Wave Run-up on Slender Piles in Design Conditions: model tests and design rules for offshore wind

Wave run-up on foundations is a very important factor in the design of entrance platforms for offshore wind turbines. When the Horns Reef 1 wind turbine park in Denmark was designed the vertical wave run-up phenomenon was not well known in the industry, hence not sufficiently considered in the design of Horns Reef 1. As a consequence damage was observed on the platforms. This has been the situation for several sites and design tools for platform loads are lacking. As a consequence a physical model test study was initiated at Aalborg University to clarify wave run-up on cylindrical piles for different values of diameter to water depth ratios (D/h) and different wave heights to water depth ratios (H/h) for both regular and irregular waves. A calculation model is calibrated based on stream function theory for crest kinematics and velocity head stagnation theory. Due to increased velocities close to the pile an empirical factor is included on the velocity head. The evaluation of the calculation model shows that an accurate design rule can be established even in breaking wave conditions. However, calibration of a load model showed that it was necessary to increase the run-up factor on the velocity head by 40% to take into account the underestimation of run-up for breaking or nearly breaking waves given that they produce thin run-up wedges and air entrainment, two factors not coped with by the measurement system.