Design of large-scale tests investigating the lateral load-bearing behavior of monopiles

As todays monopiles are regarded to have large diameters and considerably small embedding length to diameter ratios, current design methods are not entirely compatible with the engineering problem and may lead to conservative design. Additionally, vibro-driven monopiles can be a cost-effective and noise reducing alternative to standard impact driven ones. However up to now the influence of this technique with respect to the lateral load bearing behavior is not fully explored. To gain knowledge on pile-soil interaction for large diameter monopiles and to investigate differences due to the installation process, an extensive test campaign is carried out at the Test Center for Support Structures in Hannover. This contribution presents the design process and preliminary results of t he first phase Analysis of diameter-effects of the test campaign.