STATE-OF-THE-ART DESIGN STANDARD SPECIFIC DEVELOPED AND APPLICABLE FOR OFFSHORE WINDTURBINE STRUCTURES By Tove Feld Project Manager,

DNV Global Wind Energy, Frederiksborgvej 399, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark. Email: Tove.Feld@dnv.com, Telephone +45 46 33 01 21, Fax +45 46 33 01 01 ABSTRACT The wind energy industry requires cost-effective design for offshore wind turbine structures in order to make the projects economically viable. The newly issued DNV standard for Design of Offshore Wind Turbine Structures fills a gap within the offshore industry being specific developed and applicable for offshore wind turbine structures. It is based on DNVs experience from participation in more than 24 offshore wind projects and general rule development from maritime and offshore industries for decades, resulting in a rational set of state-of-the-art rules allowing fit-forpurpose design. The challenge has been to establish a sound basis for development of projects both technically and economically that would be recognized by all parties involved in offshore wind projects: owners, manufacturers, finance, insurance and authorities. Consequently the newly issued DNV-OS-J101 is a cost effective design standard, living up to safety levels required by authorities and other parties involved in offshore wind projects. In addition the standard account for the fact that the structures are unmanned and the risk for pollution of the environment is limited, opposite the existing offshore standards. The standard covers wind turbine, support structure, foundation as well as site-specific approval of the integrated structure. The standard includes state-of-the art information on numerous design items, and covers various foundation designs. The new design standard has been chosen and is currently being used as Design standard on a number of Offshore Wind Projects around the world. The standard and the project certification serves the purpose of creating the trust and confidence between the parties that is needed for accelerating the development of offshore wind farms.

1. INTRODUCTION There is a joint consensus that the use of offshore wind turbines can assist the energy supply, as a result the wind energy industry in general are paying attention to offshore developments. One of the major drawback in using offshore wind farms has up to recent days been the extremely high support structure cost (It is noted that the cost for offshore wind turbine support structures make take up 50 % of the total investment for a offshore wind farm project.) In order to make the projects economically viable the wind energy industry requires cost-effective design for offshore wind turbine structures. Offshore structures are generally subject to complex loading from waves, wind and current, and, when placed near shore, also to impact from ice loading. Such structures call for a rather careful analysis and design especially when used to support offshore wind turbines. These structures suffer unusually high levels of horizontal load and moment due to the combination of significant wind load from the elevated wind turbine and the loads from waves and current. Going more than one year back none of the existing standards were truly applicable to offshore wind projects with a different loading scheme compared to the traditional oil and gas offshore structures, e.g. going from wave dominated to wind dominated. This let to the development of a new state-of-the-art offshore standard Design of Offshore Wind Turbines Structures , DNV-OS-J101, specific developed and applicable for offshore wind turbine structures.

The development of the standard was launched by DNV in 2002, with the objective to develop a single self-contained offshore standard for the design of offshore wind turbine structures. The standard was developed from the existing general DNV rules within the offshore area, and updated to be specifically applicable to offshore wind turbine structures. The standard is part of the DNV offshore standards, and the J-series has been reserved for offshore wind turbines, with the blade standard (DNV-OS-J102) to be the next offshore wind turbine standard to be issued. The new standard is based on DNVs experience from participation in more than 24 offshore wind projects during the last decade and general rule development from maritime and offshore industries for decades, resulting in a rational set of state-of-theart rules allowing fit-for-purpose design. The standard covers a set of state-of-the-art design rules required to be fulfilled in order to achieve a complete certification and approval of an offshore wind turbine structure, including: Wind turbine Support structure (structure between wind turbine and seabed level) Foundation (structure below seabed level) Site-specific approval of wind turbine structure (structure comprising of wind turbine, support structure and foundation)

The DNV offshore standard is based on a life cycle approach starting from site investigations and ending with decommissioning of the structure. The format is rule requirements together with informative guidance notes on subjects that by experience are subject to discussion. The standard has been created in a transparent way based on input from all parties involved in the wind industry and supervised by an international technical committee. The DNV offshore standard is already adopted by the wind industry as well as authorities. The new design standard has been chosen and is currently being used as Design standard on a number of Offshore Wind Projects around the world.

Maintenance

inspection requirements, corrosion, welding. Decommissioning removal requirements. Based on our experience with design verification of offshore wind turbine structures there are several critical issues in the design phase of a wind turbine structure such as establishment of necessary soil investigation programme, establishment of soil design parameters, establishment of design waves and wave kinematics, establishment of combined loads on wind turbine structure (wind-waves, wind-ice), fatigue calculations of steel tubular joints, design of grouted connections in steel mono-piles, design of pile to jacket grouted sleeve connections in tripods and jackets and design of steel tube to concrete gravity foundation connections. These and other new special topics are covered in the Offshore Wind Turbine Structure Standard. Selected topics are outlined in the following. For a more complete description reference is made to the DNV offshore standard 2.1 Design Principles and Safety Level The standard provides an overall safety level corresponding to low to normal safety class, accounting for the fact that the structures are unmanned and the risk for pollution of the environment is limited. In comparison the target safety level for manned offshore oil & gas structures is higher typically is in the order of 10-6 (annual probability of failure) where clearly the risk for loss of human life as well as the risk for pollution to the environment should be in focus. This makes the DNV-OS-J101 a cost effective design standard while at the same time living up to safety levels required by authorities and other parties involved in offshore wind projects 2.2 Site Conditions For economical design of offshore support structures it is of greatest importance to assess the site conditions like e.g. design soil parameters and design wave height in an un-biased way based on state-ofthe-art methods. Guidance for determination of such parameters is given in the Standard. Site conditions for offshore wind farm projects consist of all site-specific conditions which may influence the design of wind turbines, support structures and foundations that together constitute a wind farm. The site conditions include meteorological conditions, oceanographic conditions, soil conditions, seismicity, biology and various human activities. The wind and wave climates are the most important site conditions for the loading of the wind farm structures, whereas the soil conditions are the most important site conditions for the capacities of their foundations. Consequently issues related to these

2. CONTENT OF THE DNV OFFSHORE STANDARD The newly issued offshore standard (DNV-OS-J101) focuses on the design of the wind turbine structure below the nacelle. It is generally recommended to analyse and design any support structure using a coupled analysis of the foundation and its superstructure. The analyses should include both extreme event and fatigue analyses. The design methodology behind the new offshore standard is based on analyses of the integrated structure including foundation, support structure and wind turbine. Thus, the data necessary for modelling of the wind turbine is required as basis for the design and must be updated during the design. This comprises data for wind loads, geometry and dynamic behaviour of the wind turbine. The site specific approval of the wind turbine is described in general terms addressing all relevant reference documents. The content of the standard is: Introduction area of application, definition, references to type approval of wind turbine. Design Principles design considerations, limit states, safety levels. Safety Levels methods for safety levels, load and material safety factors. Site Conditions wind, waves, current, ice, water levels, soil and other conditions. Loads permanent, variable, environmental, combinations. Structural Design type of structure, modelling of support structure and foundation, design requirements, failure modes, limit states. Materials types, material properties, requirements, categories. Corrosion corrosion protection systems, requirements. Manufacturing requirements to welding, coating, certificates, control. Transport transportation systems, fastening equipment, requirements. Installation installation systems and inspection requirements.

particular types of site conditions are dealt with in the Standard. Soil Offshore wind turbine support structures suffer unusually high and complex levels of horizontal loading from waves, wind, current and even impact from ice loading. Thus the importance of performing the appropriate investigations calls for special attention. For design and construction purposes the stratification of the individual soil units, the site-specific soil strength and deformation properties are of particular interest. For this purpose, the DNV offshore standard presents guidelines for defining a tentative minimum soil investigation program, defining a program in terms of number and depths of soil borings and cone penetration tests. However such a program should always consider the complexity of the site, and may be altered during its execution. Soil investigations (SI) shall provide relevant information about soil to a sufficient depth e.g. a depth where possible weak formations below will not influence the safety or performance of the wind turbine, the support structure nor the foundation. The sufficient depth and type of the soil investigations depends on the foundation type. In addition it is demonstrated how strength and deformation properties can be interpreted from the performed site investigations. Thus dependent on the SI program, a model with geological description, geotechnical strength and deformation parameters can be identified for the entire project area. Following the model and the belonging parameters can be used in design purposes.

periods, such as 50 years, are interpreted for use in design. Examples are given, and typical pitfalls andcommonly made errors in the interpretations are outlined. 2.3 Loads Typically loads to be considered includes breaking waves and ice loads in addition to normal wind, wave and permanent loads. Thus methodologies for establishment of combined design loads such as combined wind and wave action are given in the new DNV offshore standard as well. Wind loads generated from the wind turbine rotor are most often determined before the support structure and foundation have been designed. Thus, the wind loads must to be recalculated based on the site-specific layout and stiffness of the wind turbine structure. The combination of e.g. wind and wave loads must be established in a consistent way, i.e. establishment of realistic correlations between wave heights and wind speed. For a detailed description of establishment of basic loads as well as load combinations, reference is made to DNV-OS-J101 2.4 Structural Design Offshore structures are typically exposed to severe loadings from wave, current and/or wind forces. In addition accidental load situations from e.g. ship collision may be governing for the design. Both the support structure and the foundation are therefore exposed to higher horizontal and moment loading than typically are encountered onshore, in particular when used as foundations for offshore wind turbines. The structural design of an offshore wind turbine requires optimisation in order for the projects to be economically viable. The new standard gives recognised and up-to-date design methods to allow for such an optimisation. For the parts above the top of the tower, reference is made to IEC WT 01. For the parts below the nacelle (tower top) reference is made to the DNV-OS-J101 Design of offshore wind turbine support structure covers geotechnical design and structural design for all relevant load situations in all limit states such as ultimate limit state, fatigue limit state, serviceability limit state and accidental limit state. Consequently both the elastic and plastic behaviour of the soil is incorporated in the design. Last but not least, the interaction between structure and foundation is essential in the determination of the design conditions for the entire structure composed of wind turbine, support structure and foundation. The DNV Rules cover all these aspects, however below are given some examples on how the DNV rules are able to provide up-to-date design methods.

Figure 1 Geological/geotechnical model for the Horns Rev Offshore Wind Farm, Denmark. Design Waves For wind and wave climate representation, the intensities of the wind speed and wave height processes, viz. the 5minute mean wind speed and the significant wave height, respectively, are of particular interest. The DNV offshore standard shows how the long-term distributions of these quantities are interpreted from data and how specific values of these quantities with prescribed recurrence

Fatigue design of offshore steel structures Fatigue is often a design driver for the structural design of offshore wind turbines and their support structures due to their flexible structural performance and exposure to highly dynamic loads from wind and waves combined with the corrosive environment at sea. Design of offshore wind turbine support structures hence requires application of state-of-the-art fatigue rules and calculation methods. The standard includes updated fatigue design rules including but not limited to: Hydrodynamic coefficients; Stress Concentration Factors, Fracture Mechanics Fatigue Calculations, Joint flexibility of tubular joints and Grinding. For a detailed description of fatigue design methods reference is made Ibs (2003) and DNV-OS-J101. Grouted connection The grouted connection has turned out to be a costeffective solution for monopile foundations and has been applied on a number of offshore projects. Design rules where however prior to DNV-OS-J101 lacking. The grouted connection as a mean to connect a monopile foundation to the wind turbine tower through a transition piece has been successfully applied on a number of offshore wind farms in Northern Europe. Since the governing load from the wind turbine is the overturning moment, the loads can fundamentally be transferred as a force-couple in the top and the bottom of the grouted region. Hence, unlike traditional grouted pile/sleeve connections used offshore, the present application does not use shear keys to transfer loads. The grouted connection offers a number of advantages such as Good control of installation tolerances for the wind turbine Minimising fatigue damage in the grout, monopile and transition piece due to omission of shear keys Minimising or eliminating installation induced fatigue damage on critical elements such as flanges The DNV offshore standard describes design methods for extreme and fatigue loading conditions and is based on experiments as well as real offshore wind applications. FE analyses have been carried out in order to define rules for the design of the grouted connections.

The analysis models apply a contact formulation describing the interface between the grout and the steel tubulars (friction) and a non-linear constitutive model for the grout. The applicability of various elasto-plastic and crack models have been investigated to find suitable models that consistently describes the non-linear behaviour of the grout material (incl. possible cracking). Furthermore, a strength criterion for the fatigue limit state of grout has been developed. Fatigue behaviour of the grouted connection should be documented by finite element analyses and relevant tests. Grout shrinkage, which depends on the grout product and the location of the joint, should be minimised.

3. CONCEPTS FOR WIND TURBINE SUPPORT STRUCTURES The choice of foundation concept for an offshore wind turbine is governed by a number of factors. These design drivers are primarily the soil condition, water depth, possible erosion, size and type of wind turbine type and environmental conditions (wave height, current ice etc.). Furthermore the knowledge and reference of a concept may be influencing the decision process. In the future it is believed that environmental concerns will weigh heavily in this process. Finally the selection of concept is highly influenced by a keen desire to achieve the lowest cost development, and a choice has to be made regarding the expenses spent in the design phase versus the expenses during operation and maintenance. 3.1 Piled foundations Piled foundations make up the most common form of offshore foundations. The structure can be configured as a mono pile, a tripod structure, or have piles that are driven through sleeve elements and are attached to the main structure by either a grouted or swaged connection. Piles are inexpensive to produce and provide a least cost manufacture option. The piles are typically either driven or vibrated into the seabed. 3.2 Monopile concept The freestanding monopile is one of the simplest foundation types used for large wind turbines, see Figure 3. The monopile transfers the loading on the wind turbine to the supporting soils by means of lateral earth pressure. The monopile must therefore have a certain length depending on the soil strength in order to have sufficient capacity. The monopile foundation consists of a welded steel pile. The interface between the lower part of the monopile and the tower will typically be a welded flanged connection or a grouted flanged connection depending of the installation method. The monopile may either be driven or vibrated into the seabed using

Figure 2 FEM analysis of grouted connection between monopile and transition piece (symmetric model showing stress levels).

a suitable hydraulic hammer/vibrator, or it may be drilled into the seabed and then grouted. The DNV offshore standard covers the design aspect of the different interface solutions, and it provides general design rules for the monopile concept.

Figure 3 Mono-pile with grouted connection (unloaded and deformed shape). The grouted connection is located below mean sea level. Scour protection is typically required for the monopile solution at sandy locations. The monopile solution is currently the preferred solution and has been applied on a number of offshore wind projects like e.g. Horns Rev and Sams in Denmark, Utgrunden, Bockstigen and Lillgrunden in Sweden, at Arklow Bank in Ireland and North Hoyle, Scoby Sands in the UK. It is furthermore planned for a number of future projects like e.g. the Kentish Flats and Gunfleet Sands Projects in UK, the Butendiek project in Germany and Egmond aan Zee in the Netherlands. 3.2 Tripod Concept The tripod concept consists of a standard 3-leg structure, made of cylindrical steel tubes with driven steel piles, and is well known from the offshore oil & gas industry. The concept is developed based on the simplicity of the monotower and enhanced by the additional stiffness and strength from the braced structure. The central steel shaft of a tripod structure provides a basis for the transition to the wind turbine tower, similar to the principles for a mono-pile. The tripod can have either vertical or inclined pile sleeves. However, inclined pile sleeves are only used when the structure is to be installed by means of a jack-up drilling rig or a vessel with limited crane reach. The base width and pile penetration depth can be adjusted to suit the actual site conditions. The DNV Standard covers the general design requirements for the tripod. Furthermore, it addresses state-of-the-art methods for the fatigue calculation of the tubular joints, as these structural details often are governing for the feasibility of the concept. Numerous steel tripods are installed in the Danish part of the North Sea in water depths ranging from 30 to 60 metres. And the tripod solution is expected to be economical and technical feasible at offshore wind farms at deeper water depths.

Figure 4 Tripod foundation concept applied on offshore wind project

3.4 Gravity Based Concept The gravity based concept is from a structural point of view a mono tower fixed at the top of a gravity base, thus reducing the free-standing or cantilevering part considerably The gravity foundation is designed to avoid tensile loads between the gravity base and the seabed, by providing sufficient dead load to stabilise the structure under overturning moments resulting from wind, wave and/or ice. If the gravity loads from the support structure and nacelle are insufficient to maintain overall stability, additional ballast can be added in form of sand, concrete, rock or olivine. The bearing capacity and settlements of gravity foundation on caisson of concrete and/or steel will be vulnerable to the presence of soft deposits, such as gytja and normally consolidated clays, if encountered in any layer thickness just below the foundation level. The foundation may further be vulnerable to erosion and scour, and require extensive scour protection. Based on the actual soil conditions sea bed preparation should performed. A typical concrete gravity based concept is shown in Figure 5. An ice-cone is integrated in the design of the foundation in order to reduce the ice loads. Design and analysis of the steel tube to concrete foundation require detailed FE-analyses with contact elements.

guidance for how to perform such analyses and provide general design rules related to this type of structure. 3.5 Bucket Concept A novel concept for offshore wind turbine structures is the bucket foundation. The suction is used for installation of the bucket - after installation the foundation will act as a skirted foundation a hybrid of a traditional pile and a gravity based foundation. The dynamic peak loads are partly taken by the suction effect. The DNV offshore standard addresses relevant design aspects related to the design of this type of concept.

Figure 5a Concrete gravity concept: The steel tube continues down to the bottom of the gravity structure.

Figure 5b Concrete gravity concept. Bending moment in the tower is mainly transferred as contact pressure (horizontal) between steel tube and concrete The deformed shape of the foundation structure calculated from the FE Model illustrates the basic structural behaviour of the foundation. Applying the external bending moment at the top of the foundation steel cylinder section, slip (in a horizontal direction) between the steel cylinder and the concrete will occur in the two hatched areas shown (e.g. at the top right side of the foundation), whilst contact between concrete and steel will occur on the opposite sides of the foundation structure. The calculation of these horizontal contact forces could not be carried out by hand. The horizontal contact forces have to be calculated applying FE modelling using special contact elements between the steel cylinder section and the concrete structure. In the shown example, the result of the FE Analysis revealed that approx. 60 % of the external bending moment applied at the top of the foundation is resisted by these horizontal contact forces. The additional stiffness of the structure caused by the ice conus will significantly influence the structural behaviour and the results of the stress analysis. The gravity foundation has been applied successfully on a number of projects in shallow waters like e.g. the Middelgrunden and Nysted (Rdsand) wind farms in Denmark. A number of projects are planned with a gravity type foundation. The DNV offshore standard includes

Figure 6 Steel bucket foundation. The skirt is not shown; however it is just a tubular steel section. The suction is used during the installation and decommissioning phase. For design of the structure it will be necessary to perform FE analyses for determination of stress levels in ultimate and fatigue loading scenarios. Refined modelling is required in regions with high stresses. The bucket concept has been applied on the Frederikshavn project and is planned for the Wilhemshaven project. Tradition suction bucket has been applied on a number of offshore projects in Norway, allowing the suction to carry part of the tensile loading, during peak situations

4. PROJECT CERTIFICATION To assure the required quality of the offshore wind farm project certification has been initiated within the offshore wind marked, verifying that the project complies with chosen standards and project specifications. Project certification of offshore wind farms consist of the following verification activities: Type Approval of the wind turbine Verification of site conditions, i.e. soil, wind, wave/current and possible ice conditions

Site specific design verification of integrated structural support system consisting of tower and foundation Manufacturing survey Marine verification and Warranty Survey for transport and installation of structures In-service inspection planning and inspection of structures The project certification is normally carried out as a review of the design documentation submitted by the manufacturer. In addition to documentation review, independent (FE) analyses are carried out for critical details as well as an independent integrated analysis including wind turbine, support structure and the surrounding soil. It is generally recommended to analyze and design any support structure using a coupled analysis of the foundation and its superstructure excluding inaccuracies and uncertainties originating from more or less arbitrary chosen simplified interfaces. Structural design verification may cover wind turbine foundation and other structures, e.g. offshore transformer station. Manufacturing survey takes place at the fabrication site. The survey for welded structures is based on a review of welding procedures, welder s qualifications, NDT procedures, NDT findings etc. Marine verification is carried out as documentation review of the designers calculations for transport and lift situations, while warranty survey is carried out at the load-out site and on board installation vessel during installation. Marine verification may e.g. be carried out based on recognized rules and regulations. Certification is recommended to commence already at the time for data acquisition for soil, wind and wave site specific investigations, as an early consensus on the site specific loads will have beneficial impact on the project costs avoiding the designer, manufacturer to have to redesign due to revised loadings caused by the site conditions. Experience show that a step-by-step certification will minimize the total project risk as the verification is performed as the project progresses. The project certification may include the following elements: The wind turbine, the support structure, the offshore substation, cables and J-Tubes Project Certification consists of the following verification phases each completed with a statement of compliance: Phase I Phase II Phase III Phase IV Phase V Phase VI : Verification of Design Basis : Verification of Design : Manufacturing Survey : Installation Survey : Commissioning Survey : In-Service

period a more comprehensive renewal survey has to be carried out to prolong the validation of the Project Certification for another 5 years.

I Design Basis

Figure 7 Schematics illustrating the different phases in Project Certification The new design standard has been chosen and is currently being used as Design standard on a number of Offshore Wind Projects around the world. The standard and the project certification serves the purpose of creating the trust and confidence between the parties that is needed for accelerating the development of offshore wind farms.

5. CONCLUSION The wind energy industry requires cost-effective design for offshore wind turbine structures in order to make the projects economically feasible. The newly issued DNV standard for Design of Offshore Wind Turbine Structures fills a gap within the offshore industry being specific developed and applicable for offshore wind turbine structures. Extensive experience from previous offshore wind farm projects as well as experience from maritime and offshore oil & gas projects is adopted in the offshore standard. The challenge has been to establish a sound basis for development of projects both technically and economically that are recognised by all parties involved in offshore wind projects: owners, manufacturers, finance, insurance and authorities. DNV-OS-J101 is based on a rational set of state-ofthe-art rules allowing for development, extension and continuous updating in order to meet the needs for an up-to-date set of complete design rules.

DNV Pro je c t Ce rt ific at e

Ce rt ific at e Main t e n an c e

Statement of Compliance
II Design

Statement of Compliance
III Manufacturing

Statement of Compliance
IV Installation

Statement of Compliance
V Commissioning

Statement of Compliance

VI In- Service

Upon completion of Phase I through V the Project Certificate, valid at the time of commissioning of the offshore wind farm, will be obtained. For the In-service Phase, the Project Certificate is maintained based on the results of annual surveys and inspections. After a 5 year

The standard includes novel design and design calculation methodology for offshore wind turbine support structures, i.e. tower and foundation structures. The foundation structures include new designs and design methodology for e.g. suction bucket foundations, tripods, grouted mono-pile foundations etc. The DNV standard is based on a life cycle approach starting at site conditions and ending with decommissioning of the structure. The new design standard will allow for developing and optimizing new designs for offshore wind turbines and their support structures, being within the framework of a sufficient standard and quality level. This way the standard will be of the benefits for the offshore wind industry and help to bring down the cost for offshore wind turbine support structures, is has been chosen and is currently being used as design standard of wind farms in UK, Germany, France and NL. The standard and the project certification serves the purpose of creating the trust and confidence between the parties that is needed for accelerating the development of offshore wind farms.

REFERENCES DNV-OS-J101 (2004), Design of Offshore Wind Turbine Structures , DNV, Denmark, 2004. Ibs, J. B., (2003): Fatigue Design of Offshore Wind Turbines and Support Structures , Proc. OWEMES (Offshore Wind Energy in Mediterranean and other European Seas) Conference, Naples, Italy, 2003.