How Concrete Piles for Offshore Wind Power Are Affected by Seawater Erosion
Author Information
Author(s): Wu Caihong, Chen Bo, Wang Hao, Dai Jialin, Fan Shenghua, Yu Shuyang, Suchocki Czeslaw, Kania Tomasz, Nowak Rafał
Primary Institution: China Three Gorges Corporation
Hypothesis
How does seawater erosion affect the corrosion damage of concrete piles used in offshore wind power?
Conclusion
The study found that increasing aggregate content in concrete reduces the rate of chemical ion diffusion and slows early damage development, but damage accumulates over time.
Supporting Evidence
- Increasing aggregate percentage reduces the diffusion rate of chemical ions.
- Early damage development slows down with higher aggregate content.
- Damage accumulates over time regardless of aggregate content.
- Larger aggregate sizes delay damage initiation and concentrate early damage around them.
- Higher ion diffusion coefficients accelerate damage development.
Takeaway
This study shows that concrete piles for wind power can get damaged by seawater, but using more aggregate in the concrete can help slow down the damage.
Methodology
A meshless numerical simulation method based on smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) was developed to simulate corrosion damage processes in concrete pile foundations.
Limitations
The study may not fully replicate real-world conditions due to simplifications in the simulation model.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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