scholarly journals Extreme Wave Loads on Monopile Substructures: Precomputed Kinematics Coupled With the Pressure Impulse Slamming Load Model

Author(s):  
Fabio Pierella ◽  
Amin Ghadirian ◽  
Henrik Bredmose

Abstract Monopiles are nowadays the preferred substructure type for bottom-fixed offshore wind turbines at shallow to intermediate water depths. At these locations, the large waves that contribute to extreme loads are strongly nonlinear. Therefore they are not easily reproduced via the simple engineering models who are commonly used in the offshore industry. In the current approach, we develop a design pattern which improves this standard methodology. To retain nonlinearity in the force computations, we have precomputed a number of wave realizations by means of a potential fully-nonlinear code (OceanWave3D), for a wide span of nondimensional water depths and significant wave heights. The designer can then extract a wave kinematics time series from the precomputed set, scale it by the Froude law, and couple it with a suitable force model to compute loads. To complete the picture, slamming loads are calculated by means of the so-called pressure impulse model, recently developed at DTU. Rather than computing the time series of the slamming load, the model uses a few parameters, all except one determinable from the incident wave to calculate the pressure impulse. First comparisons with experimental results, obtained in the framework of the DeRisk project, are promising. The force and the wave elevation statistics from the precomputed simulations are in good agreement with the experiments. Some discrepancies are present, due to an imperfect scaling and to the differences in the physical and numerical domains. The computed loads from the slamming model match the experimental ones quite closely, when the wave celerity is extracted as the ratio between the time gradient and the x-wise space gradient of the surface elevation.

Author(s):  
Maximilian Liebert

Abstract As a consequence of the planned exit from fossil-based energy in the European Union the exploitation of renewable energies has become a major aspect of the Offshore Industry. Especially the construction and operation of offshore wind energy turbines pose a challenge which is met by the use of jack-up vessels with extendible legs. In order to dimension the vessel’s manoeuvring devices in the early design stage and to ensure a safe jack-up process for given environmental loads the dynamic positioning capability during the jacking including the influence of the legs has to be calculated. As part of the development of a holistic dynamic analysis this paper presents the implementation of the legs’ influence in an existing manoeuvring method. The manoeuvring method solves the equations of motion in three degrees of freedom (surge, sway, yaw). It is based on a force model which comprises various modular components. Therefore another component for the leg-forces is added. A Morison approach is chosen to calculate the hydrodynamic forces on the cylindrical legs. The legs’ hydrodynamic added masses are accounted for and added to the hull’s inertial terms. The benefit of the presented method is the possibility to calculate the dynamic positioning capability with extended legs without being dependent on the results of either time-consuming or non-specific model tests. Therefore the method represents a fast computing tool to design the vessel for the specific environmental conditions of the site of operation.


Author(s):  
Ioannis K. Chatjigeorgiou ◽  
Konstantinos Chatziioannou ◽  
Vanessa Katsardi ◽  
Apostolos Koukouselis ◽  
Euripidis Mistakidis

The purpose of this work is to examine a three-legged jacket tower support system subjected to wave loading. To this end, linear as well as nonlinear wave scenarios are investigated. The structure was designed for offshore wind turbines installed in intermediate water depths. The phenomenon of the wave-structure interaction is examined experimentally with a 1:18 scaled model as well as numerically with the use of Finite Element Model (FEM). The structural calculations were performed using the structural analysis software SAP2000, which was enhanced by a special programming interface that was developed to calculate the wave loading and to directly apply the wave loads on the structural members. The FEM model in combination with the key parameters that are taken into account, provides a good correlation with the experimental results. The wave theories of Airy and Stokes 5th are employed for the calculation of the wave particle kinematics. The resulting wave forces are examined both in the frequency and in the time domain.


Author(s):  
Arunjyoti Sarkar ◽  
Ove T. Gudmestad

Monopiles are commonly used as foundations for offshore wind turbines at sites with shallow to intermediate water depths (say, up to 40m water depth). The installation of a monopiles is normally carried out by using a bottom supported platform (e.g., a jack-up vessel) which holds the pile at the correct location vertically while driving it into the seabed. In this paper, a methodology for installing a monopile is described which can be applied either by a bottom supported platform or by a floating vessel. The basic philosophy behind this methodology is to support the monopile initially by buoyancy and then by a subsea holding structure. Thus the requirement for a large crane working offshore is eliminated and the marine operation is no longer dependent on the motions of the supporting vessel. Brief geotechnical calculations are presented to support the feasibility of this methodology. Some of the possible design challenges of the installation aids are listed in the conclusion.


Author(s):  
G. K. V. Ramachandran ◽  
H. Bredmose ◽  
J. N. Sørensen ◽  
J. J. Jensen

A dynamic model for a tension-leg platform (TLP) floating offshore wind turbine is proposed. The model includes three-dimensional wind and wave loads and the associated structural response. The total system is formulated using 17 degrees of freedom (DOF), 6 for the platform motions and 11 for the wind turbine. Three-dimensional hydrodynamic loads have been formulated using a frequency- and direction-dependent spectrum. While wave loads are computed from the wave kinematics using Morison’s equation, aerodynamic loads are modelled by means of unsteady Blade-Element-Momentum (BEM) theory, including Glauert correction for high values of axial induction factor, dynamic stall, dynamic wake and dynamic yaw. The aerodynamic model takes into account the wind shear and turbulence effects. For a representative geographic location, platform responses are obtained for a set of wind and wave climatic conditions. The platform responses show an influence from the aerodynamic loads, most clearly through a quasi-steady mean surge and pitch response associated with the mean wind. Further, the aerodynamic loads show an influence from the platform motion through more fluctuating rotor loads, which is a consequence of the wave-induced rotor dynamics. In the absence of a controller scheme for the wind turbine, the rotor torque fluctuates considerably, which induces a growing roll response especially when the wind turbine is operated nearly at the rated wind speed. This can be eliminated either by appropriately adjusting the controller so as to regulate the torque or by optimizing the floater or tendon dimensions, thereby limiting the roll motion. Loads and coupled responses are predicted for a set of load cases with different wave headings. Based on the results, critical load cases are identified and discussed. As a next step (which is not presented here), the dynamic model for the substructure is therefore being coupled to an advanced aero-elastic code Flex5, Øye (1996), which has a higher number of DOFs and a controller module.


Author(s):  
Vasiliki Katsardi ◽  
Chris Swan

This paper describes a new series of laboratory observations, undertaken in a purpose built wave flume, in which a number of scaled simulations of realistic ocean spectra were allowed to evolve over a range of mild bed slopes. The purpose of the study was to examine the distribution of wave heights and its dependence on the local water depth, d, the local bed slope, m, and the nature of the input spectrum; the latter considering variations in the spectral peak period, Tp, the spectral bandwidth and the wave steepness. The results of the study show that for mild bed slopes the statistical distributions of wave heights are effectively independent of both the bed slope and the spectral bandwidth. However, the peak period plays a very significant role in the sense that it alters the effective water depth. Following detailed comparisons with the measured data, the statistical distributions for wave heights in relatively deep water are found to be in reasonable agreement with the Forristall [1] and Glukhovskii [2] distributions. For intermediate water depths, the Battjes & Groenendijk [3] distribution works very well. However, for the shallowest water depths none of the existing distributions provides good agreement with the measured data; all leading to an over-estimate of the largest wave heights.


Author(s):  
I. Karmpadakis ◽  
C. Swan ◽  
M. Christou

This paper concerns the statistical distribution of the crest heights associated with surface waves in intermediate water depths. The results of a new laboratory study are presented in which data generated in different experimental facilities are used to establish departures from commonly applied statistical distributions. Specifically, the effects of varying sea-state steepness, effective water depth and directional spread are investigated. Following an extensive validation of the experimental data, including direct comparisons to available field data, it is shown that the nonlinear amplification of crest heights above second-order theory observed in steep deep water sea states is equally appropriate to intermediate water depths. These nonlinear amplifications increase with the sea-state steepness and reduce with the directional spread. While the latter effect is undoubtedly important, the present data confirm that significant amplifications above second order (5–10%) are observed for realistic directional spreads. This is consistent with available field data. With further increases in the sea-state steepness, the dissipative effects of wave breaking act to reduce these nonlinear amplifications. While the competing mechanisms of nonlinear amplification and wave breaking are relevant to a full range of water depths, the relative importance of wave breaking increases as the effective water depth reduces.


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