Performance of tripod foundations for offshore wind

turbines: a numerical study

Maciej Ochmański , David Mašín , Jose Duque
1,2 1 1
1
Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic
2
Silesian University of Technology, Gliwice, Poland

Introduction
The deformation mechanism induced by cyclic lateral loading on tripod suction bucket foundations embedded in sand reveals a recovery of
the dynamic stiffness with the number of cycles. This "self-healing" effect is caused by the uneven change in soil fabric and density among
the buckets [1]. To study this behavior, the centrifuge results reported by [1] are herein back-analyzed with a 3D FEM model (Figure 1). The
loading sequence is schematized in Figure 2. The mechanical behavior of the sand was reproduced with the hypoplastic model for sands by
Von Wolffersdorff [2] with intergranular strain by Niemunis and Herle [3].

Figure 2. Loading sequence.

Figure 1. Geometry and discretization of the FEM model.

FEM results
The model captures the magnitude of the peak and residual cumulative
rotation (Figure 3). After several cycles, due to significant redistribution of
mean stresses, wedges are formed around both pushed and pulled buckets.
When the cumulative settlement of the pulled bucket overcome those for
the pushed one, the whole foundation change the direction of rotation.

Figure 3. Measured and computed rotation angle.

Figure 4. Results for a-c) N=10, d-f) N=100.
Conclusions
This study presented the results of numerical simulations to provide an insight into the deformation mechanism of tripod foundations
embedded in sand and subjected to cyclic loading. Despite the load amplitude, at the initial loading stage the whole foundation rotates
along with the direction of the applied load. With subsequent cycles, the uneven progressive change in soil state leads to a significant
change in stress state around both buckets. Finally, when the cumulative settlement of the pulled bucket overcome those for the pushed
one, the whole foundation change rotation direction to the one against loading direction producing "self-healing" effect.
References
[1] Wang, L., Wang, H., Zhu, B., Hong, Y. (2018). Comparison of monotonic and cyclic lateral response between monopod and tripod bucket
foundations in medium dense sand. Ocean Engineering 155, 88-105.
[2] Von Wolffersdorff, P. (1996). A hypoplastic relation for granular materials with a predefined limit state surface. Mechanics of Cohesive-
frictional Materials 1(3), 251-271.
[3] Niemunis, A., Herle, I. (1997). Hypoplastic model for cohesionless soil with elastic strain range. Mechanic of cohesive-frictional materials
2(4), 279-299.
Acknowledgements
The authors appreciate the financial support given by the Charles University Grant Agency (GAUK) with project number 200120.