Experimental Study of the Engineering Mechanical Properties of the Foundation Soil for Offshore Wind Power Platforms

Abstract

Most of the coastal beach zone in the world is rich in wind energy reserves and has great potential for offshore wind power development. However, the sedimentary environment in the coastal area is complex and changeable, and the nature of the foundation soil of offshore wind power platforms is weak and complex, which is quite different from that in the land areas. In order to systematically study the mechanical properties of marine foundation soils, a series of geotechnical tests are carried out on representative undisturbed seabed soils, such as basic laboratory geotechnical tests, bender element tests, undrained triaxial shear tests, and resonance column tests. The test results show that shear wave velocity (Vs) of marine silt and silty clay increases linearly with the buried depth; the stress-strain relationship curves of silty clay and silt present two different modes of development: strain hardening and strain softening, the undrained shear strength (Sd) of the two types of marine soils decreases with the increase of the void ratio (e), and both present a good single correlation. Based on the relationship between Sd and Vs from the laboratory test of disturbed seabed soils, an undrained strength evaluation method of undisturbed seabed soils under the current stratum conditions incorporating in situ shear wave velocity is established. The dynamic shear modulus (G) in the various strain ranges of undisturbed silty clay and silt increases regularly with the buried depth (H). Meanwhile, the maximum dynamic shear modulus (Gmax) linearly increases with the increase of H, whereas the attenuation relationship of G decreases with the increase of H. The prediction method of G based on buried depth is established with high accuracy.