A systematic approach to offshore wind turbine jacket predesign and optimization: geometry, cost, and surrogate structural code check models

Abstract

The main obstacles in preliminary design studies or optimization of jacket substructures for offshore wind turbines are high numerical expenses for structural code checks and simplistic cost assumptions. In order to create a basis for fast design evaluations, this work provides the following: first, a jacket model is proposed that covers topology and tube sizing with a limited set of design variables. Second, a cost model is proposed that goes beyond the simple and common mass-dependent approach. And third, the issue of numerical efficiency is addressed by surrogate models for both fatigue and ultimate limit state code checks. In addition, this work shows an example utilizing all models. The outcome can be utilized for preliminary design studies and jacket optimization schemes. It is suitable for scientific and industrial applications.