Scale Tests to Estimate Penetration Force and Stress State of the Silica Sand in Windfarm Foundations

The analysis of the soil behavior when the pile is driving into the seabed in offshore wind platforms is one of the major problems associated with this new form of clean energy generation. At present, there are no scaled studies carried out analyzing the mechanical and deformational behavior of both the material of the pile supporting the engine (large steel hollow piles with a diameter of 8 m and a thickness of 15–20 cm) and the soil where the pile is driven. Usually, these elements are installed on sands with a very small grain size displaced from the limits of dry–wet beach (water limit) toward the offshore limits, which prevents them from returning to their previous location in a natural way. This paper presents results obtained from scale tests in a steel pool to analyze the behavior of the sand where the piles were installed. First, the California Bearing Ratio (CBR) test was carried out to estimate the soil behavior in similar conditions to the steel pool. The scale tests consisted of the penetration of the steel tube into the sand using a hydraulic press. The objective was to compare the results for three tubes with different diameters, three different speeds, and two kinds of ending on the extreme of the tested element.