Design models for offshore wind turbine monopiles tend to be based on those developed for flexible piles in the offshore oil and gas sectors. However, wind monopiles tend to be shorter and wider, resulting in a stiffer structure that rotates rather than bends when laterally loaded. New methods have been proposed to calculate the load–displacement response of piles to monotonic lateral loading. Those based on correlations with in situ tests such as the cone penetration test seem particularly promising. There is a dearth of experimental test data where monopiles have been subjected to extensive cyclic loading with which to extend such models to consider these effects. To address this, field tests were performed on two 340 mm diameter driven piles with an embedded length of 2·2 m, which were cyclically loaded with up to 5000 loading cycles. The piles had a slenderness ratio (embedded length over diameter) of 6·5, which is a typical value used in the offshore wind sector. The test results show that the accumulated pile head response primarily depends on the soil strength and stiffness, the previous loading history and loading characteristics. A cyclic loading design procedure consisting of cone penetration test based static design and Miner's rule based superposition is presented.

A three-dimensional finite element simulation was carried out to investigate the effects of tunnel construction on nearby pile foundation. The displacement controlled model (DCM) was used to simulate the tunneling-induced volume loss effects. The numerical model was verified based on the results of a centrifuge test and a set of parametric studies was implemented based on this model. There is good agreement between the trend of the results of the centrifuge test and the present model. The results of parametric studies show that the tunnelling-induced pile internal force and deformation depend mainly on the pile−tunnel distance, the pile length to tunnel depth ratio and the volume loss. Two different zones are separated by a 45° line projected from the tunnel springline. Within the zone of influence, the pile is subjected to tensile force and large settlement; whereas outside the zone of influence, dragload and small settlement are induced. It is also established that the impact of tunnelling on a pile group is substantially smaller as compared with a single pile in the same location with the rear pile in a group, demonstrating a positive pile group effect.

In order to prevent possible charring, oxidation and (or) vaporisation of substances other than pore water, many researchers have adopted oven-drying temperature (t) values in the range 60–90°C for water content determinations of peat and other highly organic soils. This paper investigates the oven-drying characteristics of six very different highly decomposed peaty soils retrieved from south-west China for t values of 65, 85 and 105°C. Based on the presented experimental data, it is concluded that the standardised t value of 105°C used for testing of inorganic soil is also appropriate (and preferable to using lower t values) for routine water content determinations of these soils, which is in line with the growing consensus formed by other researchers on this topic. Further, the authors recommend a wet specimen mass of approximately 50 g and a 24 h oven-drying period in performing the oven-drying tests for t = 105°C. The paper also describes an existing approach to comparing and standardising water content values determined for the same organic soil, but on the basis of different t values, with the new data presented herein for the six Chinese soils used to strengthen its wider applicability in geotechnical engineering practice and related fields.

Lateral force-displacement (P-y)-based Winkler spring models are commonly applied for the design of piles, P being the soil lateral reaction and y the lateral displacement. Despite their relative simplicity, P-y models can capture important aspects of pile behaviour including non-linear soil stiffness. Several P-y models based on cone penetration tests (CPTs) have been proposed over the last two decades, developed largely using empirical curve fitting to results of field tests, centrifuge modelling and finite-element analyses on relatively flexible piles installed in calcareous sand. However, major uncertainties exist when attempting to extrapolate empirical models for use with soil types and pile geometries outside the database on which they were formulated. There is an urgent need for a reliable P-y method for application to the design of rigid monopiles used extensively for offshore wind projects. A series of field lateral load tests performed on open-ended steel pipe piles driven in dense siliceous sand is reported here. The pile embedment length and load eccentricity were varied to investigate the behaviour of rigid and flexible monopiles. The measured pile response was used to evaluate the performance of a number of recent CPT-based P-y models and an update to an existing power-law model is suggested for rigid monopiles in siliceous sand.

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