Screw piles have been used to support a variety of structures due to their ease of installation and high axial capacity. Recently, screw piles have been proposed as an alternative foundation solution for offshore renewable structures due to their quiet or silent installation. Due to their variable geometry, design and prediction of installation requirements and its effect on in-service capacity may be challenging. In this research study, the discrete-element method (DEM) is used to numerically recreate a series of onshore field tests. The aim of the study is to investigate the ability of DEM to be used as a practical design tool for the design and deployment of screw piles. In this case study, the effect of the geometric helix pitch on the installation torque and tensile capacity of screw piles installed into sand is investigated. DEM results show that the geometric pitch of a screw pile appears to have little effect on the installation torque. The results show that DEM has the potential to be used as a practical design procedure for complex foundation installation where the simulation needs to capture installation effects.

中文翻译：

---

使用离散元方法后推螺旋桩性能的实用设计

螺旋桩因其易于安装和高轴向承载力而被用于支撑各种结构。最近，由于其安静或无声的安装，螺旋桩已被提议作为海上可再生结构的替代基础解决方案。由于其几何形状可变，安装要求的设计和预测及其对服务能力的影响可能具有挑战性。在这项研究中，离散元方法 (DEM) 用于在数值上重建一系列陆上现场测试。该研究的目的是调查 DEM 作为一种实用的设计工具来设计和部署螺旋桩的能力。在本案例研究中，研究了几何螺距对安装在沙中的螺旋桩的安装扭矩和抗拉能力的影响。DEM 结果表明，螺旋桩的几何螺距似乎对安装扭矩的影响很小。结果表明，DEM 有可能用作复杂基础安装的实用设计程序，其中模拟需要捕获安装效果。