SFB 1463:  Integrated Design and Operation Methodology for Offshore Megastructures

• Subject Area: Construction Engineering and Architecture ; Computer Science, Systems and Electrical Engineering ; Mechanical and Industrial Engineering ; Materials Science and Engineering ; Mathematics ; Physics ; Thermal Engineering/Process Engineering
• Term: since 2021
• Website: Homepage
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 434502799

The objective of the Collaborative Research Centre (SFB) is the investigation of physical, conceptual, and methodological foundations, based on the Digital Twin’s concept, for an integrated design and operation methodology of future offshore megastructures. Offshore megastructures are slender integral structures of offshore wind turbines (OWTs) with > 20 MW rated power. They are characterized by very large dimensions and interact strongly dynamically with their environment. Due to several reasons, they can significantly contribute to the success of the energy transition. OWTs with > 20 MW rated power generate energy more efficiently and continuously. Moreover – compared to today's wind turbines – they have shorter installation times and more cost-effective logistics and maintenance with respect to their power output. Current design methods for the structural components of OWTs are usually determined by their load-bearing behaviour. In addition, component models are used instead of analysing the whole system. Interactions effects among the system, the manufacturing and installation process as well as later life cycle phases are rarely considered. Future OWTs will be megastructures, which will be exposed to hardly known impacts, e.g. due to wind conditions in the Ekman layer, which takes place at heights over 100 m. Due to their dimensions and the expected very slender design, non-linear dynamic interactions of individual components with each other and with the environment will become more relevant. Therefore, scaling of existing structures will not be possible. Hence, new structural concepts will be required.For the safe, economical and resource-saving design of these new structural concepts, methods are required that parallelise the sequential design process. This does not only help to accelerate development cycles, but it also enables an integrated design. Hence, life cycle phases, which are currently still being studied downstream (e.g. production, installation, operation, and decommissioning), are taken into account. The operation of offshore megastructures demands precise information on the condition and dynamic behaviour of the support structure and rotor blades throughout the entire life as well as knowledge of the effects of changing environmental and operational conditions. In the SFB, the insufficiently investigated design and operating conditions of offshore megastructures are to be described by physically motivated modelling approaches that will be combined in a reduced, real-time capable superordinate model to build a Digital Twin of an OWT. The Digital Twin will enable the development of an integrated design and operation methodology, which can be adapted and applied to other megastructures such as wide-span bridges and offshore platforms. In the long term, the SFB targets at a change of paradigm in the design and operation of structures with complex load-bearing behaviour.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres

Current projects

• A01 - Wind and turbulence models for wind turbines at high altitudes including the transition Prandtl to Ekman layer (Project Heads Peinke, Joachim ;  Wächter, Matthias )
• A02 - Dynamic flow separation on large, reactive rotor blades of wind energy megastructures (Project Head Seume, Jörg )
• A03 - Hydrodynamics of offshore megastructures and impact processes in and with the marine environment (Project Head Schlurmann, Torsten )
• A04 - Modelling and simulation of fluid-structure-ground-interaction for offshore megastructures (Project Heads Neuweiler, Insa ;  Schlurmann, Torsten )
• A05 - Stochastic modelling of the combination of unsteady conditions and conditions parameters (Project Head Schmidt, Boso )
• A06 - Modelling of motion responses and sea-keeping of megastructure components and work vessels (Project Head Hildebrandt, Arndt )
• B01 - Integrated design process for offshore support structures (Project Heads Marx, Steffen ;  Ntoutsi, Eirini )
• B02 - Adaptive rotor concepts for demand-based power supply (Project Head Kühn, Martin )
• B03 - Design methods of ultra-slender rotor blades (Project Heads Balzani, Claudio ;  Hühne, Christian )
• B04 - Load-bearing behaviour of cyclically loaded foundations of megastructures (Project Head Achmus, Martin )
• B05 - Efficient simulation and model reduction for offshore wind turbines (Project Head Steinbach, Marc )
• C01 - Robust monitoring concepts for offshore wind turbines (Project Heads Beer, Michael ;  Marx, Steffen )
• C02 - System identification and artificial intelligence in measurement data-based structure monitoring (Project Head Rolfes, Raimund )
• C04 - Robust model updating of Digital Twins under consideration of uncertainties (Project Head Hübler, Clemens )
• Z01 - Digital Twin of a wind turbine (Project Heads Gebhardt, Cristian Guillermo ;  Rolfes, Raimund )
• Z02 - Central tasks of the Collaborative Research Centre (Project Head Rolfes, Raimund )

• Applicant Institution: Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universität Hannover
• Participating University: Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg; Technische Universität Dresden; Technische Universität München (TUM)
• Participating Institution: Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR); Institut für Systemleichtbau
• Spokesperson: Professor Dr.-Ing. Raimund Rolfes