Wellenbrechen an Offshore Tripod-Gründungen -Versuche und Simulationen im Vergleich zu Richtlinien

Breaking Wave Impact on Offshore Tripod Structures - Comparison of large scale Experiments, CFD Simulations, and DIN Recommended Practice

Coastal and near shore areas offer a large potential for offshore wind energy production due to strong and steady wind conditions. Thousands of offshore wind energy converters are projected for mass production within the next years. Detailed understanding of the extreme, dynamic wave loads on offshore structures is essential for an efficient design. The impact on structures is a complex process and further studies are required for more detailed load assessments, which is why breaking wave loads were investigated by the research project "GIGAWIND alpha ventus - Subproject 1" within the network "Research at Alpha VEntus" (RAVE). Large scale laboratory tests (1:12) with breaking waves have been carried out at the Large Wave Flume of the "Forschungszentrum Küste" (FZK, Hanover) to reveal more detailed insights on the impact area, duration and development of the wave induced momentum, and intensity of pressures. In addition, local pressures calculated by a three-dimensional numerical impact simulation are compared to the Large Wave Flume experiments. Slamming coefficients have been derived from the physical model tests and CFD simulations for the comparison to load calculations based on guidelines.