Liquefaction-induced response of offshore wind turbine monopiles: from physical tests to numerical modeling
Liquefaction-induced response of offshore wind turbine monopiles: from physical tests to numerical modeling
This study investigates the seismic response of offshore wind turbine (OWT) monopiles in liquefiable soils by integrating centrifuge test data with advanced numerical simulations. Element tests conducted at ETH Zurich and centrifuge tests at the University of Cambridge are used to calibrate and validate a fully coupled dynamic finite element (FE) model in OpenSees employing the SANISAND-MSf constitutive model. The constitutive model is calibrated for Hostun sand using monotonic triaxial and cyclic direct simple shear tests and is used to simulate the seismic response of a monopile foundation in a stratified loose-over-dense sand profile. Dynamic analyses capture key liquefaction mechanisms, including excess pore pressure generation and monopile rotation, and selected results demonstrate that the numerically predicted monopile rotation is broadly consistent with experimental observations at the system level, with implications for the seismic assessment and design of offshore wind turbine monopile foundations.
Masoumeh Asgarpoor; Eva Brunschweiler; I. Anastasopoulos; Mahdi Taiebat
11th International Conference on Physical Modelling in Geotechnics (ICPMG2026)
Special Session 5: Combination of numerical and physical modelling
https://doi.org/10.53243/ICPMG2026-341