A small-scale pile impact test for demonstrating the coupling between structural vibration and underwater noise generation
As monopile foundations to support offshore wind turbines grow in size, the underwater noise levels during installation also increase. Accurate prediction of these high noise levels is essential for designing effective noise-cancelling devices, which mitigate negative impacts on marine life. Since evaluating noise levels during full-scale monopile installation is time-consuming and expensive, researchers are exploring small-scale tests.
Here, we propose such a test to investigate the sources of high noise levels. Experimental results were compared with a simplified numerical model. The findings demonstrate that analysing the monopile's features in advance enables accurate prediction of underwater noise, facilitating the design of effective noise-cancelling devices.