Numerical Analysis of Shear Keys for Offshore Wind Turbine Monopile Grouted Connection with Elastomeric Bearings

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The manuscript is overall interesting. However, some issues are found throughout the paper. Therefore, according to this Reviewer, a moderate revision would be necessary before the paper can be further considered for possible publication in Applied Sciences. All details are summed up in the following.

 

Required changes:

1. Despite understandable, English needs some improvements. Specifically, it is required to improve the technical aspects of the language.
2. Originality/novelty of the study proposed. This issue is very important and should be better clarified and well highlighted in the text.
3. Introduction: offshore wind structures are subjected to outstanding horizontal loads, along with vertical loads. As a consequence, the load exerted by the structure to foundations is generally inclined. This aspect should be discussed as well. For the sake of simplicity, the authors are suggested to refer to the following references:

10.1007/s11440-010-0124-1

10.1061/(ASCE)GM.1943-5622.0002215

10.1002/nag.3152

1. Section 3: it starts with the following sentence: “There are three analysis scenarios”. According to this reviewer, this section could be introduced in a better way. Generally, the description of the finite element analysis should be enhanced.
2. What constitutive model have the authors employed to perform the analysis? This aspect should be discussed in detail, including the values of the constitutive parameters and how they were obtained.
3. Figure 2 and 3: please indicate the dimension of the elements modeled in the simulation.

Author Response

Dear Editor and Reviewers,

  We would like to thank the editor and reviewers for careful and thorough reading of this manuscript and for the thoughtful comments and constructive suggestions, which help to improve the quality of this manuscript. We reviewed the paper several times. All comments have been accepted and the paper has been revised accordingly. If there are any more corrections, please let us know. Thank you again.

Best regards,

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

Please see the attachment.

Comments for author File: Comments.docx

Author Response

Dear Editor and Reviewers,

We would like to thank the editor and reviewers for careful and thorough reading of this manuscript and for the thoughtful comments and constructive suggestions, which help to improve the quality of this manuscript. We reviewed the paper several times. All comments have been accepted and the paper has been revised accordingly. If there are any more corrections, please let us know. Thank you again.

Best regards,

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

The authors have properly addressed the comments raised by this reviewer during the previous round of review. Accordingly, the manuscript can be considered for publication in the present form.