PhD Project: Wave Forces on Boat Landings.

The current stage of Computational Fluid Dynamics developments allows studies of diverse problems of engineering. Wind turbine technology has undergone a revolution and the global wind energy sector is developing rapidly. Offshore wind energy is a promising application of wind power, particularly in countries with high population density, and difficulties in finding suitable sites on land. Construction costs are higher at sea, but energy production is also higher at sea. In Denmark alone the annual growth rate of the wind turbine industry has averaged approximately 40 per cent in recent years. This motivated the decision to choose this area of research.

Wave forces are one of the dominant forces for the designs of offshore wind turbines. Traditionally the foundations are designed using piles or gravity structures. The wave forces on these types of foundations are relatively well understood today.

Nevertheless, the foundations will often be equipped with so-called boat landings. It consists mainly of some ladders and fender welded to the foundation. Also the entrance platforms, wires and pipes welded to the foundations will here be referred as boat landings.

The problem with the boat landings is that they contribute significant to the wave loadings. Today no means exist to predict the extra forces from the boat landings. The consequence has been some very rough and conservative design of the foundations, and therefore too expensive structures. The missing knowledge on the wave forces on boat landings is a relatively big problem for the designers of the offshore wind turbines.

The aim of this project is to develop some new design equations for wave forces on the boat landings. It is furthermore the plan to use the new design equations to develop the existing practice of the design process related to the boat landings, so more economical ways of adding the boat landings can be suggested.