Numerical and Experimental Investigations on Non-Linear Wave Action on Offshore Wind Turbine Monopile Foundation

Abstract

Monopiles are commonly utilized in offshore wind farms but are prone to non-linear wave loads and run-ups, significantly affecting their engineering design. Therefore, it is crucial to pursue a complete understanding of the non-linear wave action on monopile foundations. Both numerical and experimental investigations on the non-linear wave loads and run-ups on an offshore wind turbine monopile foundation are performed in this paper. The experiment is carried out at a scale of 1/30 in a wave flume at the State Key Laboratory of Coastal and Offshore Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, in which the wave loads and run-ups along the monopile are measured. Based on the second-order potential flow model and time-domain higher-order boundary element method (HOBEM), the related numerical tests are conducted to study the non-linear effects further. It is found that the present non-linear potential theory is sufficient for the simulation of wave force and run-ups on the monopile in the range of wave slope kA < 0.15 before wave breaking. “W” type distribution of wave run-up along the monopile is found, in which the peak value occurs at the frontward side (i.e., θ =180°) and is the maximum due to full reflection; the two symmetrical minimum amplitudes lie in the zones of (45° ≤ θ ≤ 90°) and (270° ≤ θ ≤ 315°), whose positions shift downward with the increase of wave non-linearity. Energy transfer among the fundamental wave component and higher-order components is also found, which is most apparent on the backward side. Besides, the transverse resonance occurs in the wave flume due to the wavelength being near the flume width, which induces the wave run-up at the backward position larger than that at the frontward position.