MMALE Simulations of Vibro-Installation of Offshore Monopiles

In the joint project VISSKA, vibratory pile driving is being investigated with regard to its efficiency and effects on the maritime environment as an alternative to noise-intensive impulse pile driving. The last is currently the common installation technique for monopile foundations of offshore wind turbines. The TU Berlin team first created a model to predict pile penetration without the free seawater, adapted it to real offshore conditions and validated it using measured data. In an advanced model, the free water is added to model the underwater sound propagation due to dynamic pile installation. Subsequently, a sensitivity analysis is performed with respect to the model and installation parameters. In the paper, the numerical models as well as the obtained calculation results are presented, interpreted and discussed in comparison with the measurement results.