Numerical analysis of a hybrid substructure for offshore wind turbines

For the reliable design of substructure supporting offshore wind turbines it is very important to reduce the effects of wave forces. Since the substructure is strongly influenced by the effects of wave forces as the size of substructure increases. In the present study, the hybrid substructure with multi-cylinder is newly suggested to reduce the effects of wave forces. Using diffraction theory the scattering waves in a fluid region are expressed by an Eigenfunction expansion method with three dimensional potential theory to calculate the wave force acting on the hybrid substructure. The wave force and wave run-up acting on the hybrid substructure is presented to examine the water wave interaction according to the variation of cylindrical size and the distance among cylinders. It is found that the suggested hybrid substructure with multi-cylinder is very useful to reduce the effects of wave forces acting on the substructure for offshore wind turbines.