Scour Controlling Effect of Hybrid Mono-Pile as a Substructure of Offshore Wind Turbine: A Numerical Study

In Europe, which has been operating offshore wind farms well ahead of South Korea, most offshore wind turbines installed in shallow waters are suffering from severe scouring problems due to the horseshoe vortex. These operating experiences can serve as a valuable lesson for Korea. After a thorough review, we conclude that the horseshoe vortex’s intensity is proportional to the height of the standing waves near an offshore wind turbine. Based on this rationale, we propose a hybrid mono-pile, which is a mono-pile with an additional light turbine mounted at its toe that can dissipate the incoming wave energy with the rotation that occurs when the turbine is exposed to incoming waves or currents. The weakened standing waves in this manner would lead to less sediment transport. We proceeded to carry out the numerical simulation to verify the scouring control effect of the hybrid mono-pile. Numerical results show that the hybrid mono-pile could reduce scouring remarkably.