Experimental investigation of the dynamic installation of a slip joint connection between the monopile and tower of an offshore wind turbine

Experimental investigation of the dynamic installation of a slip joint connection between the monopile and tower of an offshore wind turbine

Segeren, M.L.A.
Hermans, K.W.

Civil Engineering and Geosciences

Hydraulic Engineering

2014-06-18

The failure of the traditional grouted connections of offshore wind turbines has led to the investigation of alternatives that provide a connection between the foundation pile and the turbine tower. An alternative to the traditional joint is a steel-to-steel connection also called a slip joint. To ensure a proper fit of the slip joint a dynamic installation of the joint is proposed. In this contribution, the effectiveness of harmonic excitation as an installation procedure is experimentally investigated using a 1:10 scaled model of the joint. During the dynamic installation test the applied static load, settlements and dynamic response of the joint are monitored using respectively load cells, taut wires and strain gauges placed both inside and outside the conical surfaces. The results show that settlement occurs only when applying a harmonic load at specific forcing frequencies. The settlement stabilizes to a certain level for each of the specific frequencies, indicating that a controlled way of installation is possible. The results show that it is essential to vibrate at specific frequencies and that a larger amplitude of the harmonic force does not automatically lead to additional settlement.

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:33188d9d-08f9-4fef-ace0-8341ba341b01

https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/524/1/012080

IOP Publishing

1742-6588

http://iopscience.iop.org/1742-6596/524/1/012080/

Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 524 (1), 2014; TORQUE 2014: The Science of Making Torque from Wind 2014, Copenhagen, Denmark, 18-20 June 2014

Institutional Repository

conference paper

(c) Creative Commons BY