Offshore Template with Suction Buckles for Foundation Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for installing offshore wind turbine foundations face challenges in achieving accurate alignment and stability due to uneven seafloors and harsh conditions, leading to potential misalignment and structural weaknesses.
Innovation Solution
A template with hollow guiding elements and suction buckets is used, allowing for controlled penetration and leveling of the template on the seafloor, ensuring accurate alignment and anchoring through adjustable negative pressure, enabling precise placement of piles regardless of seafloor conditions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a jack-up platform with spud poles is used to position the template, then the template can be lowered to the seafloor, but the installation process becomes slow and complex due to the need to fix spud poles to the seafloor and the platform's limited usability in deep water and rough seas
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the template from the constraint of requiring a jack-up platform and spud poles. The template is designed to be independently deployable from a vessel without needing to be fixed to the seafloor via spud poles, thereby eliminating the slow and complex positioning process while maintaining positioning reliability through alternative means
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces a vessel as an intermediary for template deployment instead of using a jack-up platform. The template is lowered and positioned from the vessel, which serves as a mobile base that can operate in deeper waters and rougher sea conditions, thereby improving both productivity and operational reliability
2Reliability
If a jack-up platform is used to install the template, then the template can be positioned, but accuracy in orientation is compromised due to potential misalignment of the spud poles
Solution Approach 1:
The invention removes the spud poles from the system, eliminating the source of misalignment. The template is positioned and oriented directly from the vessel without intermediate spud poles that could be misaligned, thereby improving pile alignment accuracy while maintaining foundation stability through direct vessel-controlled positioning
Solution Approach 2:
The invention replaces the mechanical spud pole fixation system with a vessel-based positioning system. The vessel uses its own positioning capabilities (such as dynamic positioning systems or GPS-guided positioning) to accurately place the template, thereby improving orientation accuracy and eliminating the misalignment issues associated with spud poles
3Ease of operation
If a conventional template is used on uneven seafloors, then the template can be deployed, but misalignment of piles occurs due to the template adopting a leveling position deviating from the reference horizontal level
Solution Approach 1:
The invention makes the template dynamically adjustable by equipping it with movable legs that can independently adjust their length. This allows the template to adapt to uneven seafloor conditions while maintaining a horizontal reference level for accurate pile installation, thereby resolving the conflict between ease of deployment and precision
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the geometric parameters of the template by allowing the leg lengths to be variable rather than fixed. This enables the template to compensate for seafloor unevenness and maintain the correct orientation, thereby improving pile alignment accuracy without compromising deployment simplicity
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 method ensures rapid and accurate alignment and anchoring of the template, enhancing the stability and reliability of offshore foundations, even in challenging conditions, allowing for efficient installation of offshore wind turbine foundations.
Implementation Method 1
supplying a negative pressure to the at least one suction bucket for driving the suction bucket in to the seafloor
Implementation Method 2
disposing a pile in the hollow guiding element for installing the pile in the sea floor
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention provides a method of installing a foundation for an offshore wind turbine and a template for use herein. In illustrative embodiments, the template is releasably anchored in a seafloor and the template is leveled before installing a pile. In a method according to some illustrative embodiments herein, a template may be provided, the template comprising at least one hollow guiding element for receiving the pile, at least one suction bucket, a frame body to which the at least one hollow guiding element and the at least one suction bucket are coupled, and controlling means configured to supply a pressure to the at least one suction bucket. The method may comprise disposing the template on the seafloor, supplying a negative pressure to the at least one suction bucket for driving the suction bucket in to the seafloor, and controlling the negative pressure supplied to the at least one suction bucket to adjusting a penetration depth of the at least one suction bucket so as to level the frame relative to the seafloor.