Support structures constitute a mayor part of total costs of off-shore wind energy converters. In order to reduce these costs, one measure is to optimize the relevant mass of the support structure aiming to keep the material costs (viz. steal mass) minimal.
We have developed a software to automatically optimize steal shell structures. Structure could be optimized with respect to ultimate or fatigue loading. In addition, frequencies could be chosen optimally. The follwoing features are inplemented in the simulation
- Completely integrated support structure
- Calculation modules for monopile, tripod and jacket
- Consideration of soil structure interaction
- p-y Curves for piled foundations
- Wave simulation incl. diffraction acc. to McCamy-Fuchs
- State of the art ice drift simulation
The method describe can be utilized for wind turbines and also other off-shore structures such as distribution platforms.
