Thermal Conductivity of Saturated Soils
Thermal Conductivity of Saturated Soils
Soil thermal conductivity is critical for the design of subsea cables for offshore wind farms. This study presents the results for a series of needle probe thermal conductivity tests conducted on silica fine sand, kaolin clay, and mixtures of silica sand and natural offshore carbonate soils to investigate the effect of soil mineralogy, soil packing and carbonate content on soil thermal conductivity. The test results indicate that soil thermal conductivity is dependent on soil packing, soil mineralogical composition and soil saturation. The findings of this study underscore the importance of site-specific testing, thorough characterization of soil thermal properties and careful consideration of the impact of soil disturbance caused by cable burial and operational processes on soil thermal conductivity for accurate cable performance prediction and the development of robust and optimized cable design. Drawing from the insights gained in this study, a strategy has been proposed to characterize the thermal properties of seabed soils along cable routes, as well as to assess the impact of soil disturbances caused by cable burial and operational processes on soil thermal conductivity.
Terry Chang; Han Eng Low
5th International Symposium on Frontiers in Offshore Geotechnics (ISFOG2025)
4 - Ground models
https://doi.org/10.53243/ISFOG2025-77
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