基于环境因素的海上风机支撑结构方案比选多级模糊决策

海上风电是最有前途的清洁能源之一,在概念设计时,海上风机的支撑结构选型优化非常重要。选型优化是一个多属性决策问题,本文将广泛应用的多因素、多层次模糊优选理论引入支撑结构的选型决策中。针对环境等影响因素复杂、确定隶属函数主观因素较强的问题, 成功引入因素的优先关系法来确定优选矩阵的隶属度,较好地减少了确定隶属函数的人为影响。通过此优选模型成功地将四种优选方案(单桩,三脚架,五桩,高桩门架)和影响支撑结构选型的8种因素(施工难度,维护成本,CO2排放量,海水浑浊度,珊瑚礁形成,强度,刚度,耐久性)进行了多级模糊综合优选决策,得到了比较科学的决策结果,本研究为海上风机支撑结构的方案选型决策提出了一种量化分析的手段。     

Vibration-assisted decommissioning of a slip joint: Application to an offshore wind turbine

An alternative option to the traditional grouted joint for wind turbines is a direct steel-to-steel connection, also known as slip joint. In a recently published work, a proof of concept of a vibration-assisted installation and decommissioning technique of a slip joint was illustrated. Leveraging on the obtained results, the current study shows for the first time a decommissioning campaign carried out using a vibration-assisted technique applied on a prototype hydraulic wind turbine tower located in the North Sea, and connected to the monopile through a slip joint. The key aspect of the dismounting procedure is a priori knowledge of the resonance frequency clusters corresponding to the slip joint’s cross-sectional modes. Therefore, field hammer tests and experimental modal analysis were carried out inside the wind turbine tower. The identified frequencies and mode shapes were then compared with numerical ones estimated by a finite element model of the investigated structure. The comparison showed that a set of frequency clusters can be directly selected from a detailed numerical model. The preparatory work of the slip joint decommissioning was then executed by installing electric shaker devices, based on the dynamic identification results, and hydraulic jacks mounted inside the wind turbine tower. A first decommissioning trial was carried out in May 2019, while the final decommissioning was performed in August 2019. After analysing the measurements of the hydraulic pressures, displacements and excitation frequencies during the decommissioning campaigns, the results showed that it is possible to disconnect the slip joint if, in combination to a vertical static force, one of the identified cross-sectional mode shapes is excited. The vibration-assisted decommissioning proved to be a successful technique to dismount the connection in a controlled and straightforward manner.     

Ultimate load analysis of a 10 MW offshore monopile wind turbine incorporating fully nonlinear irregular wave kinematics

Loads from storm waves can in some cases be dimensioning for offshore wind turbine substructures. Accurate determination of nonlinear wave loads is therefore important for a safe, yet economic design. In this paper, the fully nonlinear waves, realized by a fully nonlinear potential wave solver OceanWave3D, are incorporated into coupled aero-servo-hydro-elastic simulations for a reduced set of wave-sensitive design load cases, in comparison with the widely used linear and constrained waves. The coupled aero-elastic simulations are performed for the DTU 10 MW reference wind turbine on a large monopile at 33 m water depth using the aero-elastic code HAWC2. Effect of the wave nonlinearity is investigated in terms of the ultimate sectional moments at tower bottom and monopile mudline. Higher ultimate moments, 5% at tower bottom and 13% at monopile mudline as maximum, are predicated when the nonlinear waves are used. It could be explained by the fact that the extreme nonlinear waves, that are close to the breaking limit, can induce resonant ringing-type responses, and hereby dominate the ultimate load responses. However, the constrained wave approach shows marginal difference compared to the standard linear wave approach. It can be concluded at least for the present configuration that the industry standard approaches (linear and constrained wave approach) underestimate the ultimate load responses on offshore wind turbines in severe sea states.     

The wet-towing resistance of the composite bucket foundation for offshore wind turbines

The composite bucket foundation (CBF) is a new and environmentally-friendly foundation for offshore wind turbines. This foundation can be prefabricated in batches onshore followed by integrated transport and installation at sea. The structure itself has a subdivision air cushion structure that enables the foundation to float stably on the water surface and realize long-distance towing of the foundation. The mechanism of this air-liquid-solid coupling towing process is complicated, and the influence of the bulkheads on the towing resistance is not clear. In this paper, the influence of the subdivision structure on the towing resistance of the CBF is compared with the tow test in hydrostatic water. The structural motion characteristics and the change of the cushion pressure are also analysed. Experiments are used to verify numerical calculation results. The flow field difference between the CBF with bulkheads, the CBF without bulkheads and the real floating structure was analysed. The dynamic pressure coefficient was used to analyze the force at surfaces of different CBF's. For the tow test and numerical calculation of multiple CBFs, the optimal multi-CBF tow distance and towage number are obtained through the calculation of energy consumption rate.     

An object-oriented method for fully coupled analysis of floating offshore wind turbines through mapping of aerodynamic coefficients

This work presents a novel object-oriented approach to model the fully-coupled dynamic response of floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs). The key features offered by the method are the following: 1) its structure naturally allows for easy implementation of arbitrary platform geometries and platform/rotor configurations, 2) the analysis time is significantly faster than that of standard codes and results are accurate in situations where rotor dynamic contribution is negligible, and 3) an extremely flexible modeling environment is offered by the object-oriented nature of Modelica. Moreover, the current modeling facility used for the code development is open source and is naturally suitable for code sharing. In the present method, the aerodynamic model computes the aerodynamic loads through the mapping of steady-state aerodynamic coefficients. This modeling approach can be placed at the intersection between simplified aerodynamic methods, such as TDHMill, and full beam element/momentum-based aerodynamic methods. Aerodynamic loads obtained from the coefficients mapping are composed of a concentrated thrust and a concentrated torque. The thrust acts at the hub, while the torque is applied at the rotor low-speed shaft of a simplified rigid rotor equation of motion (EoM) used to emulate the rotor response. The aerodynamic coefficients are computed in FAST for a baseline 5 MW wind turbine. A standard rotor-collective blade-pitch control model is implemented. The system is assumed to be rigid. Linear hydrodynamics is employed to compute hydrodynamic loads. The industry-standard numerical-panel code Sesam-Wadam (DNV-GL) is used to preprocess the frequency-domain hydrodynamic problem. Validation of the code considers a standard spar-buoy platform, based on the Offshore Code Comparison Collaboration (OC3-Hywind). The dynamic response is tested in terms of free-decay response, Response Amplitude Operator (RAO), and the time histories and power spectral densities (PSDs) of several load cases including irregular waves and turbulent wind. The resulting model is benchmarked against well-known code-to-code comparisons and a good agreement is obtained.     

Fatigue tests on grouted connection segment specimens in offshore wind turbine structures considering water ingression

Grouted connections (GCs) are widely used to connect superstructures and driven piles in offshore wind turbine structures. They resist fatigue loading in marine splash zones and even submerged environments. In this paper, six GC segment specimens were designed and tested under fatigue loading in both the air and water ingression conditions. The results in the air condition showed that for the specimens with lower loading ranges, the strain distributions and residual displacements stabilized after 20 thousand load cycles. These conditions persisted until the end of the test with two million cycles, with only a few tiny cracks appearing on the grout material surface. Meanwhile, wide cracks and grout material exfoliation were found in specimens with higher loading ranges. The residual displacement accumulated gradually, which eventually caused the termination of the test when it reached 5 mm after 1.3 million cycles. The results in the water ingression condition showed that the water had entered into the micro-cracks of the grout material, which severely degraded the fatigue behavior of the GC specimens. Even in lower loading ranges, specimens W-1 and W-2 only endured 0.264 million and 64 thousand load cycles before the displacement of the top clamp reached −10 mm. Compared with two specimens tested in the air, with a total displacement of less than −0.7 mm after two million load cycles, the severe deteriorating effect of water ingression on the fatigue behavior of GCs was apparent.     

Permanent accumulated rotation of offshore wind turbine monopile due to typhoon-induced cyclic loading

In order to study the effect of typhoons on the accumulated deformation of monopile foundations for offshore wind turbines, a series of 1-g laboratory model tests with a geometrical scale of 1:100 were carried out. Through the horizontal static and cyclic loading tests of a stiff pile embedded in a medium dense sand deposit, the relationship between the accumulated rotation of the pile and the number of loading cycles under different loading conditions was obtained. The results show that the final accumulated rotation is mainly caused by the typhoon load series and is not affected by the loading sequence. Based on these results, a method is presented to predict the accumulated rotation of the monopile foundation during its service life, and a case study of a 6 MW wind turbine supported by a monopile at a water depth of 30 m in sand is conducted by using the method. The results show that the permanent accumulated rotation of the monopile throughout the design life is mainly contributed by cyclic loading induced by typhoons and the contribution of cyclic loading with small amplitudes can be ignored.     

Estimation of natural frequencies and damping using dynamic field data from an offshore wind turbine

The dynamic characteristics of offshore wind turbines are heavily affected by environmental loads from wave and wind action and nonlinear soil behaviour. In the design of the monopile structures, the fatigue load due to wind and wave loading is one of the most important problems to consider. Since the fatigue damage is sensitive to the foundation stiffness and damping, increasing the accuracy of analysis tools used in the design and optimization process can improve the reliability of the structure and reduce conservatism, thereby leading to a more cost-efficient design. In this context, analysis of field data is important for calibrating and verifying purposes. This paper presents analysis of measured accelerations and strains from a wind farm in the North Sea with monopile foundations. Field data during idling conditions, collected over long periods of operation, are analysed and the natural frequencies are determined, and damping is estimated. The measured natural frequencies are compared to calculated values using an aero-servo-hydro-elastic code, showing a good agreement in the frequency range below 2 Hz. Variation of the natural frequencies with intensity of loading may indicate effect of soil nonlinearity on the overall OWT response. Since the first natural bending modes have the largest potential to mobilize soil reactions, they are of primary interest in this context. The effect of load (wave, wind and dynamic bending moment) on the first natural frequency is investigated using different analysis techniques in the frequency domain and time domain. A clear correlation between load level and first natural frequency is demonstrated. A simple nonlinear SSI model of the tower/soil system is employed to numerically investigate the observed changes in the measured first natural frequency with the level of loading and increased overall damping. The simulated results reproduce the general trends in the observed reduction in the first natural frequency and increased damping ratio with the load level. However, the effect of the load level is less than that observed in the measurements, indicating contribution also from other factors than soil nonlinearity.     

Crack growth direction effects on corrosion-fatigue behaviour of offshore wind turbine steel weldments

In this study corrosion-fatigue tests have been conducted on fracture mechanics specimens extracted from an S355 G10+M structural steel welded plate. The tests have been performed on compact tension specimens with the crack tip located in the heat affected zone. The corrosion-fatigue test results from this study have been compared with the data available on the base metal as well as air tests on the same material. Moreover, the obtained results have been compared with the corrosion-fatigue data available in the literature on a wide range of steels and also the fatigue trends for welded joints in free-corrosion condition recommended in the BS7910 Standard. The effect of the specimen orientation, with respect to the weld region, is also examined in this study and it has been found that higher corrosion-fatigue crack growth rates are generally observed in the tests with 0° orientation. The results have also shown that the corrosive environment has significant effects on the fatigue crack growth acceleration at the beginning of the tests; however, as the crack propagates, the environmental damage effect on crack growth behaviour becomes less pronounced. The results presented in this study are discussed in terms of improvement in the structural integrity assessment of offshore wind turbine monopiles.     

海上风力发电机组支撑结构动力响应特性研究

支撑结构设计是大型海上风电机组设计的重要部分。文章分析了海上风电机组的各种环境载荷,并以3MW风力机组为例计算其所受环境载荷,包括作用在支撑结构顶端的由风机叶轮转动引起的水平轴向力、作用在塔筒上的风载荷以及作用在基础上的海流、海浪载荷,并采用非线性弹簧来模拟基础与海底土层之间的相互作用。在考虑风轮影响情况下,利用有限元法对支撑结构进行了模态分析。最后,分析了环境载荷作用下支撑结构的动态响应。计算结果表明,在对海上风力发电机组进行动态响应计算时,环境载荷之间的相互耦合作用不能忽略。     

Modified environmental contour method for predicting long-term extreme responses of bottom-fixed offshore wind turbines

Predicting extreme responses is very important in designing a bottom-fixed offshore wind turbines. The commonly used method that account for the variability of the response and the environmental conditions is the full long-term analysis (FLTA), which is accurate but time consuming. It is a direct integration of all the probability distribution of short-term extremes and the environmental conditions. Since the long-term extreme responses are usually governed by very few important environmental conditions, the long-term analysis can be greatly simplified if such conditions are identified. For offshore structures, one simplified method is the environmental contour method (ECM), which uses the short-term extreme probability distribution of important environmental conditions selected on the contour surface with the relevant return periods. However, because of the inherent difference of offshore wind turbines and ordinary offshore structures, especially their non-monotonic behavior of the responses under wind loads, ECM cannot be directly applied because the environmental condition it selects is not close to the actual most important one.The paper presents a modified environmental contour method (MECM) for bottom-fixed offshore wind turbine applications. It can identify the most important environmental condition that governs the long-term extreme. The method is tested on the NREL 5 MW wind turbine supported by a simplified jacket-type support structure. Compared to the results of FLTA, MECM yields accurate results and is shown to be an efficient and reliable method for the prediction of the extreme responses of bottom-fixed offshore wind turbines.     

海上风机支撑结构的时域和频域疲劳对比研究

对海上风机支撑结构进行动力响应分析,求出结构危险节点的载荷谱和功率谱密度函数,结合疲劳损伤模型和Dirlik概率模型,分别在时域和频域内对支撑结构进行疲劳寿命分析.由于时域法计算疲劳寿命需进行应力循环计数,这一过程需处理的数据庞大,耗时长.频域法省去应力循环计数,代之以概率密度函数,可相对准确、快速地计算结构的疲劳寿命.分析结果表明,采用Dirlik概率模型的频域分析法能较准确地反映海上风机支撑结构在随机载荷作用下的疲劳损伤情况,计算结果误差在可接受范围内.     

牵索锚固式海上风机基础结构设计与分析

海上风电开发中随着水深增加,传统的固定式风机基础的劣势逐步显现,建造成本也显著增加。本文提出了一种适用水深范围广、结构简单、刚度可调的新型牵索锚固式海上风机基础结构。结合海上风电场设计实践和经验,归纳了牵索锚固式海上风机基础的设计重点。以3MW海上风力发电机组为例,分析不同牵索结构设计参数对基础结构的影响,通过计算发现,索缆根数、夹角对结构位移影响显著,而对应力影响微弱,索缆牵拉位置对结构应力位移影响都很显著。分析牵索锚固式风机基础结构在工作荷载和环境荷载耦合作用下的力学性能,计算结果显示,牵索锚固式海上风机基础结构不会发生强度破坏,但位移可能超过使用限制。     

Effects of structural flexibility on the dynamic responses of low-height lifting mechanism for offshore wind turbine installation

Installation complexities are one of the major challenges in the floating offshore wind turbine (OWT) industry. The modern concept introduced by the SFI-MOVE project is an effort to overcome the complexities by utilizing a low-height lifting mechanism. It is common to idealize a crane in the lifting mechanism as a rigid body since the structural deflections are smaller than the responses introduced by the other system components. However, structural flexibility can play an essential role in demanding offshore operations with smaller acceptable tolerances. In this study, lifting cranes are modeled using the finite element method and simplified by implementing equivalent 3D beam elements. Dynamic analysis is performed for various environmental conditions, and the responses of the crane structure and the OWT are calculated for each load case. This research reveals that crane structure flexibility influences the relative motion between a floating spar buoy and an OWT during mating operations. Crane structural flexibility contributes significantly to the OWT rotations. In addition, the response deviation between using rigid and flexible cranes increases as the excitation force increases. Therefore, it is recommended to consider the crane structural flexibility in the calculation when strict installation tolerances are needed.     

Support condition monitoring of monopile-supported offshore wind turbines in layered soil based on model updating

Monopile-supported offshore wind turbines (OWTs) are dynamically sensitive structures whose fundamental frequencies may be close to those of environmental and turbine-related excitations. The changes in fundamental frequencies caused by pile-soil interaction (PSI) may result in unwanted resonance and serious O&M (Operation and Maintenance) issues, which have been identified as major challenges in the research field. Therefore, a novel model updating framework with an implicit objective function is proposed to monitor both the stiffness and damping variation of the OWT system based on the measured vibration characteristics, which is further verified by laboratory tests. In particular, layered soil was considered in the tests to simulate the practical soil conditions of Chinese seas. Different pile lengths were introduced to consider the long-term PSI effects for rigid piles and slender piles. The results showed that the variation in the fundamental frequency is significantly reduced in layered soil compared with the pure sand scenario. For the OWT systems in layered soil, the variation in foundation stiffness is negatively related to the burial depth under cyclic loading. The proposed model updating framework is proven reliable for support condition monitoring of OWT systems in complicated soil conditions.     

Time domain analysis procedures for fatigue assessment of a semi-submersible wind turbine

Long term time domain analysis of the nominal stress for fatigue assessment of the tower and platform members of a three-column semi-submersible was performed by fully coupled time domain analyses in Simo-Riflex-AeroDyn. By combining the nominal stress ranges with stress concentration factors, hot spot stresses for fatigue damage calculation can be obtained. The aim of the study was to investigate the necessary simulation duration, number of random realisations and bin sizes for the discretisation of the joint wind and wave distribution. A total of 2316 3-h time domain simulations, were performed.In mild sea states with wind speeds between 7 and 9 m/s, the tower and pontoon experienced high fatigue damage due to resonance in the first bending frequency of the tower from the tower wake blade passing frequency (3P).Important fatigue effects seemed to be captured by 1 h simulations, and the sensitivity to number of random realisations was low when running simulations of more than 1 h. Fatigue damage for the tower base converged faster with simulation duration and number of random realisations than it did for the platform members.Bin sizes of 2 m/s for wind, 1 s for wave periods and 1 m for wave heights seemed to give acceptable estimates of total fatigue damage. It is, however, important that wind speeds that give coinciding 3P and tower resonance are included and that wave periods that give the largest pitch motion are included in the analysis.     

Strain estimation for offshore wind turbines with jacket substructures using dual-band modal expansion

Structural fatigue is a design driver for offshore wind turbines (OWT). In particular, the substructures, like jackets, are strongly affected by fatigue. Monitoring the fatigue progression in the welds is vital for the maintenance and a potential lifetime extension. However, inspections of critical locations are costly due to the limited accessibility of the mostly submerged jacket. Considering the high number of potentially critical welds, it is regarded as economically unfeasible to equip all fatigue hot spots with sensors. Thus, an indirect method to monitor the fatigue progress of the structure and point out critical locations is desirable. For a consistent support of ongoing maintenance, it has to yield reliable results for varying operational and environmental conditions. This paper applies a virtual sensing approach to jacket substructures. From a small set of sensors on the tower, fatigue at every desired location of the jacket is estimated using dual-band modal expansion. Simulations using the OC4 jacket design are performed to show potentials and limitations of the method. Namely fatigue progress on leg welds of K-joints is predicted with high accuracy over a wide range of load cases. However, some difficulties in fatigue prediction of X-joints due to the occurrence of local modes and limitations in the extrapolation of wave loading have to be resolved in future work.     

Study on a new method for installing a monopile and a fully integrated offshore wind turbine structure

This paper presents a preliminary technical feasibility study on a new methodology proposed for installing a monopile-based bottom supported offshore wind turbine structure. The concept is developed to address the problem of “waiting for a suitable weather window” which is commonly faced by the existing installation methods that uses a typical jack-up platform. In the methodology, a floating vessel along with a floatable subsea structure fitted with a hull on the top, hereafter named SSIP (subsea structure for installing a pile), is proposed first to install a monopile. Then the same structure is used to carry an FIUS (fully integrated upper structure) of an offshore wind turbine, which is characterized by a telescopic tower, and install it over the monopile by using an FOP (float-over-pulling) arrangement. Here, the installation methodologies are first briefly described along with the critical load cases associated with them. These load cases are then numerically studied for a significant wave height (H_S) of 2.5 m, and the results are summarized. For installing a fully integrated offshore wind turbine upper structure on a monopile foundation by the FOP method, two installation schemes are presented, and their dynamic characteristics are compared. It is shown that the proposed methodologies have potential to provide installation solutions which can be environmentally more robust compared to the existing method for installing an offshore wind turbine.     

Bottom effects on the tower base shear forces and bending moments of a shallow water offshore wind turbine

In this paper the tower base shear forces and bending moments of a shallow water offshore wind turbine have been rigorously calculated by using a nonlinear simulation method taking into account the bottom effects. It has been found that nonlinearly simulated realistic waves with bottom effects should be used as inputs in the stochastic time domain simulation in order to design an un-conservative support structure for the offshore wind turbine. In order to further improve the simulation efficiency, a transformed linear simulation method has been utilized in this paper for generating equivalent waves as those obtained from the nonlinear simulation method. The accuracy and efficiency of the transformed linear simulation method have been convincingly substantiated through the subsequent calculation examples in this article.     

Experimental study on seismic vibration control of an offshore wind turbine with TMD considering soil liquefaction effect

Wind energy is clean and sustainable. Taiwan is establishing offshore wind farms using wind turbines in the Taiwan Strait. However, these are located in an earthquake-prone area with sandy seabed conditions. To ensure their safety and reliability, the turbines’ support structure must be protected against wind, waves, and seismic loads. Tuned mass dampers (TMDs) are commonly employed to reduce structural vibrations. A TMD is more simply incorporated into turbine structures than are other energy dissipation devices. In this study, a 1:25-scale test model with a TMD was constructed and subjected to shaking table tests to experimentally simulate the dynamic behavior of a typical 5-MW wind turbine with a jacket-type support structure and pile foundation. The scaled-down wind turbine model has a nacelle without rotating blades; therefore, the aerodynamic and rotational effects due to the rotating blades were ignored in this study. A large laminar shear box filled with saturated sandy ground was used to simulate the typical seabed conditions of Taiwanese offshore wind farms. The TMD system was designed to be tuned the first-mode frequency of the test model. Two ground accelerations, selected by considering wind farm site condition and near-fault characteristics, were used for excitation in the test. The responses of the test model with and without the TMD system were compared, and the influence of soil liquefaction on the effectiveness of TMD vibration control was addressed.