2 simplified power spectral density of the forcing frequencies applied to a
SSI is Soft-stiff typically three-bladed 3.6 MW OWT with an operational interval between 0.14-0.31
Hz (5-13 rpm)

The design procedure requires an accurate evaluation of the natural frequency, which is dependent
on the support condition (i.e. the stiffness of the foundation), which in turn relies on the strength and
stiffness of the surrounding soil. Furthermore, it should be ensured that throughout the operational
life the natural frequency of the system does not come close to any forcing frequencies: This would
lead to amplification of the dynamic response of the turbines, leading to larger tower deflections
and/or rotations beyond the 0.5 degrees tilt which can typically be tolerated.

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Experimental apparatus

The experiment test will be carried out on a scale wind turbine support by suction caissons, the
turbine will be subjected to 32400 cycles of 3P loading.

The model turbine replicates the 3 MW Vestas V90 turbine having a notional scale of 1:100. A
homogeneous soil profile of soft speswhite kaolin clay will be used for the model tests. The soil will
be prepared from slurry by mixing kaolin powder with denoised water at moisture content of about
twice the liquid limit. This slurry was then consolidated in a cylindrical concrete tube (diameter 600
mm, height 250 mm). The small strain in shear (Gmax) should be measure by series of bender
element tests placed in the tube. The undrained shear strength (Su) will be estimated from the
moisture content using correlations given in Lombardi (12).

The environmental dynamic loads will be modelled using an electro-dynamic actuator fixed to the
laboratory strong wall and connected to the model wind turbine tower. The force (P) applied to the
wind turbine could be constantly monitored by a force sensor. An electric motor powered by a DC
supply will be used to rotate the blades to model the 1P loading and also provided aerodynamic
damping to the system.

Precise measurements of displacements and accelerations will be carried out using LVDTs (linearly
varying differential transformers) and piezoelectric accelerometers at two locations (bottom of the
suction caissons and at the top of the tower). The acceleration responses of the physical model will
be recorded in two orthogonal directions along the tower. Fig. 4 illustrates the model set-up. In order
to investigate the dynamic response of the model, tests were performed at selected excitation
frequencies and amplitudes as in Table 1.

Loading conditions
ID P [N] ff [Hz] N [cycles]
C-1 10 2 Up to 32400
C-2 10 20 Up to 32400
C-3 10 125 Up to 32400
C-4 7 2 Up to 32400
C-5 5 2 Up to 32400
C-6 2 2 Up to 32400
C-7 0.44 125 Up to 32400

Table 1 details of experiment and loading parameters

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 Fig. 3 impedance of the actuator

Fig. 4 Test Model for the experiment

The suction bucket will be installed by controlled jacking in clay. The suction pump will absorb the water and
moisture while installing the foundation. The initial dynamic properties of the model (for example frequency
and damping of the overall system) will be measured using a free vibration test

Following the initial measurement of dynamic properties, the electro-dynamic actuator will be connected to
the model. The model turbine will be subjected to cyclic loading for a chosen time interval (around 5000
cycles) by spinning the rotor blades (1P loading) and using the actuator (3P loading). The dynamic proper-
ties will be then evaluated at the end of the chosen number of cycles through another free vibration test.

After that standard tables for scaling need to be used and multiply the model observations by the scale factor
to predict the prototype response, as Muir Wood (13).

This research will cost not less than 20,000 JD and needs six months at least to have been applied.

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REFERENCES
1. Pengcheng Ma, Run Liu, Jijian Lian, Bin Zhu, an investigation into the lateral loading
response of shallow bucket foundations for offshore wind turbines through centrifuge
modeling in sand, Applied ocean research 87 (2019) 192-203
2. Kuhn, M. Offshore wind farms. In: Gash, Twelve (eds.), Wind power plants: fundamentals,
design, construction and operation; 2002. p. 365–84.
3. Byrne, B., Houlsby, G., Martin, C., Fish, P., 2002. Suction caisson foundations for offshore
wind turbines. Wind Eng. 26 (3), 145–155.
4. Wang, X., Zeng, X., Li, J., Yang, X., Wang, H., 2018. A review on recent advancements of
substructures for offshore wind turbines. Energy Convers. Manag. 158C, 103–119.
5. Liu, M., Yang, M., Wang, H., 2014. Bearing behavior of wide-shallow bucket foundation for
offshore wind turbines in drained silty sand. Ocean Eng. 82, 169–179.
6. Wang, X., Yang, X., Zeng, X., 2017a. Centrifuge modeling of lateral bearing behavior of
offshore wind turbine with suction bucket foundation in sand. Ocean Eng. 139,140–151.
7. Zhu, B., Byrne, B., Houlsby, G., 2012. Long-term lateral cyclic response of suction caisson
foundations in sand. J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng. 139 (1), 73–83.
8. Wang, X., Yang, X., Zeng, X., 2017b. Seismic centrifuge modelling of suction bucket
foundation for offshore wind turbine. Renew. Energy 114, 1013–1022.
9. Aspizua, L., 2015. Offshore foundation-A challenge. In: The Baltic Sea.
10. D. Lombardi et al., 2013, Dynamic soil–structure interaction of monopile supported wind
turbines in cohesive soil ,Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering 49 (2013) 165–180.
11. DNV. Guidelines for design of wind turbines. 2nd Ed.DNV/Riso; 2002.
12. Lombardi, D.. Dynamics of offshore wind turbines. MSc (by research) thesis, University of
Bristol; 2010.
13. Muir Wood D. Geotechnical modelling. Spon Press (Taylor and Francis Group); 2004.