Effect of wind directionality on fatigue life of monopile support structures for offshore wind turbines

Abstract

The U.S. offshore wind industry can expect higher costs due to the lack of domestic experience with offshore wind technology. A key factor of the capital expenditure related to offshore wind farms is the cost of the support structures of offshore wind turbines. Therefore, improvements to the reliability of support structures under ultimate and fatigue loading conditions will help reduce the levelized cost of energy of offshore wind. This study presents a framework that accounts for the wind directionality by assuming a distinct and independent wind speed distribution per each wind direction and investigates its effect on the fatigue life of offshore wind turbine support structures. A monopile support structure in a potential wind site close to a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration buoy in the north-eastern US waters is used in this study. Fatigue damage assessment is performed for the normal operational condition of wind turbine, and the results are presented considering both cathodic protection and free corrosion conditions at the mudline level of the monopile. The location and extent of the predicted fatigue damages are found to vary due to accounting for the wind directionality.