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Experimental Evaluation of Dynamic Rock Scour Protection in Morphodynamic Environments for Offshore Wind Jackets

Abstract: Bottom-fixed offshore wind turbines are generally built on continental-shelf sections that are morphodynamically active due to their shallow depths and severe wave and current conditions. Such sites are commonly protected against scour to prevent the loss of structural stability. Scour protection can be designed using static or dynamic solutions. Designing dynamic protection requires experimental validation, especially for singular or unconventional structures. This article presents an experimental method for the laboratory analysis of scour protection for jacket foundations placed at morphodynamically active sites. The test campaign was conducted within the project East Anglia ONE (UK) as part of the asset owner studies and aimed to evaluate operation and maintenance (O&M) aspects, independent of the contractor?s original design assessments. The physical experiments explored morphodynamic changes on the sea bottom and their importance to scour protection, as well as the importance of the history of the wave loads to the deformation of the rock scour protection. This was explored by repeating different cumulative tests, including a succession of randomly ordered sea states (Return Period (RP) 1-10-20-50 years). The experimental results show that the deformation of the rock sour protection was the greatest when the most energetic sea states occurred at the beginning of the experimental test campaign. The maximum deformation was at 5D50 when the first test was also the most energetic, while it was at 3D50 when not included as the first test, yielding a 40% reduction in the scour protection deformation.

 Fuente: Energies 2021, 14, 12, 3379

 Publisher: MDPI

 Year of publication: 2021

 No. of pages: 15

 Publication type: Article

 DOI: 10.3390/en14123379

 ISSN: 1996-1073

 Spanish project: RYC-2017-23260

 Publication Url: https://doi.org/10.3390/en14123379

Authorship

ARANTZA ITURRIOZ ECEIZA

OJANGUREN, TERESA

ÁVILA, ALBERTO

YANES, CÉSAR