Experimental Characterization of Inter-Link Friction in Textile Chains used for Offshore Wind Turbine Moorings
This article investigates the friction phenomena occurring between the links of an ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) synthetic chain. Understanding friction is crucial for developing a meso-model of the chain, essential for design purposes in floating offshore wind turbine moorings. A novel experimental device is presented, enabling the study of friction between the constitutive UHMWPE woven strap on itself and between the strap and an isolated link from the synthetic chain. The strap-strap coefficient of friction (COF) is found to vary from 0.101 to 0.157, while the apparent strap-link COF ranges from 0.257 to 0.328. These data are vital for the numerical modeling of the synthetic chain; however, further work is needed to fully understand the link-link friction within the chains.
Authors
- Guilhem Bles (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7083-8149)
- Yann Marco (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0163-7279)
- Peter Davies (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0884-748X)
- Victor Popineau
- Abdesslam Noual
Institutions
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Ifremer (FR)
- Institut de Recherche Dupuy de Lôme (FR)
Publication Details
- Published
- 2025-06-16
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1109/oceans58557.2025.11104650
- Primary Topic
- Mechanical stress and fatigue analysis
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00