Feasibility Study of Adaptive Inflatable Structures for Protecting Wind Turbines

Collisions with small ships are one of the main dangers for offshore wind turbines. Installing torus-shaped inflatable structures that surround a wind turbine tower at water level is one method of effective protection. Such structures contain 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 internal pressure in each chamber and by controlling the release of compressed air during collision. This paper presents simulations of ship collisions with wind turbine towers protected by pneumatic structure. The numerical analysis is conducted using ABAQUS/Standard and ABAQUS/Explicit. Several methods of precise pressure adjustment are introduced. The performed feasibility study proves that inflatable structures can protect the wind turbine tower and the ship against serious damage