Offshore wind energy is expanding rapidly as governments aim for net-zero emissions, with monopiles and jackets being the primary foundation methods for offshore wind turbines (OWTs). Supply chains, heavier turbines and deeper waters influence the efficiency of jacket foundations. This research considers a jacket-founded OWT. The development of OWTs has sparked its expansion to building sites with a proclivity to earthquakes. Such loading involves soil-structure interaction of which more needs to be known to improve accurate computational modelling.

Current practice of Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE) is to perform aeroelastic simulations in their computational tool BHawC. The Foundation Designer delivers a foundation Superelement to maintain secrecy. The equation of motion for the jacket foundation can then be solved linearly with a reduced amount of unknowns. However, prevalence of nonlinearity in soil raises the question to what degree a linear model adequately captures the response.

This study investigates the impact of soil nonlinearity on OWT dynamic behavior under seismic loads by comparing linear and nonlinear soil models. The analysis involves performing seismic simulations using multiple earthquakes. Another distinction is made through soil models with different characteristics. Nonlinearity is introduced to the soil stiffness and energy dissipation mechanism under cyclic loading. The investigated variations are a linear (elastic), geometrically nonlinear (nonlinear elastic) or both geometrically and physically nonlinear soil model (nonlinear plastic).

The numerical model consists of a Rotor Nacelle Assembly (RNA), tower, transition piece, jacket, piles and soil springs. Beam elements are used for the tower, jacket and piles. The transition piece is simulated by stiffening the top jacket braces. The RNA is modelled using a lumped mass with rotational inertia. It is vertically eccentric to the tower top and connected with a rigid link. The earthquake is applied uniform over depth and only horizontal movements are considered.

The findings underscore a difference in results between the linear and nonlinear models. The evaluated results from simulations consist of forces, displacements and dynamic characteristics of the structure. Also noted should be that the computational time of the linear model is significantly lower. The results found in models can differ greatly due to the loading spectrum with highly varying frequency peaks. Another factor is softening of the stiffness. The frequency domain of the elastic model results consists of narrow peaks at the system's natural frequencies. The peaks for the nonlinear elastic model are wider due to softening of the stiffness. For the structure used in this research, softening introduces coupled modes with greater displacements along the height of the structure. This makes it possible for the evaluated results to have higher values, even with less energy put into the system. The plastic models' peaks are of a width in between the elastic and nonlinear elastic model due to the combined use of isotropic hardening and nonlinear stiffness. When the model falls back on its initial stiffness upon unloading, the eigenfrequencies related to that stiffness become more pronounced. To match the occupancy of wider frequency peaks, loading and unloading should both happen nonlinearly. This can be achieved by using kinematic hardening instead of isotropic hardening. Plasticity generally reduces peak displacement and sectional moment values and nonlinear stiffness broadens the response frequency spectrum. Careful consideration of cyclic material behaviour, eigenfrequencies and loading characteristics are essential for a realistic model.

Offshore wind energy's rapid expansion underscores the need for accurate and efficient methods to analyze the behavior of monopile foundations supporting wind turbines. While three-dimensional (3D) analyses provide comprehensive insights, their computational demands are significant. As an alternative, one-dimensional (1D) models with spring elements to simulate the interaction between the structure and the surrounding soil, offer efficiency and simplicity. Realistic soil behavior, characterized by elastoplasticity, necessitates proper calibration of the spring models in 1D analysis.
This thesis addresses the challenge of soil-monopile interaction analysis, specifically focusing on the monopile response under lateral static monotonic loading. The research commences by highlighting the development imperatives in monopile-founded offshore wind turbines. The first phase involves calibrating elastic springs through a comprehensive review of existing literature. This calibration accounts for variations in spring stiffness along the monopile's length. Subsequently, the study progresses to elastoplastic soil modelling, adopting a linear elastic perfectly plastic approach and employing only lateral shaft springs. Acknowledging the limitations of linear elastic perfectly plastic p-y response, new material models, namely a bilinear and an exponential model, are examined. A parametric analysis encompassing various monopile geometries and lateral load eccentricities is conducted. An optimization routine refines the bilinear and exponential model parameters to closely match 3D responses. The results demonstrate satisfactory agreement for the analyzed high L/D monopiles, yielding valuable insights and conclusions. However, the low L/D monopiles exhibit a less successful match, primarily attributed to the absence of rotational shaft springs in the analysis.
Furthermore, empirical design processes for applying the bilinear and exponential models are outlined. These processes are founded on the relationships between the model parameters and the length-to-diameter (L/D) ratio as well as the eccentricity-to-diameter (e/D) ratio. The study highlights the applicability of the bilinear model across various soil conditions, monopile geometries and lateral load eccentricities. In contrast, the exponential model's efficacy is constrained by the examined L/D ratios, warranting further analyses for expanded application.
In conclusion, this thesis presents a systematic transition from elastic to elastoplastic modelling for soil-monopile interaction analysis under static monotonic loading. The proposed bilinear and exponential models enhance the accuracy of 1D simulations, facilitating efficient design and analysis of monopile-founded offshore wind turbines. These methodologies contribute to the advancement of sustainable offshore wind energy, catering to diverse soil conditions and design scenarios.

New offshore wind farms consisting of monopile-founded Offshore Wind Turbines (OWTs) are to be built in earthquake-prone areas. To design the monopile foundation and to accurately define the dynamic response of an OWT, the soil-monopile-superstructure interaction should be modelled properly. Due to the fact that the Three-Dimensional (3D) Finite Element (FE) analyses are complex and computationally expensive, research is focused on One-Dimensional (1D) FE models, in which the soil-monopile interaction is traditionally described via distributed translational springs representing the soil lateral load. Nevertheless, the increase of monopile diameter, followed by the monopile length-to-diameter ratio (L/D) decrease, implies the contribution of additional resistant components such as distributed moment, base shear and moment.

This thesis examines the 3D mechanisms to be accounted for in the 1D FE modelling of the soil-monopile-superstructure seismic response in case of a single-phased, linear visco-elastic soil layer. Both 3D and 1D FE analyses are conducted with the FE software OpenSees. The 1D analyses are simulated in two consecutive steps: first a Site Response Analysis is performed, next the recorded displacements over the soil layer depth are applied to the spring supports and the dynamic interaction of the system is simulated. Three different monopiles are considered with L/D equal to 26, 9 and 5. Two superstructures are examined, which are modelled as Single-Degree-of-Freedom systems. Distributed translational springs are assigned to the slender monopile (L/D=26), while for the stubbier monopiles the contribution of distributed rotational springs is examined as well. Lastly, the effect of considering the base moment and shear is also examined.

The stiffness of the soil reaction curves is calibrated by applying a monotonic lateral load and moment at the pile head, in case of the translational and rotational springs, respectively. The spring stiffness values are assumed uniform along the monopile length. As a next step, the dynamic response of the calibrated 1D models is examined in steady-state conditions, under the action of mono-harmonic excitation, and compared to the 3D results. Ultimately, the seismic response of the 1D models is examined in case of two earthquake excitations with different frequency contents.

In case of the monopiles with L/D=9 and 5, it is concluded that the use of monotonically-calibrated distributed translational and rotational springs provides a good match between 3D and 1D regarding the monopile head and superstructure response under seismic loading. Nevertheless, these 1D FE models cannot predict the base moment, for which a base rotational spring should be employed. In case of the stubbier monopile, with L/D=5, the base shear seems to positively affect the moment profile as well. Lastly, regarding the monopile with L/D=26, the employment of translational springs alone seems sufficient for the accurate prediction of the seismic response; however, the hereby monotonically-calibrated distributed translational springs result in a mismatch between 3D and 1D.

The increasing global demand of renewable and clean energy has led to the exponential growth, development, and interest in the offshore wind energy industry and expansion towards earthquake-prone areas. Offshore wind turbine structures, typically supported by a tubular monopile foundation, are increasing in size to meet the increasing human demands. In the constant ongoing debate in search of a balance between design accuracy and efficiency, general consensus is yet to be found in search of accurate yet simplified representation of soil-pile interaction. A Winkler foundation principle has shown to be a good compromise regarding this discussion but current knowledge is mainly based on (pseudo-static) small soil-strain inducing wind- and wave load-cases. Adopting this principle, the soil-structure interaction mechanism is represented by local lateral soil reactions (springs with distributed stiffness in mechanical formulation). Strong ground shaking induces shearing and volumetric variation of the soil particles. Through hysteresis the soil material exhibits energy dissipation: hysteretic damping. Accounting for hysteresis is considered computationally more demanding than when the soil continuum is assumed elastic but this is an assumption which only holds when soils undergo very small soil strains.
This thesis explores the amount of energy dissipated as a result of hysteresis during seismic response of an offshore wind turbine and the applicability of such damping in a local linear visco-elastic manner. In order to obtain insight in this nonlinear energy-dissipation mechanism associated with the hysteretic offshore wind turbine model under seismic excitation, a Python code was developed that calculates the energy dissipation of each load-cycle separately. The developed energy dissipation assessment algorithm is effective in application of arbitrary hysteretic response and unloading-reloading rules.
The hysteretic nature of the soil-pile interaction springs in question are calibrated against the widely applied API p-y, force-displacement curves. Unloading-reloading rules are specified to define the load-cycles. Boulanger et al. describes such unloading-reloading rules for pile application under seismic loading. The applicability of these backbone curves and unloading-reloading rules remains questionable in application of rigid monopile foundations. Despite not representing the accuracy of true soil-monopile interaction, obtained results in this research may support the exploration of innovative unloading-reloading rules.
The developed energy dissipation algorithm is proven to be a powerful tool in identifying the amount of energy dissipation over a total timeseries. Reasonable agreement in peak (maximum observed), Ultimate Limit State, deflection and bending moment seismic response at mudline and tower top has been found between a hysteretic supported model and equivalent elastic models using a single (load-dependent and depth-dependent) equivalent damping coefficient in parallel with each soil spring. Representing the hysteretic energy dissipation mechanism using viscous dampers with constant damping coefficients has therefore proven to be an effective modelling strategy to account for the damping mechanism of plastic unloading-reloading rules without accounting for hysteresis. The effectiveness of an equivalent elastic modelling strategy reduces when the response undergoes substantial permanent plastified displacements. A typical property which is unable to be simulated under the application of an elastic modelling strategy.

The offshore wind industry is a quickly growing market because the increasing demand for clean energy sources. Large wind speeds and the abundance of potential wind farm locations make Offshore Wind Turbines an interesting solution. Because of high continuous dynamic loading and extreme environmental conditions, the structural design requires a detailed assessment, especially in the Fatigue Limit State. In this thesis, the focus lies on improving the modeling of monopile foundations for Offshore Wind Turbines, which could pave the way towards more efficient foundation design.

The conventional method of modeling the monopile foundation of an Offshore Wind Turbine is with a nonlinear elastic distributed spring stiffness along the monopile (using p-y curves). Damping related to the soil is considered through either global damping (like Rayleigh damping) or local viscous damping. However, the response of the soil around the monopile under wind and wave loading is better described through a nonlinear hysteretic (rate-independent) model, which is computationally demanding to model in the time domain. Next to that, a conventional frequency domain method can not be combined with any nonlinearity. Therefore, linear elastic models are used to model the soil response in frequency-domain simulations.

The goal of this thesis is to combine a nonlinear hysteretic soil model with a frequency-domain analysis. A response amplitude-dependent linearization of the nonlinear hysteretic element is made. The combination of the response amplitude-dependent element with an iterative solution strategy, the Equivalent Linear method, is shown to approximate a nonlinear time-integration under both harmonic and multiharmonic loading, as long as the nonlinearity is limited.

A nonlinear hysteretic model is fit to available soil reaction data and a response amplitude-dependent linearization is generated. A Finite Element model that can be combined with the Equivalent Linear method is set up and verified with a case study structural model of an Offshore Wind Turbine. The model is subjected to (high) Fatigue Limit State wave loading. The results are compared to both a conventional frequency-domain method (with a linear elastic small-strain soil model) and a nonlinear time-domain method (with a nonlinear elastic soil model). The deflections and deflection spectra in the foundation found through the Equivalent Linear method correspond to results from the nonlinear time-domain method, provided the influence of higher harmonics is limited and the response has a similar amplitude throughout the analyzed time window.

Results from the Equivalent Linear method show that the main frequency of the first resonance peak is around 2% smaller than the first natural frequency of the system, which is consistent with the results found through the nonlinear time-domain method. The identified soil damping in the first mode is 0.64-0.8% critical (4-5% log. dec.), which is similar to other literature. By combining observed system properties with literature about fatigue damage estimation, a hypothesis is stated: the fatigue damage in the foundation calculated through an Equivalent Linear method with a nonlinear hysteretic soil model will be lower than the fatigue damage calculated through a nonlinear time-domain method with a nonlinear elastic soil model.