Lateral and Overturning Resistance of Wind Turbine Foundations Reinforced with Piles on Bedrock by Modelling Experiments

Abstract

This study evaluated the lateral and overturning resistance of wind turbine foundations reinforced with piles on bedrock through model experiments. In particular, changes in lateral and overturning resistance of wind turbine foundations were analyzed according to cross-sectional size and the presence of piles of wind turbine foundations. As a result, by reducing the cross-section, the lateral resistance of the pile-reinforced wind turbine foundation was compared to the existing wind turbine foundation with large cross-sections and was shown to be 1.68 times greater. In the case of vertical displacements affecting overturning, the safety of overturning was also greater, as the vertical displacement of the pile-reinforced wind turbine foundation was 36% smaller than the existing wind turbine foundation. As a result of the unidirectional cyclic load on a pile-reinforced wind turbine foundation, lateral resistance value was similar to that of the static load in target displacement value, and it showed that the elastic resilience was very large due to pile reinforcement. According to the bending moment measurement of piles embedded in wind turbine foundations and bedrock, bending moments were large in the order of the front row, the right-hand row, and the back row, while the maximum bending moment generation was found on the boundary surface of the wind turbine foundation and the rubble mound layer for the front row, as well as on the boundary surface of the rubble mound layer and bedrock for the right-hand row and back row.