About the project
Around 70% of Europe’s offshore wind turbines are installed in the North Sea. Chalk, a calcareous weak rock, is widely present in this area. Driven piles are currently the preferred foundation system for these structures, but pile design entails a high level of uncertainty. Our recent collaborative work on helical (‘screw’) piles has indicated their potential suitability for these highly challenging offshore applications. The relative ease of installation of screw piles at depth may offer a much more convenient method for anchoring wind turbine foundation systems. This can potentially reduce the cost of offshore renewables, accelerate the rate of infrastructure deployment, and significantly contribute towards meeting energy decarbonisation targets.
This project builds on previous cutting-edge work on both helical piles and computed tomography (CT) scanning applications at Southampton, and aims to extend existing soil mechanics frameworks for Chalk to helical pile installation mechanisms to produce improved predictive tools that may then be incorporated into pile design. As part of your PhD, you will perform advanced geotechnical tests at our state-of-the-art National Infrastructure Laboratory using our Hollow Cylinder Apparatus, while at the same time harnessing world-leading X-ray CT tools at our µ-VIS X-ray Imaging Centre, to investigate the complex loading and deformation conditions that are generated during chalk-structure interaction. You will interpret your observations using available soil mechanics frameworks for chalk and produce game-changing insight on how helical design and installation for offshore renewable applications would be like in the near future.
