Cyclic Loading Effects of Rock Scour Protection for Offshore Wind Applications

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Offshore wind (OW) plays an important role in the transition to low carbon energy supply, and has enormous potential for providing renewable energy across the globe, with projects starting to be developed in East Asia and the USA. The majority of foundations built for offshore wind consists of steel monopiles of up to 10 m in diameter. The use of rock protection to protect seabed mounted offshore foundations from scouring is growing. Loose rock protection is currently the primary method used to protect offshore foundations. With the expansion of Offshore Wind projects to East Asia and the USA, there is an increasing concern as to how rock protection would behave during cyclic loading, and in particular seismic events, and its performance subsequent to that event. The same concern also applies to evaluating seismic effects on rockfill placed for submarine cable stabilisation. The project will aim at addressing this research gap by assessing cyclic and seismic effects on scour protection performance. The work will involve experimental testing and design methodology.