A semi-analytical model for the prediction of underwater noise from offshore pile driving

Underwater noise from offshore pile driving gained considerable attention in recent years mainly due to the large scale construction of offshore wind farms. The most common foundation type of a wind turbine is a monopile, upon which the wind tower rests. The pile is driven into place with the help of hydraulic hammers. During the hammering of the pile, high levels of noise are generated which are known to produce deleterious effects on both mammals and fish. In this work, a linear semi-analytical model is developed for predicting the levels of underwater noise for a wide range of system parameters. The model incorporates all major parts of the system. The hydraulic hammer is substituted by an external force, the pile is described as a thin circular cylindrical shell, the water is modelled as a compressible fluid and the water-saturated seabed is defined by distributed springs and dashpots in all directions. The solution of the coupled vibroacoustic problem is based on the representation of the response of the complete system on the modal basis of the in vacuo shell structure. The influence that the inter-modal coupling, the choice of the soil parameters and the acoustic impedance of the seabed have on the generated noise levels is studied in the frequency domain. Strong and weak points of the present model are discussed on the basis of a comparison with a set of available experimental data. The obtained results show the capability of the model to predict the underwater noise levels both qualitatively and quantitatively.