Floating-Transport Characteristics of Integrated Mono-Column Composite Bucket Foundation for Offshore Wind Turbines

In order to achieve the purposes of the transportation and installation of the integrated wind turbine with the mono-column composite bucket foundation, an integrated floating platform has been developed. Taking the integrated towing process of the multi-body coupling system as the research object, a model test with a scale ratio of 1:80 is designed. The influences of environmental factors such as significant wave height, wave period, and the wave incident angle on the motion response of the integrated wind turbine and the floating platform during the floating-transport process, the pressure inside the compartment, and the towing cable force have been studied. The research findings are as follows: (1) Wave height and wave period have a great influence on the integrated wind turbine and the floating platform. With the increase in wave height and wave period, the motion response of the integrated wind turbine and the floating platform increases, the air pressure fluctuation in the bucket foundation compartment becomes more and more intense, and the towing cable force required for towing also increases and fluctuates more violently. (2) When the wave incident angle changes from 0° to 45°, the pitching motion frequency of the integrated wind turbine significantly increases, the overall fluctuation of the compartment pressure in the bucket foundation compartment decreases, the motion response of the floating platform becomes larger, and the towing cable force required for towing also increases accordingly.