How to Account for Uncertainty in Soil Properties in Offshore Monopile Design by Means of Probabilistic Analysis

Download
2022-2-28
Orakcı, Olgu
Offshore wind turbines gain more importance worldwide as they contribute to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and achieve a low-carbon future producing sustainable energy. Monopile is the most commonly employed foundation type for offshore wind turbines. Monopile design requires a comprehensive assessment of seabed soil properties with depth. However, seabed soils involve inherent variability and uncertainty in material properties. Modifications to deterministic design approaches are suggested in the literature to account for uncertainties and achieve target reliability. This study aims to incorporate the uncertainty of soil properties in a probabilistic approach to reach a more reliable and cost-efficient design. Thus, a one-dimensional analysis by the p-y method is conducted to check structural stability and serviceability according to American Petroleum Institute (API) and Det Norske Veritas - Germanischer Lloyd (DNV-GL) guidelines. Hence, nonlinear springs are assigned along the length of the monopile to account for the soil-structure interaction. Analyses are conducted using OpenSees as a nonlinear solver and Python for batch runs. Monte Carlo Simulation is employed to generate random fields. Firstly, the analysis method is verified by comparing the deterministic analysis for a case study in Denmark. Then, probabilistic analysis is applied to the case study and a newly designed monopile in Belgium offshore. Results show that seabed soil variability can affect the probability of unsatisfactory performance (PUP) depending on the specific soil conditions (Denmark Case Study less than 1%, Belgium Case Study 12%). Furthermore, the selection of soil parameter distribution function can affect PUP for high coefficient of variation values.

Suggestions

A NUMERICAL INVESTIGATION OF A TLP SYSTEM
Koç, Melodi Neşe; Oğuz, Elif; Department of Civil Engineering (2022-5-06)
Renewable energy is becoming a popular research topic over the last decades. The floating wind turbine system consists of a typical wind turbine with a platform that the tower of the turbine is implemented. One of the popular floating systems is known as Tension Leg Platforms (TLPs). In this study, TLP is chosen due to the limiting nature of the system in terms of heave, roll and pitch motions. Due to the complexity of the system, coupling analysis of TLPs become important. In this thesis, a benchmark study...
A comparison of renewable energy systems (onshore wind, offshore wind, conventional pv) for Bozcaada Island
Şentürk, Ayşe Eylül; Oğuz, Elif; Department of Civil Engineering (2020)
Renewable energy sources have been considered as a sustainable solution for energy production without polluting the environment. Shifting from fossil fuel to renewable sources has been suggested by many scientists to decrease the global warming effects. As several renewable energy sources exist such as solar, wind, hydro-power, etc., it is important to determine the appropriate option for a selected region in terms of maximizing efficiency and power output as well as minimizing life cycle costs (LCC). There...
Development of a high-order navier-stokes solver for aeroacoustic predictions of wind turbine blade sections
Yalçın, Özgür; Özyörük, Yusuf; Department of Aerospace Engineering (2015)
Increased interest in renewable energy in the world has lead to research on wind turbines at a great pace. However, these turbines have come with a noise problem. The noise source of wind turbines is primarily aerodynamic noise highly related to complex, three dimensional, unsteady flow fields around them. Therefore, determination of these sources requires successful, accurate, turbulent flow solutions. In addition, because acoustic waves are non-dispersive and non-dissipative, such solutions must be carrie...
Numerical simulations of wind turbine wake interactions using actuator line and les models
Önel, Hüseyin Can; Tuncer, İsmail Hakkı; Department of Aerospace Engineering (2019)
Wind is one of the most promising renewable energy resources of the future. After years of optimization studies, Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines shine out as the most efficient type and have been the only model used in large scale commercial wind farms. Layout planning plays an important role in getting the most power out of a wind farm as much as turbine blade design. Most important parameter in this planning phase is the inevitable wake generated by rotors and its impact on other wind turbines which results...
Modeling and investigation of fault ride through capability of variable speed wind turbines
Koç, Erkan; Güven, Ali Nezih; Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering (2010)
Technological improvements on wind energy systems with governmental supports have increased the penetration level of wind power into the grid in recent years. The high level of penetration forces the wind turbines stay connected to the grid during the disturbances in order to enhance system stability. Moreover, power system operators must revise their grid codes in parallel with these developments. This work is devoted to the modeling of variable speed wind turbines and the investigation of fault ride troug...
Citation Formats
O. Orakcı, “How to Account for Uncertainty in Soil Properties in Offshore Monopile Design by Means of Probabilistic Analysis,” M.S. - Master of Science, Middle East Technical University, 2022.