Design Method of Jacket Foundation for Tidal Current Turbine

Abstract

Nowadays, it is a main utilizing mode to generate electric power using tidal current energy, which has been getting rapid development worldwide. Jacket foundation, as a main foundation type, plays an important role to ensure the safety of the tidal current turbine. Thus, a design method of jacket foundation for tidal current turbine is a research focus. In the paper, The SACS-Tidal-bladed joint design method combined SACS, a design tool for offshore engineering, with Tidal-bladed, a load analysis tool for tidal current turbine, is put forward. The method mainly consists of three key design cases, namely mode analysis, ultimate limit analysis and fatigue analysis. Moreover, the jacket foundation for a 2×300kW tidal current turbine is designed using the method. Because the results are satisfied to the relevant specifications, the running safety of the 2×300kW tidal current turbine with the jacket foundation can be ensured.