Study on Local Sediment Scour and Stress State of Submarine Cables in Offshore Wind Farms

Abstract

The laying of submarine cables will destroy the local seabed topography, leading to changes in the submarine hydrodynamic boundary, which will cause the local unbalanced sediment transport phenomenon when the submarine cable is buried. When the submarine cable begins to be exposed or the topography changes greatly, the scour phenomenon will be more severe. This article starts from the safety and stability of the submarine cable during the operation and maintenance of the 200MW offshore wind farm in Xuwen Wailuo, Guangdong Province, China and refers to the partial scour of the submarine cable in the “Southern Main Grid and Hainan Power Grid Second Interconnection Project” near the site near the Qiongzhou Strait. In this case, the measured ocean hydrological data at the site is used as the input condition, and Fluent is used to establish a refined hydrodynamic model of the submarine cable scour, to simulate the development process of the submarine cable scour of the wind farm under real sea conditions, and to perform the force analysis after the submarine cable is exposed. These will provide a certain scientific basis for ensuring the safe and stable operation of submarine cables during wind farm operation and maintenance.