Laboratory Experimental Investigation on the Hydrodynamic Responses of an Extra-Large Electrical Platform in Wave and Storm Conditions

Abstract

The application of electrical platform for converter station in offshore wind farm is highly forward-looking and strategic. The offshore electrical platform is complicated in structure, bulky in volume, and expensive in cost. In addition, the built-in electrical equipment is very sensitive to the acceleration response. Therefore, it is very important to study the hydrodynamic response of the electrical platform exposed in the open sea. Based on the elastic similarity, Froude similarity, as well as the flexural-stiffness similarity of the cross-section, the hydroelastic similarity was derived to guide the model test of a 10,000-ton offshore electrical platform in wind, wave, and current. The hydrodynamic responses including strain and acceleration at key positions of the structure were obtained for different incident angles of external environmental loads. The experimental results showed the increase of water depth can cause more than 10 times increase of strain and acceleration response of the platform. The attack angle of external environmental loads had no definite relationship with strain response of the structure. Therefore, the most dangerous attack angle cannot be determined. The strain of the structure under the combined action of wind, wave, and flow was significantly larger than that under wave load only.

Interaction between Waves and Maritime Structures

“…Zhang et al [19] performed physical model tests at the State Key Laboratory of Coastal and Offshore Engineering of Dalian University of Technology (China), with the purpose of investigating the dynamic response of a 10,000 ton offshore electrical platform.…”

Simplified Method for Vibration Model of Converter Valve in Offshore HVDC Substation Based on Response Surface

“…Generally, the structural dynamic response of HVDC is mainly studied under adverse loads, including seismic action (Sun et al, 2019) and extreme wind and wave conditions (Zhang et al, 2019), with structural safety prioritized. When modeling HVDC substation structure, the equipment model in real scale should be built accurately to obtain the stress of structural components, node displacements, and local mode/vibration, among other indicators.…”

Dynamic Response Analysis of an Offshore Converter Platform with Valve Towers under Seismic Excitation

“…At present, the structural dynamic response of offshore structure, such as converter platforms, is mainly studied under adverse loads, including seismic action [24][25][26] and extreme wind and wave conditions [27], with structural safety prioritized and also for early warning [28]. The design methodology for electrical equipment on most offshore platforms is inherited from that of onshore platforms [29].…”