Why pile-soil interaction matters: dynamic characteristics and vibration suppression in large offshore wind turbines

Yang Xue; Linan Li; Jia Han; Huixin Wei; Shibin Wang; Haikun Jia; Lingxing Kong

doi:10.59400/sv3343

Why pile-soil interaction matters: dynamic characteristics and vibration suppression in large offshore wind turbines

Yang Xue China Electric Power Research Institute, Beijing 100192, China
Linan Li The School of Mechanical Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300354, China
Jia Han China State Shipbuilding Corporation Haizhuang Windpower Co., Ltd., Chongqing 400000, China
Huixin Wei The School of Infrastructure Engineering, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330031, China
Shibin Wang The School of Mechanical Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300354, China
Haikun Jia China Electric Power Research Institute, Beijing 100192, China
Lingxing Kong China Electric Power Research Institute, Beijing 100192, China

Article ID: 3343

Keywords: large-scale offshore wind turbine; pile-soil interaction; dynamic response; frequency shift; vibration suppression; 22-MW wind turbine

Abstract

In the complex marine environment characterized by wind, waves and soils, the dynamic behavior of offshore wind turbines (OWTs) is highly intricate due to the coupled interactions among various components. However, current research often neglects soil-pile interaction. This study develops a dynamic analytical model of the entire OWT system incorporating soil-pile interaction based on the Euler-Lagrange equations. Wind, wave and soil loads are respectively calculated using blade element momentum theory, Morison’s equation and p−y curves. The dynamic responses of structural components, including blades, tower and monopile, under combined wind-wave-soil loads are then evaluated. A comparative analysis is conducted to examine the effects of soil-pile interaction and varying damping ratios on the frequency response of a 22-MW OWT. Results indicate that considering the monopile support structure and ignoring soil-pile interaction significantly underestimates the soil’s contribution to structural stiffness and equivalent damping. For example, Fourier amplitude spectra curves reveal that soil-pile interaction shifts the dominant frequency and reduces peak displacements by over 30%. This refined methodology enables a more physically consistent representation of soil-pile interaction dynamics by explicitly incorporating the nonlinear behavior at the pile-soil interface. The enhanced framework effectively captures critical phenomena such as soil-induced frequency shifts and damping-mediated amplitude attenuation, which are essential for accurate resonance avoidance and fatigue life estimation in practical engineering applications.

Published

2025-11-26

How to Cite

Xue , Y., Li, L., Han, J., Wei, H., Wang, S., Jia, H., & Kong, L. (2025). Why pile-soil interaction matters: dynamic characteristics and vibration suppression in large offshore wind turbines. Sound & Vibration, 59(4). https://doi.org/10.59400/sv3343

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Issue

Vol. 59 No. 4 (2025)

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Article

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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