According to new research,
single-sided welding for offshore wind foundations could cut the cost of
wind turbine fabrication. The Fatigue Assessment of Single-Sided Welds
in Tubular Joints for Offshore Wind Foundations (ASSISI) project is led
by the Belgian Research Centre for Application of Steel (OCAS)
and delivered in collaboration with research partner Iemants (Smulders)
as part of the Carbon Trust’s Offshore Wind Accelerator (OWA) programme.
The research project will look at the viability of single-sided welds in
tubular joints for offshore structures and run until 2025.
According to the research partners, if the fabrication method is found
to be effective for offshore wind structures, it could replace the preferred
double-sided welding method used across the industry. It could also cut
fabrication and manufacturing times for future windfarm sites.
Philippe Thibaux, Staff Manager Application and Solutions from OCAS said:
“We are pleased to be part of this challenging project with the Carbon
Trust OWA and a fine selection of offshore wind farm operators. We are
looking forward to determining the fatigue performance of single-sided
welds in their full scale, whereby we aim to increase productivity and
reduce cost of offshore wind foundations further, on both monopile attachments
and jacket foundations.”
The three-year project will conduct 15 fatigue tests across different types
of large-scale structures, in addition to a number of small-scale fatigue
tests to determine detectable flaw size. This will include numerical simulations
and physical testing to replicate the impact on the weld over a structure’s
25-year lifespan.
Alicia Stammers, Associate from the Carbon Trust said, “the OWA
ASSISI project aims to improve industry confidence in single-sided welds,
which will encourage time and cost savings within the manufacturing processes
for offshore foundations. As a result, the project will help to accelerate
the buildout of offshore wind capacity which is needed to meet ambitious
climate targets.”
The OWA ASSISI project is funded by a partnership between EDF Renouvelables,
Parkwind, Scottish Power Renewables, Shell, SSE Renewables, TotalEnergies
and Vattenfall, and is being delivered by OCAS in collaboration with foundation
manufacturer Iemants (Smulders). The project also received funding from
the NextGenerationEU programme, made available through the Flemish Agency
for Innovation and Enterprise (VLAIO).