Screw piles for wind energy foundation systems
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Dundee
Department Name: Civil Engineering
Abstract
Screw (or helical) piles are foundations which are screwed into the ground. They are widely used onshore for supporting motorway signs and gantries as they possess good tensile and compressive resistance. This project aims to make screw piles a more attractive foundation (or anchoring) option offshore for wind farms, which are being deployed in deeper water and subject to increasing performance demands. The UK has challenging targets for expansion of energy from renewables with the potential for over 5000 offshore wind turbines by 2020. The necessary move to deeper water will increase cost and put greater demands on subsea structures and foundations. The current foundation solutions being considered for these applications are driven piles, large monopiles or concrete gravity based structures (GBS). Driving of piles in large numbers offshore causes concerns over plant availability and impact on marine mammals. There are also concerns over the limit of practical monopile development and the high material demands of GBS. Screw piles have the potential to overcome these issues and are scalable for future development from current onshore systems which have relatively low noise installation and are efficient in terms of both tensile and compressive capacity. To meet offshore demands, screw piles will require geometry enhancement but it is envisaged that these will initially be modest to allow de-risked transfer of onshore technology offshore. This will lead to the deployment of several smaller piles or pile groups rather than moving straight to very large single screw piles that may prove difficult to install and require significant investment.
To allow screw piles to be considered as a foundation solution for offshore wind this project will develop piles with optimised geometries that minimise resistance to installation but are capable of carrying high lateral and moment loads. In order to install screw piles torque devices are used to effectively screw the anchors into the ground. With increased pile size requirements and potential changes in geometry this project will develop improved, less empirical techniques to predict the torque required in a variety of soil conditions. This will allow confidence in pile installation and investment in appropriately sized installation plant. As new pile geometries are being developed these will need to be tested (through model, numerical and field testing in this project) to verify that they can meet the performance demands of the offshore environment. The project will also develop bespoke analysis techniques to allow consulting geotechnical engineers the tools they require to design the foundations and contractors the tools to inform the installation processes. As piles can be deployed as large single units or smaller units in groups the efficiency of group deployment and multiple foundation geometries will be explored, as using several smaller geometry foundations could reduce the risks during offshore installation and actually be more economic due to lower fabrication costs and demands on installation plant. The areas of investigation above will be combined to produce a design and decision making toolkit for use by geotechnical designers to allow deployment of screw piles as offshore foundations in an efficient and cost effective manner.
The research has the potential to make it easier to deploy screw pile foundations for offshore renewables. This project will develop foundations able to deal with current water depths and will provide understanding of the behaviour of piles as water depths and the demands on the foundations increase. By harnessing the installation and performance benefits of screw pile/anchor technology, the results of the project will contribute to an overall cost reduction in electricity generated by renewable means and increase the public's confidence in the future viability of this energy source.
To allow screw piles to be considered as a foundation solution for offshore wind this project will develop piles with optimised geometries that minimise resistance to installation but are capable of carrying high lateral and moment loads. In order to install screw piles torque devices are used to effectively screw the anchors into the ground. With increased pile size requirements and potential changes in geometry this project will develop improved, less empirical techniques to predict the torque required in a variety of soil conditions. This will allow confidence in pile installation and investment in appropriately sized installation plant. As new pile geometries are being developed these will need to be tested (through model, numerical and field testing in this project) to verify that they can meet the performance demands of the offshore environment. The project will also develop bespoke analysis techniques to allow consulting geotechnical engineers the tools they require to design the foundations and contractors the tools to inform the installation processes. As piles can be deployed as large single units or smaller units in groups the efficiency of group deployment and multiple foundation geometries will be explored, as using several smaller geometry foundations could reduce the risks during offshore installation and actually be more economic due to lower fabrication costs and demands on installation plant. The areas of investigation above will be combined to produce a design and decision making toolkit for use by geotechnical designers to allow deployment of screw piles as offshore foundations in an efficient and cost effective manner.
The research has the potential to make it easier to deploy screw pile foundations for offshore renewables. This project will develop foundations able to deal with current water depths and will provide understanding of the behaviour of piles as water depths and the demands on the foundations increase. By harnessing the installation and performance benefits of screw pile/anchor technology, the results of the project will contribute to an overall cost reduction in electricity generated by renewable means and increase the public's confidence in the future viability of this energy source.
Planned Impact
Beyond academia this research project will lead to economic and environmental impacts:
a) This project will accelerate the development of an alternative foundation system for offshore wind which is expected to carry a reduced overall foundation system cost, compared to currently proposed solutions which in some cases exceed the manufacturing capabilities of the UK. As renewable energy projects require many more individual installations than oil and gas applications, small efficiencies can result in huge overall project savings and allow sites to be developed that may currently be considered uneconomic. These reductions in the cost of foundation fabrication and installation will be passed onto the developer, operator and ultimately to the UK consumer via a reduction in the cost per GW of offshore wind energy generated. This will also therefore assist in improving the public perception of the viability of offshore wind farms.
b) The proposed foundation design tools that will be developed will aid Geotechnical engineers to select the most appropriate foundation solution and deployment strategy to suit the water depth and geotechnical conditions. This will give enhanced confidence in deploying adventurous foundation types in new environments for offshore wind. This will result in a competitive edge for UK foundation contractors that will allow them to export their expertise internationally.
c) Offshore wind farm developers will be able to choose from a greater range of foundation solutions coupled with subsea structure alternatives (monopod or jacket structures) that give the greatest economic and performance benefits. Installation contractors will be able to plan, design, build and invest in infrastructure that is appropriately scaled to actual deployment requirements. This reduction in uncertainty will make it easier to attract financial investment in adventurous and novel techniques. In turn this will give UK machine and equipment developers economic advantage over competing overseas technology.
d) The research will contribute to new analysis techniques that will be implementable in commercially available pile design software (e.g. OPile) and as a module within mooring analysis (e.g.Orcaflex). This will assist with take up of screw piles as a beneficial alternative foundation technology both onshore and offshore. Development of 3D large deformation modelling that can simulate complex installation processes (such as screwing a pile into soil and determining the effect on the soil state) and which can then be implemented in a standard FE code has a wide potential for take up in the modelling of other complex geotechnical installation processes and similar processes in other engineering disciplines.
f) The proposed technique will be a comparatively 'silent' approach compared to driven piles. The greatly reduced noise and vibration will be less disturbing to marine mammals. It will therefore also have an associated additional economic benefit in removing the need for expensive noise-mitigation techniques.
g) The installation process can be applied in reverse to 'unscrew' the piles from the ground at the end of the project's life. This ability to completely decommission has benefits over classic pile types that are either left insitu of cut off below the seabed, thus the site can more easily be returned to its original state. The ability to remove the piles would potentially also allow re-use in future applications.
The project will develop the skills of the three post-doctoral research associates (PDRAs) in geotechnical modelling, computational geotechnics and advanced field and laboratory testing. The PDRAs will also develop specialist geotechnical knowledge relevant to the offshore renewables sector making them a valuable future asset in either academia or to renewables consultancy/contracting.
a) This project will accelerate the development of an alternative foundation system for offshore wind which is expected to carry a reduced overall foundation system cost, compared to currently proposed solutions which in some cases exceed the manufacturing capabilities of the UK. As renewable energy projects require many more individual installations than oil and gas applications, small efficiencies can result in huge overall project savings and allow sites to be developed that may currently be considered uneconomic. These reductions in the cost of foundation fabrication and installation will be passed onto the developer, operator and ultimately to the UK consumer via a reduction in the cost per GW of offshore wind energy generated. This will also therefore assist in improving the public perception of the viability of offshore wind farms.
b) The proposed foundation design tools that will be developed will aid Geotechnical engineers to select the most appropriate foundation solution and deployment strategy to suit the water depth and geotechnical conditions. This will give enhanced confidence in deploying adventurous foundation types in new environments for offshore wind. This will result in a competitive edge for UK foundation contractors that will allow them to export their expertise internationally.
c) Offshore wind farm developers will be able to choose from a greater range of foundation solutions coupled with subsea structure alternatives (monopod or jacket structures) that give the greatest economic and performance benefits. Installation contractors will be able to plan, design, build and invest in infrastructure that is appropriately scaled to actual deployment requirements. This reduction in uncertainty will make it easier to attract financial investment in adventurous and novel techniques. In turn this will give UK machine and equipment developers economic advantage over competing overseas technology.
d) The research will contribute to new analysis techniques that will be implementable in commercially available pile design software (e.g. OPile) and as a module within mooring analysis (e.g.Orcaflex). This will assist with take up of screw piles as a beneficial alternative foundation technology both onshore and offshore. Development of 3D large deformation modelling that can simulate complex installation processes (such as screwing a pile into soil and determining the effect on the soil state) and which can then be implemented in a standard FE code has a wide potential for take up in the modelling of other complex geotechnical installation processes and similar processes in other engineering disciplines.
f) The proposed technique will be a comparatively 'silent' approach compared to driven piles. The greatly reduced noise and vibration will be less disturbing to marine mammals. It will therefore also have an associated additional economic benefit in removing the need for expensive noise-mitigation techniques.
g) The installation process can be applied in reverse to 'unscrew' the piles from the ground at the end of the project's life. This ability to completely decommission has benefits over classic pile types that are either left insitu of cut off below the seabed, thus the site can more easily be returned to its original state. The ability to remove the piles would potentially also allow re-use in future applications.
The project will develop the skills of the three post-doctoral research associates (PDRAs) in geotechnical modelling, computational geotechnics and advanced field and laboratory testing. The PDRAs will also develop specialist geotechnical knowledge relevant to the offshore renewables sector making them a valuable future asset in either academia or to renewables consultancy/contracting.
Organisations
- University of Dundee (Lead Research Organisation)
- Heerema Marine Contractors (Collaboration)
- University of Western Australia (Collaboration)
- Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar (Collaboration)
- DIAMOND LIGHT SOURCE (Collaboration)
- CRRC (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- SeaRoc Group (Project Partner)
- Cathie Associates Limited (Project Partner)
- ScrewFast Foundations (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
Publications
Al-Baghdadi T
(2017)
Offshore Site Investigation Geotechnics 8th International Conference Proceedings
Al-Baghdadi T
(2017)
Effects of vertical loading on lateral screw pile performance
in Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Geotechnical Engineering
AL-BAGHDADI T
(2016)
Development of an inflight centrifuge screw pile installation and loading system
Bittar E
(2023)
CPT-based design method for helical piles in sand
in Canadian Geotechnical Journal
Bittar E
(2019)
PERFORMANCE OF SCREW PILES IN NORMALLY CONSOLIDATED PERTH SAND
Brown M
(2020)
Advances in Offshore Geotechnics - Proceedings of ISOG2019
Brown MJ
(2019)
Screw pile research at the University of Dundee
Brown MJ
(2019)
Developing screw piles for offshore renewable energy application
Cerfontaine B
(2021)
DEM study of particle scale and penetration rate on the installation mechanisms of screw piles in sand
in Computers and Geotechnics
Cerfontaine B
(2019)
Effect of soil deformability on the failure mechanism of shallow plate or screw anchors in sand
in Computers and Geotechnics
Cerfontaine B
(2021)
A finite element approach for determining the full load-displacement relationship of axially loaded shallow screw anchors, incorporating installation effects
in Canadian Geotechnical Journal
Cerfontaine B
(2022)
Optimised screw pile design for offshore jacket foundations in medium-dense sand
in Géotechnique Letters
Cerfontaine B
(2019)
Design of plate and screw anchors in dense sand: failure mechanism, capacity and deformation
in E3S Web of Conferences
Cerfontaine B
(2020)
Optimised design of screw anchors in tension in sand for renewable energy applications
in Ocean Engineering
Cerfontaine B
(2019)
Finite element modelling of the uplift behaviour of screw piles in sand
Cerfontaine B
(2019)
Screw pile design optimisation under tension in sand
Cerfontaine B
(2023)
Control of screw pile installation to optimise performance for offshore energy applications
in Géotechnique
Cerfontaine B
(2021)
Centrifuge testing of large screw pile geometries for offshore applications
Coombs W
(2023)
Ghost stabilisation of the material point method for stable quasi-static and dynamic analysis of large deformation problems
in International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering
Coombs W
(2020)
AMPLE: A Material Point Learning Environment
in Advances in Engineering Software
Coombs W
(2020)
On Lagrangian mechanics and the implicit material point method for large deformation elasto-plasticity
in Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering
Davidson C
(2019)
Physical modelling of screw piles for offshore wind energy foundations
Davidson C
(2022)
Physical modelling to demonstrate the feasibility of screw piles for offshore jacket-supported wind energy structures
in Géotechnique
Davidson C
(2018)
Physical Modelling in Geotechnics
Davidson C.
(2017)
Decommissioning of offshore piles using vibration
in Proceedings of the International Offshore and Polar Engineering Conference
Garcio-Gallindo P
(2018)
Installation behavior of open ended and closed ended piles with torque application
PAVAN KUMAR PV
(2021)
3D numerical analysis of screw pile subjected to axial compressive and lateral load
Sharif Y
(2021)
Assessing single-helix screw pile geometry on offshore installation and axial capacity
in Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Geotechnical Engineering
Sharif Y
(2021)
Using discrete-element method hindcasting of screw pile performance for practical design
in Géotechnique Letters
Sharif Y
(2021)
Using discrete element method (DEM) to create a cone penetration test (CPT)-based method to estimate the installation requirements of rotary-installed piles in sand
in Canadian Geotechnical Journal
Sharif Y
(2021)
Effects of screw pile installation on installation requirements and in-service performance using the discrete element method
in Canadian Geotechnical Journal
Wang L
(2019)
A 3D MATERIAL POINT METHOD FOR GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING
Wang L
(2021)
An efficient and locking-free material point method for three-dimensional analysis with simplex elements
in International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering
Wang L
(2017)
Modelling Screwpile Installation Using the MPM
in Procedia Engineering
Wang L
(2019)
On the use of domain-based material point methods for problems involving large distortion
in Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering
| Description | The major achievements for this award were the development of an installation requirement prediction tool for screw pile installation requirements for pile of different geometries and in sands of different densities based upon standardised existing ground investigation techniques (CPT). This allows an installer to invest in appropriate plant to install and design piles that are optimised to ease installation and high-performance in-service. This method shows significant improvement over existing analytical prediction techniques. Through the use of computational techniques developed during the award it is possible to design project specific optimised piles hat have subtle variations in geometry or configuration for best performance. These insights from the computational techniques have led to greater understanding of basic screw pile behaviour and how installation can have a significant impact on in service performance. Much of these insights are actually contrary to current design guidance and will change how we install screw piles and other auger-based pile installation techniques (e.g. CHD and CFA). Coupling of the physical and numerical modelling along with validation against field tests, improvements have been made to existing analytical design approaches and when and where to adopt specific approaches. This should improve confidence in the use of screw piles for a range of applications which are broader than the limited scale onshore use currently. The achievements in the main have all been developed with the objective of developing screw pile use for large offshore wind applications such as jacket foundations and with an eye on anchoring future floating wind applications. |
| Exploitation Route | The findings from the research can be take forward by both academia and industry. The industry sectors this has potential to influence are the onshore underpinning and generally light foundation installers and designers for projects such as gantries, underpinning, electrical transmission and wind energy generation. This will be in existing markets such as Europe and the US but also in regions where engineering control and resources may be limited and where communities are dispersed e.g. onshore India. In an offshore setting there is an emerging demand for silent foundation and installation techniques as noise mitigation becomes more stringent, expensive and often has dubious pollution credentials. The information generated from this work has answered many of the unknowns around designing and deploying large screw anchors of different geometries. This will allow investment in appropriate plant where installation requirements can be predicted in sands. Through increased insights to how screw piles behave during installation and In-service greater insights have been gained into how they can be optimised and designed through simple analytical techniques. This has led to the the completion of an initial certification process for the design and deployment of offshore screw piles for jacket structures and floating wind by Heerema Marine Contractors (HMC). This has resulted in award of a statement of feasibility for their offshore screw pile concept from DNV a major international certification body. |
| Sectors | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Construction,Energy |
| Description | Led to issue of DNV stage 1 proof of concept for offshore deployment of screw piles for renewable energy applications as sponsored by Mereema Marine Copntractors (HMV). This will allow further TRL level development of the technology and aid offshore demonstration if this type of testing is sponsored and undertaken. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2021 |
| Sector | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Construction,Energy |
| Impact Types | Economic |
| Description | DNV (Det Norske Veritas) award of Statement of Feasibility for the HMC Screwpile silent foundation concept |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Implementation circular/rapid advice/letter to e.g. Ministry of Health |
| Description | EPSRC Supergen Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) project, Research Alignment Group (RAG): Invited member |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| Impact | EPSRC Supergen Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) project, Research Alignment Group (RAG). Influencing future research direction of EPSRC offshore renewable energy research. |
| Description | EPSRC Impact Acceleration Account (Durham University) - Offshore renewables civil infrastructure: development of computational tools |
| Amount | £23,965 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 04/2019 |
| End | 09/2019 |
| Description | EU H2020 Marie SkLodowska-Curie Actions Individual Fellowships SAFS |
| Amount | £173,000 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | 753156 |
| Organisation | Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | Global |
| Start | 08/2017 |
| End | 07/2019 |
| Description | Hereema Marine Contractors (HMC) |
| Amount | £138,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Heerema Marine Contractors |
| Sector | Private |
| Country | Netherlands |
| Start | 11/2019 |
| End | 05/2022 |
| Description | Industrial funding by Roger Bullivant Limited |
| Amount | £20,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Roger Bullivant Limited |
| Sector | Private |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 12/2017 |
| End | 06/2021 |
| Description | National Productivity Investment Fund: EPSRC additional funding for doctoral studentships |
| Amount | £65,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 10/2017 |
| End | 04/2021 |
| Description | Scheme for promotion of academic and research collaboration (SPARC), Design and development of low-cost, easy to install, sustainable foundations for renewable energy devices |
| Amount | £37,590 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | 275 |
| Organisation | Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | India |
| Start | 03/2019 |
| End | 03/2021 |
| Description | The performance of screw piles in clays |
| Amount | £96,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Chinese Scholarship Council |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | China |
| Start | 11/2020 |
| End | 11/2023 |
| Title | Development of an inflight centrifuge screw pile installation and loading system |
| Description | To simulate the prototype installation behaviour of screw piles at realistic confining stress lev-els, a new installation and loading rig, consisting of two independently-controlled servo-motor drive systems was developed to allow screw pile models to be installed and axially load-tested inflight in one operation at 50 g. This system was developed around the Scalable Actuator Control System architecture (SACS) recently installed on the Dundee centrifuge, based around a National Instruments compactRIO controller with modu-larly scale-able servo drive interfaces. 1:50 scale model screw piles were manufactured from mild steel with 10 mm diameter cores with 25 mm diameter flanges welded on, representing a new generation of larger screw pile proposed for offshore marine renewable applications. These were installed up to 200 mm depth in dry dense sand to demonstrate the performance and capabilities of the new actuator. |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2016 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | 236 views of the paper on Researchgate |
| URL | https://www.researchgate.net/publication/303737874_Development_of_an_inflight_centrifuge_screw_pile_... |
| Title | Open-source code for researcher development |
| Description | AMPLE was developed to address the severe learning curve for researchers wishing to understand, and start using, the material point method. The software was developed at Durham University between 2014 and 2018 by Dr Will Coombs as a platform to test our new research ideas and understand the impact of adopting different material point variants. AMPLE was first released in January 2019 at the 2nd International Conference on the Material Point Method held at Cambridge University, UK. |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Too early to measure. |
| URL | https://wmcoombs.github.io/ |
| Title | Centrifuge dataset for screw pile installation and uplift |
| Description | The dataset describes the installation and uplift loading of a screw piles in a sand bed prepared by dry pluviation. The full details of the procedure can be found in the related paper. The different phases of each test are described in Figure 1. The data sampling rate is equal to 10ms. 1. The centrifuge is spun up to the final g-level (50g at mid-depth of the pile). 2. A period of rest (few minutes). 3. Installation of the pile at a given advancement ratio (AR), defined as the vertical displacement of the pile per rotation, normalised by the helix pitch (helix height, measured at mid-plate). The rotation rate is fixed at 3RPM and the vertical rate depends on the AR. 4. The torque motor is disengaged (torque is released) and another rest period is allowed. 5. The pile is uplifted of 10mm at a rate of 1mm/min. 6. (Optional) The pile is unscrewed up to the surface. 7. The centrifuge is spun down. The measured data are given at model scale and their units indicated between brackets. 1. The vertical position [mm] of the pile, whose tip is initially one or two mm from the sand surface. The position is measured from the top and position downwards. 2. The vertical force [kN] at the top of the pile, which is positive downwards (pile in compression). 3. The torque [Nm] measured at the top of the pile, which is positive clockwise. There is an offset for each measured data. The offset considered in the paper to zero the different measurements is the value measured at the end of the first rest period. A summary of all the tests main parameters is given in the summary Excel file. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | None at this stage |
| URL | https://discovery.dundee.ac.uk/en/datasets/centrifuge-dataset-for-screw-pile-installation-and-uplift |
| Title | University of Dundee Test Data for the EPSRC Supergen Wind Hub Grand Challenges Project: Screw Piles for Wind Energy Foundations (Grant no. EP/N006054/1) |
| Description | Data collected from the centrifuge testing programme of six screw piles for the Supergen Wind Hub Grand Challenges |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | None at this stage |
| URL | https://discovery.dundee.ac.uk/en/datasets/university-of-dundee-test-data-for-the-epsrc-supergen-win... |
| Description | Diamond Light Source/UKCRIC NIL (University of Southampton) |
| Organisation | Diamond Light Source |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Providing VDCSS testing facilities. Gas hydrate characterisation (RC tests) Geotechnical laboratory access to Dr Fernando Borges |
| Collaborator Contribution | Sample preparations fro in-situ tomography experiment in I12. Beamtime was successful ~90 scans in total. Scan with X-rays of minipile sample scanned with neutrons at IMAT. Working on I13-2 gas hydrate data for publication - substantial progress made, particularly in the use of machine learning for segmentation. |
| Impact | Sample preparations fro in-situ tomography experiment in I12. Beamtime was successful ~90 scans in total. Scan with X-rays of minipile sample scanned with neutrons at IMAT. Working on I13-2 gas hydrate data for publication - substantial progress made, particularly in the use of machine learning for segmentation |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Field testing of Screw piles |
| Organisation | University of Western Australia |
| Country | Australia |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Use of characterised sand testing site |
| Collaborator Contribution | Supporting instrumentation development and access to a test site |
| Impact | Test data to support previous work in screwpile capacity estimation/modelling (tension and compression) using installation torque and crowd force |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | SPARC India Design and development of low-cost, easy to install, sustainable foundations for renewable energy devices |
| Organisation | Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar |
| Country | India |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Support of post graduate research undertaken at IIT Bhubaneshwar on novel renewable foundation techniques for energy generation and transfer. Hosting of PhD students at the University of Dundee and access to specialist testing equipment and software developed a part of original EPSRC funding. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Hosting of Academics at IIT Bhubaneshwar to develop research collaboration and develop masters level taught courses. Sending postgradate researchers and staff to the University of Dundee to develop further research collaboration. |
| Impact | Invitation by members of the Deep Foundation Institute India to develop a code of practice for the use of screw piles in India. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Screw pile development for Hereema Marine Contractors |
| Organisation | Heerema Marine Contractors |
| Country | Netherlands |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Centrifuge testing and DEM simulation of a new silent piling concept to assist in bringing the concept closer to market and real deployment. Research based upon expertise and equipment developed as part of the original EPSRC screw pile award. This is assisting HMC gain external certificiation for the foundation system and develop the required plant for installation. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Financial support for a research associate. Supply of 3D printed model foundations. Design of new foundation geometries for development. Expertise on offshore installtion and plant requirements |
| Impact | None yet as work ongoing |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Title | Open source code for researcher development |
| Description | AMPLE was developed to address the severe learning curve for researchers wishing to understand, and start using, the material point method. The software was developed at Durham University between 2014 and 2018 by Dr Will Coombs as a platform to test our new research ideas and understand the impact of adopting different material point variants. AMPLE was first released in January 2019 at the 2nd International Conference on the Material Point Method held at Cambridge University, UK. |
| Type Of Technology | Software |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Open Source License? | Yes |
| Impact | Too early to measure |
| URL | https://wmcoombs.github.io/ |
| Description | 'Field tests to assess the installation and load capacity of screw piles geometries optimised for offshore wind turbine foundations', School of Engineering, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | A presentation was given by PDRA Dr Anthony Blake on preliminary results from field tests carried out to assess the installation and load capacity of screw piles optimised for offshore wind turbine foundations to research staff at the University of Western Australia's School of Engineering who specialise in ocean engineering. The presentation stimulated deep discussion on the development of screw piles for offshore applications. Some audience members acknowledged that the presentation provided them with fresh insights into the topic. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | 'STEM for Britain' exhibition, Westminster |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | A public engagement poster has been designed to be presented on the day to reach policymakers and politicians. The exhibition was held in Westminster and the poster was one of the 30 selected to be in the engineering session. The presented obtained the bronze award for the engineering session. The poster and discussion with the presenter were evaluated by judges (academics & MPs). There were opportunities to discuss with interested MPs. This activity was a great opportunity to showcase our research to policymakers and to highlight the challenges (and our solution to those challenges) of the offshore renewable industry. One of Dundee's MP has been invited to visit our installation and learn more about our research. Discussion with organisers (from the RAENG) were useful to make some contacts and could lead to more involvement in PE activities or coverage. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | http://www.setforbritain.org.uk/2020winners.asp |
| Description | 'Science is Wonderful' exhibition, Brussels |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A public engagement kit was designed to undertake simplified experiments with the public, similar to what is done in the geotechnical lab (installation and uplift of screw piles). A box is filled with cork granulates (from recycled sources) that mimic the soil, but are much lighter, easier to handle and require lower forces to fail. A loading frame was built with pulleys. Some small-scale models of foundations under development in the lab were 3D printed. The designed activity has several objectives related to the design of offshore foundations (installation problem, vertical or lateral loading). The principal goal is to explain what's going on in a simple manner and allow the participant to experience himself/herself. Another goal is to illustrate our research activities and introduce our methods to the public. • Loading: the participant applies some loading on the foundation through the loading frame (filling of a bottle with water). This loading can be measured relatively accurately and the moment where the foundation fails can be recorded (introduction to failure, failure mechanism). Different types of foundations (piles, screw anchors) can be compared, as well as their main parameters (helix or shaft size). All the measurement made by the participants will be gathered into a single database to compare the results throughout the day. • Installation: several geometries of screw anchors/piles will be made available (pointy or flat tip, different sizes of helices, screwing or hammering piles) and the effort necessary to put them into the soil will be discussed. This is an introduction to actual offshore installation activities. On the day, groups of children (primary or secondary school) visited our stand and experimented the installation and loading of screw anchors. The main impact was a large coverage throughout different media. The attendees were quite interested by our activities and learnt some fundamental of geotechnical engineering asking lots of questions about the applications of screw piles and why we were working on them |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://ec.europa.eu/info/research-and-innovation/events/upcoming-events/european-research-and-innov... |
| Description | 'Screw Piles for Offshore Wind Energy - an overview', Norwegian Geotechnical Institute, Perth, Australia |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A presentation was given by PDRA Dr Anthony Blake to 15 practising offshore geotechnical engineers and geologists of the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute at their Perth branch. The presentation provided an overview of the project and outlined the research challenges and activities involved. A discussion followed and the general consensus of the audience was that the presentation gave them a much better appreciation of the challenges involved in the design of screw pile technology for offshore wind energy applications. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | British Drilling Association (BDA) Technical session:solutions for the Future of Geotechnical Engineering: New CPT correlations for novel offshore renewable energy installations |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | British Drilling Association (BDA) Technical session:solutions for the Future of Geotechnical Engineering: New CPT correlations for novel offshore renewable energy installations. Part of the British Drilling Associations regional travelling programme to update the industry on the latest developments and innovations. Presentation to 50 people consisting of geotechnical consultants and contractors. Sparked questions and discussions afterwards. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | ICE Northern Geotechnical Group: Annual seminar, Piling |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | 50 Industrialists attended a focused semianr session on piling given by industrial and academic speakers. Presentaion given on the use of screw piles as an alternative foundation type for offshore wind. Resulted in discussion and question and answer and follow email enquiries. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | IET's First Lego Dundee University leg |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | University of Dundee hosted a regional heat of the IET Lego Mindstorms international competition. The competition aims to encourage school pupils into science and engineering, by completing a range of competition tasks using programmable Lego robots built by the pupils. As a part of this event, a Civil Engineering stall was setup to provide activities for the pupils when they were not competing and over lunchtime. The aim of the stall was to: • Provide pupils with an understanding of what civil engineering is • Raise pupils interest in Civil Engineering in a fun and engaging way • Highlight the importance of Civil Engineering in fields such as renewable energy, infrastructure and earthquake resilience The display included Lego models of offshore wind turbines and seabed cable ploughs, posters of Civil Engineering topics and leaflets with further information on how to pursue engineering as a career path for those pupils interested. Practical activities were available for the students focussed on EPSRC funded projects at the University of Dundee: • Screw piles: Pupils were able to test Lego models of both straight shafted and screw piles embedded in sand and compare the differences in pullout force • Seabed ploughing: Pupils were able to watch interactive videos of the seabed ploughing process and interact with model Lego cable ploughs • Earthquake liquefaction: Students were able to design and make their own foundations for a Lego model house and compare how it coped with earthquakes using a miniature shaking table. 100 school pupils visited the stall during the day, with the majority of pupils undertaking all of the activities listed above. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | https://www.dundee.ac.uk/scienceengineering/news/2016/article/first-lego-league-takes-place-at-unive... |
| Description | Invited presentation to the Society for Underwater Technology (SUT) Offshore Site Investigation Group (OSIG) committee: Using DEM to Investigate the Applicability of Screw Piles as an Alternative Solution for Offshore Wind Turbine Foundations20 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Invited online presentation to the SUT OSIG committee members whose membership represents major offshore oil and gas and renwable energy developrs, clients and consultants. This instigated conversation on the techniques developed and later led to a Keynote invite from SUT to present parts of ths work to a much wider industrial audience. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Keynote presentation at the British Geotechnical Association Annual Conference: Modelling of Large Helical Piles for offshore renewable applications |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Keynote presentation at the British Geotechnical Association Annual Conference with online distribution and recording. Presented the key ouitcomes of the research project to the Associations annula conference which attracts a broad grouping of industrial practioners and academics alike. This sparked questions befor e and after the lewcture a nd follow on email enguiries and requests for paper links after the event. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.britishgeotech.org/events/336-bga-annual-conference-2022-and-agm |
| Description | Kyushu Univeristy, Japan, Invited speaker: Centrifuge modelling of screw piles for offshore wind energy foundations |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Kyushu Univeristy, Japan, Invited speaker: Centrifuge modelling of screw piles for offshore wind energy foundations. Presentation to 20 post graduate students and research staff. Led to discussion on joint research projects in the future. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Organisation and hosting of the 1st International Symposium on Screw Piles for Energy Applications (ISSPEA) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | 60 people attended from academia and industry to hear and share the latest findings in screw pile research and development from around the world. There was signifncant discussion and questions throughout the day with new developments arisisng that changed perspectives and research direction. At the end of the day a summary ws made of the key research challenges for the future and the prioritisation of these. This was shared with all attendees after the event. This conference was the first such event organised at the University of Dundee and was originally designed to be a small event to disseminate the findings of the EPSRC sponsored Supergen WindHub Grand Challenges project: Screw piles for wind energy foundation systems. The impetus to expand the guest list and scope of this event came after discussion with Dr Alan Lutenegger of the University of Massachusetts Amherst who organised the successful 1st International Geotechnical Symposium on Helical Foundations. Unfortunately, the eagerly anticipated 2nd symposium in this series did not occur as planned so it was decided to partially plug this gap in screw pile innovation reporting by expanding the scope and invitees of ISSPEA.This conference has been organised by the Geotechnical Engineering Research Group at the University of Dundee representing the Screw piles for wind energy foundation systems project partners with academic teams at Durham University and the University of Southampton.The first ISSPEA provides an excellent opportunity for academics, engineers, scientists, practitioners and students to present and exchange the latest developments, experience and findings in screw pile engineering for renewable energy applications. The proceedings contains 12 papers and 9 extended abstracts with the latter representing the presentations made at the event that were not supported by a full paper. The proceedings contain one invited keynote paper from Alan Lutenegger on the current state-of-understanding of the engineering behavior of screw piles and helical anchors. This paper presents an overview of historical applications of screw piles, with discussions on aspects of their design and behaviour which are both understood and in need of further research, using case studies as examples. Other papers in the proceedings look at a variety of topics including: installation requirements and effects; cyclic behaviour; advanced numerical modelling of screw piles, including the use of DEM and MPM to incorporate installation effects into the models; and screw piles used in industrial applications. It is hoped that this proceedings and symposium will lead to similar future meetings and serve as a useful indicator of the current state of innovation and deployment. It is also hoped the event and proceedings will act as the springboard for new lines of research and development and increased use of screw piles for a variety of applications.1 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://discovery.dundee.ac.uk/en/publications/isspea-2019-1st-international-symposium-on-screw-pile... |
| Description | SUT OSIG Energy Transition and the Impacts for Site Investigation and Characterisation Event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Indusrtry event with keynote presentations on Fixed offshore wind, Floating offshore wind, Carbon Capture & Storage, Decommissioning. Follow on discussions with developers of East Coast USA wind farms on the utilisation on the silent foundation techniques developed in the research project and potential for full scale use. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.sut.org/event/energy-in-transition-and-the-impacts-for-site-investigation-and-characteri... |
| Description | School visit: Websters High School, Kirriemuir, Scotland, presentation to Higher engineering students: Offshore engineering for renewable energy |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Presented different foundation and anchoring techniques for offshore geotechnical engineering to 15 higher engineering students at demostated model foundation and anchoring proceses with interactive foundation comparison equipment. Gave an over view of my Industrial and acadeimc carrers and routes to careers in Engineering. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Screw pile foundation performance seminar |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Workshop/seminar on screwpile design and performance by Dr Anthony Blake at University of Western Australia, Centre for Offshore Foundation Systems (COFS). The audience comprised international visitors to COFS and local offshore geotechnical design specialists and p/g/r and u/g students. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | UWA 2019 Geotechnical research Workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Guest Lecture: Professor David Richards - Joint University of Southampton/University of Western Australia Research on Screw Piles for Offshore Applications |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | University of Sheffield Colloqium series on Mechanics and Infrastructure research |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | 60 post graduate ad undergraduate students attended an invited presentation at the University of Sheffield Engineering School on Physical Modelling for Offshore Energy Infrastructure Deployment which sparked questions and discussion afterwards and raised awareness of the use of physcial modelling and interesting research areas for renewable energy research. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |