Comparative study on the structural behavior of a transition piece for offshore wind turbine with jacket support

As a key reinforcement connection between a tower and a substructure in offshore wind turbine system, the transition piece is inevitably subjected to cyclic dynamic environmental loads such as wind, current and wave. Therefore, well designed transition piece with high strength and good fatigue resistance is of great significance to the structural safety and reliability of offshore wind power systems. In this study, the structural behavior of the transition piece was studied by an extensive sets of finite element analyses. Three widely used types of transition piece were considered. The characteristics of stress development, fatigue life and weight depending on the type of the transition piece were investigated in the ultimate limit state (ULS) and the fatigue limit state (FLS) of a 5-MW offshore wind turbine to be placed in Korea. An optimal form of the transition piece was proposed based on this parametric study.