Geotechnical Characterization of Sands from the Portuguese Continental Shelf to Support the Design of Renewable Energy Converters Installation

Projects for the installation of offshore renewable energy converters usually require the in situ characterization of the marine soils due to the high variability of marine environments, which is caused by the constant interplay between sediments and physical agents. In this regard, the safety of the foundations of these devices is a mandatory issue and it must predict adverse meteorological and oceanographic conditions. This article is part of a geotechnical characterization study of a small sector of the Portuguese continental shelf, very close to a designated area for the installation of offshore renewable energies devices. In order to investigate the mechanical and the physical properties of poorly graded sands (SP) and poorly graded sands with silt (SP-SM), triaxial compression tests (CK0D) were performed on undisturbed samples. The effective friction angles for those sands were 35.2° and 34.5°, respectively.