Risk Assessment of Offshore Wind Turbines Suction Bucket Foundation Subject to Multi-Hazard Events

• Published in: Energies (Basel) 2023-03, Vol.16 (5), p.2184
• Main Authors: Ngo, Duc-Vu, Kim, Young-Jin, Kim, Dong-Hyawn
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Design and construction; Design specifications; earthquake; Earthquakes; Environmental aspects; Foundation failure; Fragility; Maximum likelihood method; Methods; multi-hazard; Offshore; Offshore energy sources; Offshore operations; Offshore wind farms; offshore wind turbine (OWT); Probability distribution; Risk assessment; scour; Scour and fill (Geomorphology); Scouring; Seismic activity; Seismic hazard; Seismic response; Simulation; Statistical analysis; Suction; suction bucket (SB); Turbines; Wind farms; Wind power
• ISSN: 1996-1073; 1996-1073
• DOI: 10.3390/en16052184

For the offshore wind turbines (OWTs) located in a seismically active region, the occurrence of earthquakes combined with scour is a highly possible multi-hazard event. This study developed an alternative fragility analysis framework to assess the seismic performance of suction bucket-supported OWTs under the action of scour. First, the probabilistic approach was applied to calculate the occurrence probability of scour depth (SD) and earthquake events. Then, the possible combinations of these two events were considered in the analysis model to establish the fragility surface of the suction bucket foundation. Finally, by integrating the product of scour and earthquake hazard, as well as fragility curves, the suction bucket foundation failure probability was obtained. The developed framework provides a reliable approach to risk assessment for OWT-supporting structures in extreme event situations and can be applied to other complex natural hazards.