Affiliations: Institute of Fundamental Technological Research,
SMART- TECH Centre, Polish Academy of Sciences, 21, 00-049 Warsaw, Poland
Note: [] Corresponding author: Institute of Fundamental Technological
Research, SMART- TECH Centre, Polish Academy of Sciences, 21, 00-049 Warsaw,
Poland. E-mail: cgraczyk@ippt.gov.pl; web page: http://smart.ippt.gov.p
Abstract: Collisions with small service ships are serious danger for offshore
wind turbines. Installing torus-shaped adaptive inflatable structure that
surrounds a wind turbine tower at water level is one method of effective
protection. Proposed pneumatic structure contains several separate air chambers
equipped with devices for fast inflation and pressure release. The system can
be adapted to various impact scenarios by adjusting the level of initial
pressure in each chamber and by controlling the release of compressed air
during collision. The paper presents finite element simulation of ship
collision with wind turbine tower protected by pneumatic structure, conducted
using ABAQUS software. Introduced methods of pressure adjustment are aimed at
mitigating tower and ship response. The performed feasibility study proves that
inflatable structure can effectively protect the wind turbine tower and the
ship against serious damage.
