IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v17y2024i7p1561-d1363296.html

A Study on the Scour Surrounding the Fixed Foundation of an Offshore Wind Turbine under Complex Waves, Tidal Currents, and Pile Vibration Conditions

Author

Listed:
  • Bo Qin

    (School of Mechanical Engineering, Hunan Institute of Engineering, Xiangtan 411104, China)

  • Rui Qu

    (School of Mechanical Engineering, Hunan Institute of Engineering, Xiangtan 411104, China)

  • Wenxian Yang

    (School of Computing and Engineering, University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield HD1 3DH, UK)

  • Yanfeng Xie

    (School of Mechanical Engineering, Hunan Institute of Engineering, Xiangtan 411104, China)

Abstract

Scouring around the fixed foundations of offshore wind turbines (OWTs) remains a pressing concern within the offshore wind industry, significantly jeopardizing OWT safety. Despite previous efforts, the current understanding of this phenomenon remains incomplete, as various factors related to offshore wind farms and OWT operations can exert intricate influences. To further explore this matter, this paper undertakes a new study to further understand the interplay between monopile vibrations, tidal currents, and sea waves, elucidating their combined impact on scour surrounding an OWT’s foundation. It was found that, besides pile vibration amplitude and frequency, the pile vibration direction can also notably influence the scour around the monopile. Specifically, the most pronounced scour mostly transpires when the monopile undergoes vibrations along the 135° direction relative to the inflow direction. The mildest scour mostly occurs when the pile vibrates along the 90° direction. Additionally, this study reveals that different types of waves, indicated by the ratio of water depth, H, to wavelength, L, also engender varying scour around the monopile. The influence of waves on scour increases with the decrease in the H/L ratio, implying that OWT foundations are more threatened by shallow water waves than by deep water waves.

Suggested Citation

  • Bo Qin & Rui Qu & Wenxian Yang & Yanfeng Xie, 2024. "A Study on the Scour Surrounding the Fixed Foundation of an Offshore Wind Turbine under Complex Waves, Tidal Currents, and Pile Vibration Conditions," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-17, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:7:p:1561-:d:1363296
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/7/1561/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/7/1561/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ciappi, Lorenzo & Simonetti, Irene & Bianchini, Alessandro & Cappietti, Lorenzo & Manfrida, Giampaolo, 2022. "Application of integrated wave-to-wire modelling for the preliminary design of oscillating water column systems for installations in moderate wave climates," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 194(C), pages 232-248.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Molina–Salas, A. & Longo, S. & Clavero, M. & Moñino, A., 2023. "Theoretical approach to the scale effects of an OWC device," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 219(P2).
    2. Carrelhas, A.A.D. & Gato, L.M.C. & Morais, F.J.F., 2024. "Aerodynamic performance and noise emission of different geometries of Wells turbines under design and off-design conditions," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).
    3. Zhang, Chongwei & Zhu, Xunhao & Zhang, Cheng & Huang, Luofeng & Ning, Dezhi, 2025. "Coupled hydro-aero-turbo dynamics of liquid-tank system for wave energy harvesting: Numerical modelings and scaled prototype tests," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 330(C).
    4. Bohan Wang & Zhiwei Sun & Yuanyuan Zhao & Zhiyan Li & Bohai Zhang & Jiken Xu & Peng Qian & Dahai Zhang, 2024. "The Energy Conversion and Coupling Technologies of Hybrid Wind–Wave Power Generation Systems: A Technological Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-24, April.
    5. Xu, Shuaijun & Ji, Baifeng & Xu, Fan & Chen, Changkun, 2024. "Dynamic response and power performance of a combined semi-submersible floating wind turbine and point absorber wave energy converter array," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 237(PD).
    6. Heshanka Singhapurage & Pabasari A. Koliyabandara & Gamunu Samarakoon, 2025. "Life Cycle Assessment of an Oscillating Water Column-Type Wave Energy Converter," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(10), pages 1-15, May.
    7. Irene Simonetti & Andrea Esposito & Lorenzo Cappietti, 2022. "Experimental Proof-of-Concept of a Hybrid Wave Energy Converter Based on Oscillating Water Column and Overtopping Mechanisms," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(21), pages 1-20, October.
    8. Wang, Ru & Cui, Ying & Liu, Zhen & Li, Boyang & Zhang, Yongbo, 2024. "Numerical study on unsteady performance of a Wells turbine under irregular wave conditions," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 225(C).
    9. Licheri, Fabio & Ghisu, Tiziano & Cambuli, Francesco & Puddu, Pierpaolo & Carta, Mario, 2025. "Effects of tip gap size and aspect ratio on the performance of a Wells turbine," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 242(C).
    10. Sunil Kumar Mishra & Amitkumar V. Jha & Bhargav Appasani & Nicu Bizon & Phatiphat Thounthong & Pongsiri Mungporn, 2023. "Ocean Wave Energy Control Using Aquila Optimization Technique," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-21, June.
    11. M’zoughi, Fares & Lekube, Jon & Garrido, Aitor J. & Garrido, Izaskun, 2026. "Operational reliability enhancement in wave energy converters: Artificial intelligence-based rotational speed control for vibration mitigation in oscillating water columns," Reliability Engineering and System Safety, Elsevier, vol. 267(PB).
    12. Trueworthy, Ali & Gaebele, Daniel & Jones, Kristin & Hermanson, Ian & Grear, Molly, 2025. "Wave energy in season: a comparative approach to feasibility of seasonal deployments for remote coastal communities," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 396(C).
    13. Kang, Jichuan & Zhu, Xu & Shen, Li & Li, Mingxin, 2024. "Fault diagnosis of a wave energy converter gearbox based on an Adam optimized CNN-LSTM algorithm," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 231(C).
    14. Ding, Zhen-yu & Ning, De-zhi & Mayon, Robert, 2025. "Wave-to-wire model for an oscillating water column wave energy converter," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 377(PC).
    15. Gholamipoor, Morteza & Ghiasi, Mahmoud, 2025. "Radial basis function-finite difference method to investigate the wave energy extraction by a land-fixed oscillating water column device," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 316(C).
    16. Palmer, Heath & Zhao, Ming & Wu, Helen & Hu, Pan & Munir, Adnan & Qin, Zhang & Dhamelia, Vatsal, 2025. "Wave interference and energy conversion in a 3D land-fixed oscillating water column system," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 255(C).
    17. Taner Akan & Ali Haydar Işık & Halil İbrahim Gündüz, 2026. "The faster the increase in renewable energy use, the faster the decrease in carbon emissions?," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 28(1), pages 1311-1347, January.
    18. Xie, Guangci & Zhao, Tiancong & Ma, Yong & Ni, Wenchi & Hu, Chao, 2025. "Investigation on the wave focusing effects and energy capture of Oscillating Water Column array," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 238(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:7:p:1561-:d:1363296. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager The email address of this maintainer does not seem to be valid anymore. Please ask MDPI Indexing Manager to update the entry or send us the correct address (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.