The Environmental Hydraulics Institute of the Cantabria (IHCantabria) is carrying out physical experiments of the scour protection around the Jacket Legs at the new Iberdrola offshore wind farm – East Anglia ONE
In these physical tests the metocean characteristics of the studied location are simulated and the real Jackets’ orientation and the seabed characteristics are reproduced. The scale selected is 1:30.
The physical experiments are being carried out in the tridimensional wave basin CCOB (Cantabria Coastal and Ocean Basin) of The Environmental Hydraulics Institute of the University of Cantabria. The CCOB is equipped with a multi-directional wave generator, a portable wind generator and a current generator, allowing the study of any typology of floating or fixed offshore foundation.
Two jacket foundations with different scour protection systems are being simultaneously tested in the CCOB. The scour protection of the firsts jacket is a frond mats system, while the scour protection system of the second jacket is a conventional one made of rocks. Hence, these tests will allow the comparison of the performance of the two scour protection systems analyzed, as well as collecting information for the definition of monitoring and maintenance requirements.
During the physical experiments, the interaction among the jacket foundation, the scour protection and the moving bed will be evaluated under several combinations of wave and currents conditions. Furthermore, due to the presence of sand waves in East Anglia, the physical experiments are being carried out reproducing the presence of sand waves.
The evaluation of the scour protection response, as well as the sand waves’ evolution, will be analyzed through the execution of individual tests (waves, currents, tidal cycle and combined wave and currents tests, 3 hours duration at full scale, corresponding to return periods of 10-50 years), and cumulative tests, executing 6 sea states in a row (combined wave and currents tests, 3 hours duration at full scale, corresponding to return periods of 1-5-10-15-20-50 years).
The physical experiments are performed in the framework of SPJ (Scour Protection Jacket) project, founded by SODERCAN and developed by the consortium composed of Ingecid, Iberdrola Renovables and IHCantabria.