Large deformation analysis of pile installation in sand using the Material Point Method

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The development of offshore foundation systems is steadily advancing in response to the continuously growing demand for sustainable energy solutions. In such an environment, monopiles are commonly used for the support of Offshore Wind Turbines. The monopile installation process results in mechanisms that are not yet thoroughly understood, especially with regard to the changes in the state of the surrounding soil. Current experimental analyses have shown that these mechanisms affect significantly their lateral response and are therefore crucial for monopile design. To gain a more complete understanding of the effects taking place during different types of installations in sands, a large deformation model is developed in this study. The proposed model employs the Material Point Method (MPM) using an elasto-plastic law to capture the complexities of the non-linear stress-state behaviour of sands. To better capture the soil-pile interaction, a contact mechanism is proposed herein, and its performance is evaluated against analytical solutions. Subsequently, a pile installation model is developed, and the effect of the shape of the pile tip on the behaviour of sand is investigated. Emphasis is given on the displacement paths of the soil mass in the vicinity of the pile for monotonically pressed-in piles. The numerical solution illustrates that the shape of the pile significantly influences the alteration of the soil mass.

5th International Symposium on Frontiers in Offshore Geotechnics (ISFOG2025)

6 - Pile Installation Challenges and Decommissioning in sands and clays: monopiles, anchor piles, pin piles