Large-scale field tests on plastic pile tip failure upon monopile installation

Large-diameter monopiles are the most common foundation structures for offshore wind turbines. One relevant failure mode during installation is plastic failure of the pile tip which may increase progressively during further driving (pile tip buckling; extrusion buckling). This paper presents the details and results of a large-scale field-test campaign with dynamic pile installation for the validation and calibration of different numerical approaches concerning pile-tip buckling phenomena. The phenomenology of observed pile-tip failures is here described in detail and a first quantitative approach is evaluated based on the field-test data. As the number of new projects continues to grow and the necessity to construct wind farms in challenging terrain increases, such field data-sets will become increasingly relevant. • Large-scale field test results. • Comprehensive and robust instrumentation of test piles. • Validation data for different soil conditions and driving obstacles. • Reference data-base for verification of numerical design models.