Effects From Fully Nonlinear Irregular Wave Forcing on the Fatigue Life of an Offshore Wind Turbine and its Monopile Foundation

Abstract

The effect from fully nonlinear irregular wave forcing on the fatigue life of the foundation and tower of an offshore wind turbine is investigated through aeroelastic calculations. Five representative sea states with increasing significant wave height are considered in a water depth of 40 m. The waves are both linear and fully nonlinear irregular 2D waves. The wind turbine is the NREL 5-MW reference wind turbine. Fatigue analysis is performed in relation to analysis of the sectional forces in the tower and monopile. Impulsive excitation of the sectional force at the bottom of the tower is seen when the waves are large and nonlinear and most notably for small wind speeds. In case of strong velocities and turbulent wind, the excitation is damped out. In the monopile no excitation of the force is seen, but even for turbulent strong wind the wave affects the forces in the pile significantly. The analysis indicates that the nonlinearity of the waves can change the fatigue damage level significantly in particular when the wave and wind direction is misaligned.