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Prediction of wear in
grouted connections for
offshore wind turbine
generators
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Citation: DALLYN, P.A. ... et al, 2017. Prediction of wear in grouted con-
nections for offshore wind turbine generators. Structures, 10, pp. 117-129.

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 Structures 10 (2017) 117–129

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Structures

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/structures

Prediction of Wear in Grouted Connections for Offshore Wind

Turbine Generators
Paul Dallyn a,⁎, Ashraf El-Hamalawi a, Alessandro Palmeri a, Robert Knight b
a
School of Civil and Building Engineering, Loughborough University, Leicestershire, England, United Kingdom
b
Civil Engineering, E.ON Technologies (Ratcliffe) Limited, Nottingham, England, United Kingdom

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Insufficient axial capacity of large-diameter plain-pipe grouted connections has recently been observed in off-
Received 24 August 2015 shore wind turbine substructures across Europe. Aimed at understanding the implications of this phenomenon,
Received in revised form 17 November 2016 a campaign of structural condition monitoring was undertaken. The measurements showed significant axial dis-
Accepted 2 February 2017
placements occurring between the transition piece and the monopile, which in turn resulted in a considerable
Available online 3 February 2017
amount of wear. Given the existing lack of technical data on the implications that this relative movement has
Keywords:
on the wear of grouted connections, a methodology was developed to quantify the likely risk to the foundation
Grouted connections integrity of the wear failure mode. The proposed approach consists of a numerical model which applies the
Integrity assessment wear rate derived from previous experimental testing to the conditions experienced by typical offshore grouted
Offshore structures connections, as indicated by the wind turbine generators' supervisory control and data acquisition systems. The
Wear development output of this model showed that, for a representative sample of the wind farm substructures analysed as a case
Wind turbines study, the accumulated lifetime wear would be minimal in the majority of the grouted connection, i.e. less than
0.4 mm over 75% of the connection, but a much greater loss in thickness, of the order of 4 mm, was predicted at
the very top and bottom of the connection. This assessment is based on the assumptions that no significant
changes occur in the surrounding environmental conditions and that the degradation in the grouted connection
does not significantly affect the dynamic response of the foundation structure over its life span. Importantly,
these assumptions may affect the model's predictions in terms of cumulated wear over time, not in terms of iden-
tifying the individual connections to be prioritised when performing remedial work, which is indeed the main
intended use of the model.
© 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Institution of Structural Engineers. This is an open access
article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

1. Introduction experiencing operational conditions significantly different from those

experimentally simulated when such equations were derived, e.g. sub-
The concept of grouted connections has been extensively used in the merged and corroded connections [4]. This has resulted in extensive
oil and gas industry, and more recently in the offshore wind energy sec- and expensive remedial works to relieve such grouted connections
tor [1], as they offer an efficient solution to join the piles driven into the from phenomena of damage accumulation.
seabed with the top-side substructure, while accommodating signifi- Structural condition monitoring (SCM) and site investigations
cant installation tolerances [2]. Unfortunately, since late 2009, unex- from late 2010 onwards have shown significant relative vertical dis-
pected settlements of the transition piece (TP) relative to the placements occurring between the inner surface of the grout annulus
monopile (MP) have been reported in many of the plain-pipe grouted and outer steel surface of the MP. These displacements, in combina-
connections for offshore wind turbine generator (WTG) constructed tion with relatively large compressive stresses and the presence of
pre-2010, with designs similar to that one shown in Fig. 1 [3]. This is water, have been shown by experimental testing [5] to result in
due to a combination of: 1) incorrect scaling of properties from small loss of thickness in both the steel and the grout at the grout-steel in-
and large samples tested in the labs to full scale connections, e.g. the teraction surfaces. Remedial solutions so far proposed, such as the
size of surface finish irregularities [3]; 2) use of design equations beyond addition of elastomeric bearings and axial support structures, still
limits of validity established by the experimental data, without suffi- rely on the grout transferring the bending moment from the TP to
cient justification [4]; 3) use of design equations for connections the MP. The grout's integrity over the design lifetime of the founda-
tion thus remains crucial. Understanding the potential loss in thick-
⁎ Corresponding author.
ness over the lifetime of grouted connection in offshore WTG
E-mail addresses: [email protected] (P. Dallyn), [email protected] applications is therefore an important stage in assessing the poten-
(A. El-Hamalawi), [email protected] (A. Palmeri), [email protected] (R. Knight). tial for their failure.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.istruc.2017.02.001
2352-0124/© 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Institution of Structural Engineers. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.
org/licenses/by/4.0/).
118 P. Dallyn et al. / Structures 10 (2017) 117–129

Fig. 1. Typical grouted connection general arrangement.

A recent review of technical literature [4] has highlighted a lack of experimental testing procedure was developed and undertaken for con-
research in this specific area, with historical experimental testing on ditions representative of those experienced by offshore WTG grouted
grouted connections being predominantly related to the axial capacity connections during their service life. The load transfer mechanism expe-
[6–11]. More recent investigations on lateral loading of grouted connec- rienced by the grouted connections during operation that the experi-
tions under conditions relevant to their current use in the wind industry mentation replicates is shown in Fig. 2. The procedure and results of
have been undertaken [12–18], taking into account the influence of this experimental campaign are presented in [5] and briefly
water and relative stiffness of the MP and TP, however the influence summarised in the next section. Importantly, it has been demonstrated
of abrasive wear has not been considered. Experimental testing of that the potential for wear could be significantly increased by the pres-
wear has been investigated in relation to low strength concretes and ence of water, which provides a transportation medium for the wear
non-confined systems [19–23], but the mechanisms used are not repre- debris.
sentative if the conditions experienced in offshore WTG grouted con- Having experimentally obtained representative wear rates for the
nections. Therefore, to quantify the rate of potential wear, a novel actual conditions of the connections, a numerical model is presented

Fig. 2. Simplified WTG structure bending and grouted connection load transfer mechanism.
 P. Dallyn et al. / Structures 10 (2017) 117–129 119

in this paper, which applies these values for different compressive wear rates. It will also present the results for a representative case study,
stresses and relative displacements, to predict the accumulated amount showing the distribution of wear around the depth and circumference
of wear over the operational lifetime of representative offshore WTGs. of the grouted connection, along with the variability of wear across a
This model could then be used to predict wear in future for similar typical wind farm.
structures. Given that the environmental conditions will vary both spa-
tially, from location to location, and temporally, due to the changes in 2. Wear experimentation
direction and intensity of the wind loads [24–31], these variables were
included as inputs in the proposed model. One way of achieving this To determine wear rates that are representative for the loading and
goal would have been to deploy an extensive SCM campaign on each in- environmental conditions experienced during the operational lifetime
dividual foundation, to directly measure the relative displacements and of offshore WTG structures, the experimental setup shown in Fig. 3
compressive stresses within the grout over a representative period of was developed. This test arrangement allows for varying compressive
time. However, the cost would have been prohibitively expensive, and stresses to be applied to the grout, while the inner steel plate undergoes
for this reason existing data provided by the WTG supervisory control cyclic relative displacements, resulting in two interaction surfaces rep-
and data acquisition (SCADA) system has been used instead. The avail- resented by the green lines in Fig. 2. Based on the analysis of condition
able data has been transformed into relative displacements and com- monitoring data, from a typical offshore WTG grouted connection af-
pressive stresses within the grouted connections through fected by insufficient axial capacity, a maximum peak-to-peak ampli-
relationships derived from SCM deployed on two WTG substructures tude of about 1.2 mm was detected for the relative displacement
and transfer functions based on structural analysis of the substructure. between the top of the MP and TP, which was then chosen as the refer-
Fed with this information, the proposed model provides an indica- ence amplitude for the cyclic relative displacements between grout and
tion of the distribution of wear around the circumference and depth of steel in the test samples. These large-magnitude relative displacements
the grouted connection, which will help to determine if further remedi- were detected on a daily basis during winter periods, the frequency of
ation work is going to be required within the remaining operational life which was dependent on the wind conditions. The cycle frequency of
of the WTG. It also provides a simple yet robust methodology for future 0.3 Hz was determined as the typical natural frequency of the structure
designers and current operators of grouted connections to check de- being monitored and to allow satisfactory behaviour of the samples
signs against wear failure. without excessive heat generation. The vertical load capacity of the test-
This paper will briefly describe the development and calibration of ing rig was 160 kN, which allowed testing samples with a grout-steel in-
the proposed numerical model and the experimentation used to derive terface of 150 × 150 mm, up to maximum compressive stress level of

Fig. 3. Experimental test arrangement; side (a), front (b) drawings and front picture of one of the samples ready for testing (c).
120 P. Dallyn et al. / Structures 10 (2017) 117–129

2.5 MPa; the latter value is consistent with the calculations reported in To investigate implications of material properties, the measured
the design of the WTG and has subsequently been validated by structur- grout compressive strength, tensile strength and elastic modulus were
al condition monitoring. Top and bottom grout confinement brackets correlated to the wear rates for given sample conditions. Details of the
were included in the test samples to enable increased compressive experimental procedures and results can be found in [5].
stresses without the grout fracturing, which is better representative of The resultant wear rates derived from the experimental testing for
grout deeper within the grouted connection. Repetition of the wet, cor- the wet and dry samples are shown in Fig. 4. The weight of ejected ma-
roded and confined conditions was also undertaken to improve the sig- terial presented in Fig. 4 represents one of the methods used to deter-
nificance of results. mine the loss in thickness. This involved collecting the wear debris
The compressive force applied to the samples could be varied by ejected from the interaction surfaces of each sample and determining
tightening the compression bolts (Fig. 3). Strain gauges attached to the equivalent loss in thickness based on the debris mass and density.
these bolts were calibrated with a load cell before testing commenced, It is worth noting here that, for the purposes of developing the nu-
so the compressive stress on the grout could be derived for a given merical model of wear in grouted connections, the experimental wear
bolt strain and surface area of the grout-steel interaction surface. The rates have been halved because the samples were tested with two
compression bolts were re-tightened after each test phase to the re- steel-grout interaction surfaces, resulting in twice the amount of wear
quired compressive load and the continual monitoring of the strain for a given cumulative relative displacement when compared to a
allowed for compensation during the analysis of the data if loss of com- grouted connection.
pression occurred due to wear. The bottom mounting brackets and
beam (Fig. 3) have been designed to allow for the full transfer of the 3. Numerical model
horizontal compressive from the lateral compression plates to the
grouted sample, while still being able to transfer the vertical displace- To determine wear distribution around the circumference and along
ment of the actuator. the depth of the grouted connection, inputs from the SCADA system
To account for the presence of sea water and the implications this were used in the form of 10-minute average data intervals of wind
may have on the grout-steel interaction, an equivalent solution has speed, wind direction and power production from two full-scale off-
been drip-fed onto the top surface of the grout and allowed to drain shore WTG substructures. The two WTGs are identified as ‘H4’ and
through the grout-steel interface. The controller software of the testing ‘K1’ within an offshore wind farm comprising 60 units; K1 is peripheral
machine also logged the axial displacements and load required to in the prominent wind direction, while H4 has a more internal position
achieve the desired relative displacements between the grout and (see Fig. 16). The model uses these time series, along with relationships
steel surface. A vertical Linear Variable Differential Transformer derived from the analysis of data recorded by SCM and SCADA systems,
(LVDT) recorded the axial relative displacements between the grout to determine the values of displacements and normal compressive
and central steel plate surfaces. Four horizontal LVDTs monitored the stresses within the grouted connection. Appropriate transfer functions
relative lateral displacement between the two outer plates, and there- were derived, as the SCM was originally installed to understand the fa-
fore any change in thickness of the grout and steel materials if wear oc- tigue implications on the primary steel as a result of the unexpected
curred was measured. The lateral compression bolt strain was recorded load transfer between the installation jacking brackets and the top of
via the same data logger as the displacement sensors. This resulted in 19 the MP caused by the settlement of the TP, not the abrasive wear. For
channels of data being logged at a frequency of 20 Hz during testing. this reason some of the monitored points were not relevant to measure
Eight samples were tested in order to be representative of the the normal compressive stresses in the grouted connection. The archi-
various surface and environmental conditions that the grouted con- tecture of the model is shown in Fig. 5 and summarised below. Impor-
nections would be subjected to (details are shown in Table 1). The tantly, the model assumes that the SCM data used to derive the
steel samples were shot-blasted to a Sa 2 1/2 finish to BS EN ISO relationships is representative of the structural response of the grouted
8501-1:2007 [32], as required during grouted connection fabrica- connection over its whole 20-year lifetime, and the same has been as-
tion. Each sample was subjected to a minimum of seven phases of sumed for the wind speed and direction used as inputs to the model.
8000 cycles at 1.2 mm peak-to-peak axial amplitude for each
0.5 MPa horizontal compressive stress increment, until either the 3.1. Inputs
grout failed under shear or the load capacity of the rig was reached.
The number of cycles per phase and number of phases per load incre- To develop the relationships between the environmental inputs de-
ment were chosen to ensure sufficient wear would occur to be de- termined from the WTG's SCADA system and the structural response
tectible, allowing wear rates to be determined. determined by the substructure's SCM system (Fig. 6), the relevant
time series were correlated for conditions of constant wind direction
during either power or non-power generation of the WTG. Details of
Table 1 the systems are provided in Table 2, while the layouts of the SCM are
Test matrix.
shown in Fig. 6.
Sample Characteristics Reasoning

S1 Mill scale, dry, Test of logging equipment & rig

unconfined
S2 Mill scale, dry, Test influence of controller amplitude and
unconfined frequency
S3 Sa 2.5, dry, Influence of surface finish and higher loads
non-corroded,
confined
S4 Sa 2.5, wet, Influence of water presence
non-corroded,
confined
S5 Sa 2.5, wet, corroded, Influence of corrosion
confined
S6 Sa 2.5, dry, corroded, Influence of corrosion and water presence
confined
S7 Repeat S5 Improve significance of results/determine
S8 Repeat S5 influence of grout material properties
Fig. 4. Wear rates derived from experimental testing based on weight of ejected material.
 P. Dallyn et al. / Structures 10 (2017) 117–129 121

Fig. 5. Grout wear numerical model architecture.

Before any relationship could be derived, initial screening of both any offset caused by datum setting of the SCM. These strains were mea-
data sets was undertaken to determine a suitable period for the analysis sured on the inside wall of the TP 1.5 m above the top of the MP (this lo-
in terms of data quality and to minimise any drift effect due to settle- cation is shown in Fig. 6 and indicated by the K1-S1-6-SGA-V label). The
ment of the TP relative to the MP. As a result, a three-month time series correlation relationships between wind speed, strain and displacement,
from January to March 2012 of SCADA and SCM data were synchronized shown in Figs. 7 and 8, were then derived. To achieve this, data was ex-
and analysed. tracted and correlated on wind speed with vertical strain (SGA-V) and
vertical relative displacement between the top of MP and TP (VD) for
3.2. Relationships periods of wind direction aligned with the instrumentation orientation
±1° for both power (Fig. 8) and non-power generation events (Fig. 9).
Data recorded for low wind speed (less than 1 m/s) were initially Trend curves (plotted with solid lines in Figs. 8 and 9) were derived to
used to correct vertical strain readings (SGA-V) (Fig. 7) to account for provide a conservative output, and were therefore consistently placed

Fig. 6. SCM layout.

122 P. Dallyn et al. / Structures 10 (2017) 117–129

Table 2 structure. One explanation for the higher scatter during non-power
Data acquisition systems details. events could be the lack of aerodynamic damping from the turbine,
System SCM SCADA resulting in the wave and current loading having a more significant im-
Acquisition frequency 20 Hz 20 Hz
pact on the structure.
Stored frequency 20 Hz 0.0016 Hz
Periods of data 01/2012–01/2013 3.3. Transfer function
analysis
Instrumentation Top of grouted connection Hub height
In order to transform the vertical strain in the TP wall, at d = 1.5 m
location
Instrumentation W-SX-Y-Z WS Wind above the grouted connection (where the strain gauges have been posi-
abbreviations speed tioned), to a compressive stress within the grouted connection, a trans-
W Foundation H4 AP Active fer function was derived based on: i) the specifications of a typical
location K1 power offshore WTG structure; ii) the application of the simple theory of
X Bracket 1–6 WD Wind
location direction
beams in bending; and iii) the expression for the normal stress within
Y Gauge type SGA - axial strain a grouted connection (Eq. (1)) suggested by the Det Norske Veritas
RD - radial (DNV) joint industry project on the capacity of grouted connections [3]:
displacement
VD - vertical
3πM
displacement pnom ¼ ; ð1Þ
Z Orientation V - vertical ðπ þ 3μ ÞRp L2g þ 3πμR2p Lg
displacement

where: pnom is the normal stress within the grouted connection; Rp =

2.15 m is the radius of the monopile; Lg is the grout length; μ = 0.7 is
close to the upper bound of the data scatter. The scatter shown in the
the coefficient of friction between steel and grout; and M is the applied
strain and displacement responses can be explained by: i) the 10-min-
bending moment.
ute averaging; ii) the influence of wave loading (superimposed to the
Eq. (1) has been derived by rearranging the expression for the total
wind loading); iii) nacelle wind direction misalignment. The latter,
moment capacity of a grouted connection, considering the vertical and
based on the analysis of the SCADA data, was shown to be ±5°. Informa-
horizontal shear stresses and the contact pressure (see Fig. 10):
tion on wave height and direction was not incorporated as it is not a
major source of loading during WTG operation for the water depth
M ¼ Mp þ Mμh þ Mμv : ð2Þ
and site location of the case-study structures.
Two trend curves have been used to model the structural responses
of interest (strains and displacements) as the wind speed increases. The moment due to the contact pressure, Mp, is derived from the in-
During power generation (Fig. 8), the turbine blades begin to rotate as tegration of the pressure distributed along arc bcd in Fig. 10:
soon as the wind speeds exceeds the cut-in value (marked by the end
of the flat curves at about 2.5 m/s); further increases in the wind Rp L2g
speed correspond to increases in the power output of the WTG, until a Mp ¼ pnom ; ð3Þ
3
maximum value is reached (marked by the peak values of strains and
displacements in Fig. 8(a) and (b), respectively, occurring between 10
the moment due to horizontal friction, Mμh, is derived from integrat-
and 15 m/s); for higher wind speeds, the pitch angle of the turbine
ing the pressure within the green dashed line from a to c:
blades is increased, so to maintain a constant power output, until the
cut-out wind speed is reached (at 25 m/s). As can be clearly seen in
Fig. 8, when the blades become increasingly pitched, the trust generated Rp L2g
Mμh ¼ μpnom ; ð4Þ
by the blades decreases, meaning that the resultant force on the nacelle π
reduces, and therefore lower strains and lower displacements are ob-
served within the support structure and the grouted connection, respec- finally, the moment due to vertical friction, Mμv, is derived from inte-
tively. During non-power generation, on the contrary, i.e. when there is grating the pressure outside the green dashed line from a to c:
a fault with the WTG, the correlations between wind speed, strain and
displacement are significantly weaker, with more scatter. However, as Mμv ¼ μ pnom R2p Lg ð5Þ
the WTG availability is typically 95%, the influence of any inaccuracy as-
sociated with the non-power correlation will be very limited on the out-
As the interface shear strength due to surface irregularities is consid-
put of the proposed wear model over the 20-year design life of the
ered to be negligible for large diameter grouted connections as in the
monopile foundation case, this has not be included in these calculations,
but should be considered for jacket pile grouted connections [3].
In Eq. (1), let's now consider pnom = pnom,tg and M = Mtg as the
values at the top of the grout (‘tg’) of nominal pressure and bending mo-
ment. The latter can be directly related to the value of the bending mo-
ment experienced by the transition piece (‘tp’) at d = 1.5 m above the
top of the grout. Indeed, neglecting the effect of any distributed load
along the height of the structure, the ratio of Mtg and Mtp,d is fixed and
depends on the length of the structure above the grouted connection
to the zero moment point at hub height of the WTG (H = 79.4 m) and
the distance d = 1.5 m above the grouted connection:
   
H−d 79:4−1:5
Mtp;d ¼ M tg ¼ Mtg ¼ 0:9811Mtg : ð6Þ
H 79:4
Fig. 7. TP vertical strain responses (SGA-V) of K1 at low wind speeds to derive correction
factors.
 P. Dallyn et al. / Structures 10 (2017) 117–129 123

Fig. 8. Relationships derived from correlations of wind speed for (a) strain and (b) vertical displacement for power generation events with a constant wind direction.

Fig. 9. Relationships derived from correlations of wind speed for (a) strain and (b) vertical displacement for non-power generation events and a constant wind direction.
124 P. Dallyn et al. / Structures 10 (2017) 117–129

Substituting now Eq. (7) into Eq. (6), and the result into Eq. (1),
gives:

3 π Es I tp
pnom;tg ¼ ε ð9Þ
H−d   d
Rtp;i Rp L g ðπ þ 3μ ÞLg þ 3μπRp
H

To determine the (nominal) distribution of pressure vertically

throughout the grouted connection, the following expression can be
used:

My Hþy
pnom;y ¼ p ¼ pnom;tg ; ð10Þ
Mtg nom;tg H

where y is the depth below the top of the grouted connection.

To account for the discontinuity of the end of the connection, a Stress
Concentration Factor (SCF) has been included, so that:
Fig. 10. Indicative pressure distribution of a grouted connection.
plocal ¼ SCF pnom : ð11Þ

Based on DNV-OS-J101 B105 [33]:

 1:5
R
SCF ¼ 1 þ 0:025 ; ð12Þ
t

where R is the radius of the TP (Rtp,o) and t is the thickness of the TP (ttp).
This relationship along with outputs from the FEM design of the
grouted connection was then used to derive the vertical relationship
of radial stress with depth of connection as shown in Fig. 11.
A cosine distribution for the stress magnitude was assumed along
the circumference of the grouted connection due to the simple bending
of the tube, which shows a good agreement when compared to the cir-
Fig. 11. Variation of radial stress with depth of the grouted connection including SCF. cumferential variation of strains detected by the SCM (see Fig. 12). The
location of theses strain gauge reading can be seen in Fig. 6. A similar cir-
cumferential distribution was also assumed for the vertical displace-
On the other hand, Mtp,d can be related to the bending strain εd mea- ments at the top of the grouted connection; these also showed good
sured at the inside wall: agreement with the SCM data.

Es I tp εd 3.4. Wear output

Mtp;d ¼ ; ð7Þ
Rtp;i
The next stage in the development of the proposed prediction model
was to correlate the compressive stress in the grout with the accumulat-
where Es = 210 GPa is the Young's modulus of the steel and Itp is the
ed wear, which required the following steps:
second moment of area for a hollow circular cross section:
1. For any given wind speed and direction, a resulting compressive
π 4  stress was calculated (using Eqs. (9) and (12) and the relationships
Itp ¼ R −R4tp;i ¼ 1:777 m4 ; ð8Þ
4 tp;o derived from Figs. 8(a) and 9(a)). This then allowed the associated
wear rate to be derived, considering a linear interpolation of the ex-
Rtp,o = 2.27 m and Rtp,i = 2.22 m being the outer (‘o’) and inner (‘i’) ra- perimental values obtained for the S5 sample of the experimental
dius of the TP. campaign (corroded/confined/wet, as found in offshore WTG

Fig. 12. Variation of TP vertical strain with circumferential location.

 P. Dallyn et al. / Structures 10 (2017) 117–129 125

then averaged over the entire inputted data period and multiplied
by the sum of the accumulated displacements.
3. The magnitude of the total wear predicted by the model over this pe-
riod was calibrated against the SCM K1-S2-RD detected wear for the
same period, in order to account for the high-frequency structural re-
sponse that would not be detected by 10-minute average data.
3.5. Calibration

The calibration was achieved through analysis of the SCM data (five
horizontal displacement gauges (RD) located between the top of the MP
and the TP), for periods with constant strain of ± 5 microstrain and
wind direction ±2.5°, over 3 three-month periods; any detected change
in displacement indicates potential wear, as the loading conditions
Fig. 13. Example of detected loss in thickness between MP and TP based on change in
horizontal displacement readings over time for constant strain and wind direction for
should also be constant. An example of the wear detected is shown by
K1-S2-HD. the gradient of the data points in Fig. 13.
Analysis of the SCM data showed an increase in horizontal dis-
placements recorded after prolonged periods of the instrumented lo-
cation being on the downwind side of the grouted connection. This
grouted connections), shown in Fig. 4. The relative displacement be-
highlighted that the initial assumption of zero wear if the area of
tween the TP and MP was calculated for the same wind speed and di-
the grouted connection was not in contact to be incorrect and in
rection through the relationships derived from Figs. 8(b) and 9(b).
fact that deposition of the wear debris was potentially occurring. A
2. The computed 10-minute average wear rates for each 0.1 m depth deposition rate was therefore applied to events when the normal
and 10° circumferential location of the grouted connection were compressive stress was less than zero, i.e. in tension, to account for

Fig. 14. Example of model outputs of wear distribution, a) calibration of model predicted wear at top of the grouted connection with SCM detected wear, b) comparison of wind and wear
distributions and c) wear distribution over entire grouted connection.
126 P. Dallyn et al. / Structures 10 (2017) 117–129

Fig. 15. Comparison of numerical wear model outputs with SCM indicated wear for (a) K1 05-06/2012 and (b) H4 01-03/2012.

this deposition and relative increase in thickness during these pe- 4. Results
riods. The magnitude of 1/6th of the wear rate was derived for the
latter, to ensure that the predicted wear on the predominantly The wind data analysed for the WTGs H4 and K1 has demonstrated
downwind side of the connection (60°) matched the SCM (K1-S2- that, as expected, wind speed and direction can vary significantly within
RD) detected wear. This resulted in the wear distributions shown the wind farm. The wind data for 11 of the 60 WTGs were therefore in-
in Fig. 14. putted into the model to provide an indication of the spatial variation of
Fig. 14(a) shows the good agreement between the model's predicted wear around the foundations in the wind farm. The locations have been
wear and the SCM detected wear for the two K1-RD locations. Fig. 14b chosen to offer a good distribution across the wind farm, so that each
shows that the model's circumferential distribution of wear aligns foundation for which the expected wear has not been calculated is adja-
well with the wind distribution for the inputted period. cent to at least one foundation for which the calculation has been done.
In order to determine the robustness and accuracy of the model, This resulted in the locations shown in Fig. 17 (namely turbine locations
the predicted wear was checked against the SCM detected wear for A1, C3, C6, D2, E5, F1, F7, G3 and J5, in addition to H4 and K1).
another two periods on both the H4 and K1 locations. This indicat- In order to determine the 20-year prediction of wear for each
ed that the initial calibration against the K1-S2-RD had resulted in structure, three years of historical SCADA data from 2010 to 2012
over-prediction of the wear for all but one of the periods analysed. were inputted into the model in the form of 10-minute average
However, a model output calibrated against the detected wear wind speed, wind direction and power generation for each location.
from K1-S6-RD, resulted in an equivalent of 0.38 Hz structural re- The model output of wear distribution for this period is then scaled
sponse, matching the magnitude of detected wear for all of the pe- by the proportion of input data availability, as required by the sparse
riods, examples of which are shown in Fig. 15. This frequency nature of some of the data periods, with up to 5 out of 12 months
coincides well with the first mode of the substructure's natural fre- where no data was recorded. The computed wear was then scaled
quency response at 0.29–0.33 Hz, and the blade passing (1P and to a 20-year equivalent wear, based on the assumption that the
3P) driving frequencies from the WTG at 0.14–0.31 Hz and 0.43– three-year wind characteristics and three-month structural re-
0.92 Hz. sponse characteristics used to derive the model are representative
This model is specific to the substructures used in this case study over the entire 20-year design life. This assumption appears reason-
given it has been derived for the statistical relationships between the able for the wind loading, as there is a good comparison between the
structures response and environmental data at a specific wind farm wind speed and direction distribution measured over the three years
and for the specifications of the specific structures. of available data and those used in the design of the substructure
Since the model has been derived and validated from a single (see Fig. 16).
case study, the robustness of its predictions would be limited if In addition, given that the duration of the observation period is three
directly applied to other sites without calibration for the change years, data automatically take into account inter-annual and inter-sea-
in site conditions. However, the devised methodology is not spe- sonal variations [30] and are well above the minimum duration of six
cific to the site and can be applied to other situations by incorpo- months stated in reference [34] to achieve an acceptable level of repre-
rating site-specific relationships and specifications. If this could sentativeness. Regarding the foundations themselves, the SCM data
be done for a range of different sites, this would allow developing analysed to date has not indicated any significant change in the natural
a tool that could be utilised directly across the offshore wind frequencies of the structures as a result of accumulated damage in the
industry. grouted connection.
 P. Dallyn et al. / Structures 10 (2017) 117–129 127

Fig. 16. Comparison of design and measured wind speeds and direction distributions.

The results of the numerical model's wear for each of the 11 selected connections, a numerical model has been developed to predict the accu-
locations are shown in Fig. 17. These results are based on the value of out- mulation of wear in the grouted connections for the actual load condi-
putted wear from the model calibrated for a 0.38 Hz response, which was tions experienced over a given period. The proposed model has been
chosen given the accuracy it showed against the SCM detected wear. derived and calibrated based on limited site SCM (structural condition
From Fig. 17, it can be seen that the maximum wear at the very top of monitoring) and SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition)
the grouted connections was found on the predominant wind direction data of two operational WTG (wind turbine generator) substructures
and is in the order of 3.5 to 4.8 mm, with around 1 mm on the opposite afflicted by wear of the grouted connections, along with experimental-
side indicating a possible gap of dynamic movement of 5 to 6 mm after ly-derived wear rates. Good agreement has been found between the
20 years of operation. However, it should be noted that, due to the in- model's predicted and SCM detected wear for the majority of instru-
corporated SCF for the nominal contact stress, the magnitude of this mented locations and periods screened. Although the model is specific
wear reduces to a tenth of the value indicated at the top of the connec- to the structural characteristics of the substructures used as a case
tion within 700 mm of depth (as shown in Fig. 11c), leaving three quar- study, the devised methodology can be applied to other wind farms
ters of the connection barely affected by wear. Given the significance of by replacing the case-specific details, limiting the need for expensive
the impact of the applied SCF, it is recommended that a more detailed SCM.
analysis is undertaken to verify the accuracy of the linear approximation Through statistical analysis of the inputted period of wind data and
used in this study. comparison with historical wind statistics for the site, the model out-
One outlier in the results appears to be C3, which shows much less putted wear for a 3-year period has been scaled to provide a prediction
wear than any other foundation. Upon investigation of the wind and of the expected wear over the 20-year design life of the plant. By model-
power data for this period, it was found that C3 has slightly less wind ling a selection of WTG substructure locations across a typical wind
data than other cases, while power data were incorrect when compared farm, it has been shown that wear accumulation in the order of about
to the other WTGs, which has clearly affected the model's predictions. 4 mm at the very top of the predominant wind direction side of the
grouted connection could be expected, assuming no significant change
5. Conclusions in the environmental or structural conditions. However, over the major-
ity of the length of the connection, the wear is of the order of 0.4 mm
Aimed at better understanding and quantifying the long-term impli- due to a large reduction in the stress concentration factor (SCF), which
cations of the grout wear failure in large-diameter plain-pipe grouted sharply increases the stress at the ends of the connection. Given the
128 P. Dallyn et al. / Structures 10 (2017) 117–129

Fig. 17. Spatial variation of 20 years of accumulated wear for 11 foundations at a typical offshore wind farm.

significance of the impact of the applied SCF, it is recommended that References

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