Session: 06-04-02 Marine Engineering and Technology - II

Submission Number: 180085

Numerical Analysis and Optimization of Driven Pile Foundations for Floating Offshore Wind Turbines in the Taiwan Strait 

Numerical Analysis and Optimization of Driven Pile Foundations for Floating Offshore Wind Turbines in the Taiwan Strait

Wen-Yu Huang^1*, Chun-Hung Lin²,Yi-Hsiu Liu¹,  Kai-Tung Ma¹, Tzu- An Lin¹

¹Engineering Science and Ocean Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taiwan

²Department of Marine Environment and Engineering, National Sun Yat-sen University, Taiwan

* Correspondence: r13525001@ntu.edu.tw

ABSTRACT

With offshore sites for fixed-bottom foundations in the Taiwan Strait almost fully utilized, the demand for floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs) is growing as a promising solution to harness the region’s wind resources. This study focuses on driven piles, a widely used anchor type for FOWTs with extensive design and installation experience accumulated by the oil and gas industry. The numerical model of piles subjected to combined axial and lateral loading under an inclination angle was validated against results in the literature, showing good agreement. Site-specific soil conditions in the Taiwan Strait are modeled using borehole data. The model is simplified into two representative profiles: a three-layer medium dense sand–clay–sand profile and a two-layer clay–sand profile. Considering that the inclination angle of padeye forces in a catenary mooring system typically ranges between 0–15°, this research focuses on the critical case of 15° for ultimate limit state (ULS) analysis. A parametric study is performed using PLAXIS 3D, covering slenderness ratios (L/D) between 10 and 30 with pile diameters (D) ranging from 2 to 4 m. The study determined some optimized pile dimensions for a semi-submersible floater. The results on anchor sizing may be useful in supporting the development of FOWTs.

Key word: Driven Pile, Bearing Capacity, FEM, Mooring Load, Floating Offshore Wind Turbine

Presenting Author: Wen Yu Huang Department of Engineering Science and Ocean Engineering, National Taiwan University

Presenting Author Biography: Wen-Yu Huang is a master’s student in the Department of Engineering Science and Ocean Engineering at National Taiwan University. She received her bachelor’s degree in Hydraulic and Ocean Engineering from National Cheng Kung University. Her research focuses on offshore geotechnical engineering and the numerical modeling of driven pile anchors for floating offshore wind turbines. She previously contributed to a journal paper titled “Wind Farm Design with 15 MW Floating Offshore Wind Turbines in Typhoon Regions,” submitted to the Journal of Marine Science and Engineering (JMSE). Her broader interests include ocean renewable energy and soil–structure interaction analysis.

Authors:

Wen Yu Huang Department of Engineering Science and Ocean Engineering, National Taiwan University
Chun-Hung Lin Department of Marine Environment and Engineering , National Sun Yat-sen University, Taiwan
Yi-Hsiu Liu Department of Engineering Science and Ocean Engineering, National Taiwan University
Kai-Tung Ma Department of Engineering Science and Ocean Engineering, National Taiwan University
Tzu- An Lin Department of Engineering Science and Ocean Engineering, National Taiwan University