Design of Caisson Foundations for Offshore Wind Turbines

This topical book describes the results of a large industry and government funded research project aimed at developing design guidelines for novel foundations for offshore wind turbines, presenting the current state-of-the-art in offshore wind turbine design. It begins by exploring some of the civil engineering problems encountered for offshore wind turbines. It then focuses on the design of suction caisson foundations, which have the potential to considerably reduce installed turbine costs. It reviews laboratory and field scale testing of caissons under loading conditions typical for offshore wind turbines. These results are interpreted within state-of-the-art theoretical models to produce numerical models for input into structural analyses packages. Structural analyses packages are used to design some typical offshore wind turbines. Issues of scour around foundations and advanced dynamic modelling of the turbine structure, including the blades, are also included. The UK Government has set a target of generating ten per cent of electricity from renewable sources, including 6GW from offshore wind energy, by 2010. This topical book will be of immediate use to designers of offshore wind farms.