Offshore Wind Support Struts Multi-Layer Coating Corrosion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Offshore wind turbine support structures face significant corrosion risks due to microbiological bacteria in underwater areas and environmental exposures, leading to reduced service life and increased maintenance costs, with existing structures often experiencing rust during storage and installation before active corrosion protection is implemented.
Innovation Solution
A multi-layer protective coating is applied to support struts in both underwater and above-water areas, preventing bacterial adhesion and corrosion, while also enhancing structural rigidity, wear resistance, and visibility with a UV-resistant colored paint layer to reduce collision risks, combined with active cathodic protection and a polymer layer for improved durability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a multi-layer protective coating is applied to support struts in the underwater area, then corrosion protection is improved and service life is extended, but device complexity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The protective coating system is divided into multiple functional layers: a primer layer for corrosion protection and adhesion, intermediate layers for mechanical properties and bacterial adhesion prevention, and a top layer for environmental resistance. Each layer serves a specific function, allowing the system to address multiple requirements simultaneously while maintaining manageable complexity through functional segmentation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite coating materials with different properties in each layer. The primer layer uses corrosion-inhibiting materials, intermediate layers use materials with low surface energy to prevent bacterial adhesion, and top layers use materials resistant to UV radiation, chemicals, and mechanical wear. This composite approach allows each layer to contribute its specialized properties to the overall protection system.
2Reliability
If support struts are coated with multi-layer protective coating before assembly, then corrosion protection during storage and installation is improved, but manufacturing time and process complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The support struts are coated with the multi-layer protective coating system before assembly into the complete offshore structure. This preliminary coating action ensures that all surfaces are protected during storage, transport, and installation phases when the structure is most vulnerable to corrosion, eliminating the need for subsequent coating operations and reducing overall project time.
Solution Approach 2:
The coating process is segmented into separate application steps for different layers, allowing each layer to be applied, dried, and cured independently before the next layer is applied. This segmentation enables parallel processing and optimization of each coating stage, reducing total manufacturing time while ensuring proper adhesion and protection.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If the above-water area is coated with UV-resistant colored paint, then visibility for collision prevention is improved, but coating complexity and material cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The UV-resistant colored paint is applied specifically to the above-water portions of the support struts where visibility is needed for collision prevention, while the underwater portions receive different coating formulations optimized for corrosion and biological fouling resistance. This local differentiation of coating properties addresses specific functional requirements in different environmental zones without unnecessarily complicating the entire coating system.
Solution Approach 2:
The top layer of the coating system incorporates UV-resistant pigments and colorants that provide high visibility against the marine environment. The color is specifically engineered to resist fading from UV exposure, maintaining its visibility function over the service life of the structure. This color property is integrated into the protective coating system rather than being a separate addition.
4Reliability
If intermediate layers with specific materials are used to prevent bacterial adhesion, then corrosion resistance is improved, but manufacturing cost and material selection complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The intermediate layers are formulated with specific material parameters, particularly low surface energy characteristics, that prevent bacterial adhesion and subsequent corrosion. By controlling the surface energy parameter of the coating material, the system creates a non-stick surface that bacteria cannot easily colonize, thereby protecting the underlying steel from microbiologically influenced corrosion without requiring complex active protection systems.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution significantly extends the service life of offshore support structures by preventing corrosion, enhancing resistance to external loads, and improving visibility to reduce collision risks, while maintaining the structural integrity and reducing maintenance costs through comprehensive corrosion protection and durable coatings.
Implementation Method 1
the microbiological bacteria are prevented from adhering directly to the surface of the support struts
Implementation Method 2
The embedded color pigments increase the perceptibility of the area above the water of the supporting section
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
AI summary
The invention relates to an offshore support structure (1) for a wind turbine, comprising one or more fastening means (2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, 2e, 2f) for attaching the support structure (1) to a seabed (4), a receiving device (6) for receiving a tower shaft of the wind turbine, and a support section (8) which has an underwater section (8a) and an above-water section (8b) and includes one or more support struts (10), wherein the support struts (10) connect the receiving device (6) to the fastening means (2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, 2e, 2f) and one or more support struts (10) in the underwater section (8a) and one or more support struts (10) in the above-water section (8b) are coated, at least partially, with a multi-layer protective coating (12). The invention further relates to a method for manufacturing such an offshore support structure.