NEES - Offshore Wind Turbines

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EVALUATION The success of the project may be assessed from two perspectives: the design itself, and the actual process of getting there. Technical Evaluation of the Design: Strengths: Largely, the strengths of the design have been made clear from the outset: they were discussed in depth in the table of initial ideas, and were therefore the very attributes that led us to the selection of this design in the first place. However, the physical testing process of our representative model has of course confirmed some of these strengths, whilst negating others. To summarise, the revised appraisal is as follows: • •

• • • •

The structure is effective in holding the tower in the upright position It provides a degree of spring-back stability (self-righting) when the tower is tilted to the left or to the right, but is not quite as effective when tilting the tower forwards or backwards The hydro-dynamically-streamlined pontoons make towing and manoeuvring the tower a relatively easy task The framework can be both attached to and removed from the tower very quickly and easily The design makes provision for adjusting the height of the framework relative to the tower, as per requirement, depending on the conditions of the North Sea at the time of launch The structure is simplistic, and therefore quick and easy to construct, making it ideal for the production and deployment of large numbers of towers to various locations on the North Sea The testing process incidentally gave us the opportunity to devise an effective tow-point strategy, which had of course not been determined prior to this. It works such that the stability of the tower during the towing process may be maximised. The tug is attached to the tower by four individual tow-lines: one to each side of the very top part of the pontoon structure, and one to the bottom of each of the pontoons. With this arrangement, tension in the tow-lines therefore acts both above and below the pivot point on the surface of the water, hence culminating in both clockwise and anti-clockwise moments. These effectively cancel each other out, meaning the tower has the inclination to neither lean backwards, nor forwards.

DIAGRAM DEPICTING TOWING

Source: Primary Creation Created: April 7th 2012

Engineering Education Scheme: The Report | Evaluation

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