Throughout the offshore wind industry, a topic of much discussion is the effect of fixed structures on the behaviour of both incident waves and currents. Typically, current amplification, due to displacement around structures, can be easily quantified and a two dimensional profile applied, however, the “wave amplification” is generally disregarded or heights increased universally, with the risk of either over or under representing the impact.

By evaluating the fixed structure, Glic Associates have developed a methodology that accounts for the effects on both wave and current, and allows these to be captured in dynamic simulations, expanding this to three dimensions around structure, without increasing required computational power/time. This can be applied to larger structures such as offshore substations or, as illustrated here, cylindrical monopiles for fixed offshore wind turbines.

These techniques allow Glic Associates to tailor the system modelling to client designs, provide a clearer overview of the environmental loads being applied to cable and CPS systems, and allow fatigue analyses that are more representative when considering environment headings. Get in touch now to discuss how we can facilitate your project needs and help quantify the impact on product life.