Experimental study of load transfer mechanisms of onshore wind turbine foundations

In Europe, the development of the wind energy market will evolve between 2020 and 2030 towards a renewal of existing wind farms to reach the objectives set by the law on energy transition for green growth. This renewal process involves the replacement of wind turbines after their service lives by more powerful machines, which would necessitate reconstruction of new foundations to accept the loads of the larger turbine. To reduce environmental impacts and limit greenhouse gas emissions, this practice appears to be far from optimal. This paper therefore focuses on assessing the suitability of a 1g small-scale model as a tool to support an evolutionary design enabling reuse of existing foundations during repowering. As part of the FEDRE research project, the study evaluates the model’s ability to simulate foundation behavior under quasi-static loading. The broader methodology integrates field monitoring, small-scale testing, and COMSOL Multiphysics® simulations to assess the feasibility of reuse before proposing practical solutions.