REVISITING THE ROLE AND OUTLOOK OF GEOTECHNICAL MINI-CENTRIFUGES FOR ACCELERATED OFFSHORE WIND DEVELOPMENT
REVISITING THE ROLE AND OUTLOOK OF GEOTECHNICAL MINI-CENTRIFUGES FOR ACCELERATED OFFSHORE WIND DEVELOPMENT
Accelerated offshore wind development demands scalable and cost-effective design strategies that can adapt to evolving project requirements, compressed timelines, and significant uncertainty in ground conditions and environmental loading. Traditionally, large beam centrifuges with diameters exceeding 3 m have been favoured in offshore oil and gas applications. Such facilities, however, often require lengthy preparation times, customised experimental setups, and large volumes of reconstituted soil, limiting their suitability for rapid exploratory studies. This paper revisits the role of geotechnical mini-centrifuges, defined on a capacity and size basis as facilities with characteristic diameters up to approximately 2.5 m, including both mini-beam and drum centrifuges. While mini-centrifuges are subject to well-known limitationssuch as boundary effects, stress gradients, particle size constraints, and restricted instrumentation payloadsthey offer clear advantages in terms of fast test turnaround, modular configurations, and cost-effective experimentation. These attributes make them particularly attractive for early-stage concept validation and methodological development within accelerated offshore wind projects. Mini- and large-scale centrifuges are therefore viewed as complementary tools, jointly addressing the evolving demands of offshore renewable energy development. Within the framework of Norways first offshore foundation research infrastructure, ProWind, this paper summarises key limitations and similitude considerations relevant to mini-centrifuge modelling and reviews selected international facilities to illustrate how targeted accessory and system development has broadened offshore applications. Examples include monopiles, spudcan foundations, suction caissons, anchoring systems, and submarine landslides. The paper concludes with an outlook on how mini-centrifuges can function as scalable, adaptive platforms that complement larger facilities in next-generation offshore geotechnical research.
Chuangxin Lyu; Jonathan A. Black; P. Carotenuto; Oyvind Blaker; S. Ritter; Yining Teng; Libo Chen; Youhu Zhang; Alessandra Freitas; MARCIO ALMEIDA
11th International Conference on Physical Modelling in Geotechnics (ICPMG2026)
Session 1: New facilities, new equipment, and measuring techniques
https://doi.org/10.53243/ICPMG2026-290