Developing offshore renewable energy technologies by accurate numerical modelling techniques for soil-cable and soil-moorings interactions

In view of the new EU Green Deal and the EU’s climate and clean energy ambition for 2030, we target offshore renewable energy challenges. Floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs) are connected to the seabed through mooring cables. The overall research objective is to reduce uncertainties (and subsequently lower costs) in the estimated fatigue damage of mooring cables due to soil-cable interaction in the touch down zone (TDZ); The following research actions will be carried out: 1. Improving numerical modelling of the cable-soil interaction in the TDZ by allowing for time-dependent granular-soil dynamics. An Application Programming Interface will be created inside a granular particle soil solver to allow a two-way coupling to a mooring cable solver. 2. Generating open-access experimental data of mooring line trenching and cable tensions to be used for numerical validation. This will be done by testing a moored FOWT scale model in the UGent wave flume and in the Coastal & Ocean Basin. 3. Numerical investigation of the effect of trenching on fatigue of mooring cables and of the influence of time-dependent soil-cable interaction on snap loads, using the IAE Task 30: OC3-OC6 test cases. This research aims at covering current knowledge gaps which hamper further development and commercialisation of offshore emerging technologies. Valorization of the obtained fundamental research results will be achieved through scientific dissemination and cooperation with academia and industry