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Deliverable 4.

3: Report on suitability of assessment


functions to validate novel mooring and foundation
component designs

D8.1
Lead partner:

Scientific and Technical coordination Guidelines


Norwegian Marine Technology Research Institute
(MARINTEK)

Contributing partners: The University of Exeter (UNEXE), University College


Cork (UCC), Tension Technology International (TTI)
Ltd, Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), DBE DEME
Blue Energy nv, WavEC Offshore Renewables
Authors:

Madjid Karimirad, Kourosh Koushan, Sam Weller, Lars


Johanning, Jon Hardwick, Marco Guerrini, Stephen
Banfield, Edward N Matteo, Jan Goormachtigh, Alex
Raventos

This project has received funding from


the European Unions Seventh
Programme for research, technological
development and demonstration
under grant agreement No 608597

Deliverable 4.3 Report on suitability of assessment functions to


validate novel mooring and foundation component designs

D4.3: Report on suitability of assessment functions to validate novel


mooring and foundation component designs
Project: DTOcean - Optimal Design Tools for Ocean Energy Arrays
Code: DTO_WP4_ECD_D4.3

Name

Date

Prepared

Work Package 4

07/07/14

Checked

Work Package 9

18/07/14

Approved

Project Coordinator

25/07/14

The research leading to these results has received funding from the European
Communitys Seventh Framework Programme under grant agreement No. 608597
(DTOcean).
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in
any form electronic, mechanical, photocopy or otherwise without the express permission
of the copyright holders.
This report is distributed subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or
otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired-out or otherwise circulated without the publishers prior
consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a 2
similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
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Abstract
It is the purpose of this document to evaluate the suitability of existing component assessment
functions for marine renewable energy (MRE) array foundation and mooring applications. In order to
inform the development of the DTOcean design tool, particular attention is given to i) the
introduction of new components made from well-established or novel materials/construction, and ii)
capabilities towards reliability and cost prediction. Whilst it is the role of WP4 to address a broad
range of components for array foundations and mooring configurations, particular attention in this
deliverable is given to corrosion effects, grouts and synthetic materials. For these areas indicative
cost and reliability values are provided. However, it is found that consistent approaches to assessing
cost and reliability do not exist beyond simplistic metrics (i.e. component unit costs) either due to a
lack of relevant data or the complexity of inter-related aspects. It will be the role of tasks 4.5-4.7 to
investigate reliability, economics and environmental aspects to a greater level of detail for inclusion
of methodologies into the Design Tool.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter

Description

Page

INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................ 9

GROUTING .............................................................................................................................................. 10
2.1

BACKGROUND ................................................................................................................................................... 10

2.1.1

Material....................................................................................................................................................... 11

2.1.2

Grouting plant ............................................................................................................................................. 11

2.1.3

Example Installation procedure ................................................................................................................... 12

2.1.4

Other directives ........................................................................................................................................... 12

2.2

CONSIDERATIONS FOR SPECIFICATION .............................................................................................................. 12

2.2.1

Design and classification .............................................................................................................................. 12

2.2.2

Improvement of grouted connections .......................................................................................................... 13

2.2.3

Strength of a grouted connection ................................................................................................................ 15

2.2.4

Degradation and environmental exposure ................................................................................................... 16

2.3

COST AND RELIABILITY ASSESSMENT ................................................................................................................. 17

2.3.1

Costs............................................................................................................................................................ 17

2.3.2

Quality control............................................................................................................................................. 18

2.3.3

Alternative connections ............................................................................................................................... 18

SYNTHETIC ROPES ................................................................................................................................... 20


3.1

MATERIALS AND CONSTRUCTIONS .................................................................................................................... 20

3.2

DESIGN AND CLASSIFICATION ............................................................................................................................ 23

3.2.1

Strength ...................................................................................................................................................... 23

3.2.2

Fatigue performance ................................................................................................................................... 24

3.2.3

Axial stiffness .............................................................................................................................................. 25

3.2.4

Axial damping .............................................................................................................................................. 26

3.2.5

Considerations for the design of MRE mooring systems ............................................................................... 26

3.3

DEGRADATION .................................................................................................................................................. 29

3.4

COST AND RELIABILITY ASSESSMENT ................................................................................................................. 30

3.4.1

Reliability experiences from the oil and gas industry ................................................................................... 32

CORROSION ............................................................................................................................................ 35

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter

Description

Page

4.1

BACKGROUND ................................................................................................................................................... 35

4.2

DEGRADATION MECHANISMS ........................................................................................................................... 37

4.2.1

Hydrogen Induced Stress Cracking ............................................................................................................... 37

4.2.2

CO2-corrosion .............................................................................................................................................. 38

4.2.3

O2-corrosion ................................................................................................................................................ 38

4.2.4

Microbiologically Induced Corrosion (MIC) Corrosion fatigue ....................................................................... 39

4.2.5

Corrosion fatigue ......................................................................................................................................... 39

4.3

COST AND RELIABILITY IMPLICATIONS ............................................................................................................... 40

4.4

CONCRETE ......................................................................................................................................................... 41

4.4.1

Metals ......................................................................................................................................................... 42

4.4.2

Protective Coatings ...................................................................................................................................... 44

NOVEL COMPONENTS ............................................................................................................................. 49


5.1

MARINE MICROPILE FOUNDATIONS .................................................................................................................. 49

5.2

THE EXETER TETHER ........................................................................................................................................... 50

5.3

BAG ANCHORS ................................................................................................................................................... 51

5.4

CONNECTORS .................................................................................................................................................... 52

CONCLUSIONS ........................................................................................................................................ 54

BIBLIOGRAPHY........................................................................................................................................ 56

ACRONYMS ............................................................................................................................................. 61

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TABLES INDEX
Description

Page

Table 3-1: Selected properties of several synthetic fibre materials (values from (McKenna, HA, Hearle, JWS. and OHear, N,
2004)). Steel is included for reference. Note: the modulus of nylon is approximately 15% lower when wet. Tex is a measure of
weight per unit length (units: g/km) ......................................................................................................................................... 22
Table 3-2: Partial safety factors for synthetic ropes from DNV-OS-E301 Position Mooring (DNV, Offshore Standard Position
Mooring. DNV-OS-E301, 2010) for two consequence criteria (CC) ........................................................................................... 24
Table 3-3: Offshore certification guidance and recommended practices for synthetic fibre ropes ........................................... 28
Table 3-3: Cost comparison carried out by Ridge et al. (Ridge, I.M.L., Banfield, S.J. and Mackay, J., 2010) of three hypothetical
catenary mooring systems located in d = 50 m water depth. Buoyancy of the buoys is specified in tonnes and drag embedment
anchors are specified. ............................................................................................................................................................... 31
Table 4-1: Internal and external corrosion mechanisms in a subsea oil and gas production environment (DNV, MATERIAL RISK
- AGEING OFFSHORE, 2006). ..................................................................................................................................................... 36
Table 4-2: Costs for coatings and anodes in the submerged zone, all costs in k (Knudsen, 2010). ........................................ 41
Table 4-3: Coating specification outside and inside for steel towers for wind turbines in different wind parks given by Hempel
(Knudsen, 2010) ........................................................................................................................................................................ 47
Table 4-4: Corrosion protection for Hywind offshore wind turbine and the Sharingham Shoal offshore wind park ................. 48
Table 4-5: Corrosion protection systems for the five last steel jackets produced by Aker Solutions, Verdal ............................ 48

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FIGURES INDEX
Description

Page

Figure 2-1: Monopile types in terms of axial load transfer mechanism (A: plain pipe; B: connection with shear keys; C: shear
keys only in the center of the connection). .............................................................................................................................. 14
Figure 2-2: Conical shape connections, DNV ............................................................................................................................ 15
Figure 2-3: Alternative connections .......................................................................................................................................... 19
Figure 3-1: Indicative specific stress-extension curves for various synthetic fibres; aramid, steel, nylon (PA), polyester (PET) and
gel spun high modulus polyethylene (HPPE) (graph adapted from (McKenna, HA, Hearle, JWS. and OHear, N, 2004))......... 21
Figure 3-2: Load-extension behaviour of a new nylon mooring rope sample subjected to 10 cycles of bedding-in during the tests
reported in (Weller SD, Davies P, Vickers AW, and Johanning, L, 2014) ................................................................................... 22
Figure 3-3: a) Typical rope construction hierarchy (image adapted from (Flory JF, Leech CM, Banfield SJ and Petruska DJ, 2005)),
b) nylon parallel-stranded construction (Weller SD, Davies P, Vickers AW, and Johanning, L, 2014) and c) schematic of Bexco
double-braid rope (image source: http://www.bexco.be/) ....................................................................................................... 23
Figure 3-4: Fatigue results for several mooring components (Ridge, I.M.L., Banfield, S.J. and Mackay, J., 2010). Dashed lines
indicate extrapolated values ..................................................................................................................................................... 25
Figure 3-5: 100 year storm wave loading on a renewable device ............................................................................................. 27
Figure 4-1: Corrosion process, https://www.boundless.com/readings/3151/ .......................................................................... 37
Figure 4-2: Corrosion effects on fatigue life, http://www.corrosionclinic.com/types_of_corrosion/Corrosion%20Fatigue.htm40
Figure 4-3: Illustration of concrete corrosion in offshore environment, .................................................................................... 42
Figure 4-4: Cathodic protection, Courtesy of Deepwater Corrosion Services Inc. http://www.cathodicprotection101.com/ ... 43
Figure 4-5: Left: corrosion and break-up of IWRC of 76 mm ungalvanized MODU mooring rope after five years' service; right:
IWRC of 90 mm galvanised MODU mooring rope after 7 years (C.R.Chaplin, A.E. Potts and A. Curtis, 2008).......................... 45
Figure 5-1: Micropile, Courtesy of Marine Micropile Technology Group, http://www.marinemicropile.com .......................... 50
Figure 5-2: Deployment of the SWMTF with two Exeter Tethers (left, foreground).................................................................. 51
Figure 5-3: Bag anchor .............................................................................................................................................................. 52
Figure 5-4: Triplate connector

Figure 5-5: Inline or end connector ...................................................................................... 53

Figure 5-6: Generic range of mooring connectors

Figure 5-7: SDSS Inline connectors with pins...................................... 53

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INTRODUCTION

The specification of suitable foundation or mooring systems for the station keeping of marine
renewable energy (MRE) devices is one of the important objectives of WP4 in the DTOcean project.
The reliability of components is pivotal key to the functionality of the mooring or foundation system
and the continued availability of all devices in the array. These subsystems represent a significant
proportion of the lifecycle costs of offshore wave and seabed mounted tidal energy arrays
(estimated to be approximately 6% and 14% respectively (SI-Ocean, 2013)) and hence opportunities
to reduce costs must be sought in order for arrays to be commercially viable. The focus of this
report is the cost and reliability implications of several MRE mooring and foundation topics: 1)
corrosion 2) grouting systems 3) synthetic ropes and 4) novel components.
Although the marine renewable industry can utilise existing knowledge regarding materials an
operational techniques from more mature offshore industries (i.e. the oil and gas sector), this
information is not fully transferrable to the marine renewable sector. Therefore research and
appraisal of component or procedure suitability are both required. The cost, environmental impact
and reliability of a proposed large scale deployment of MRE devices all require close scrutiny
because at array scale the implications of each inter-related factor could be positive (i.e. cost
reductions due to bulk purchasing) or negative (i.e. unscheduled maintenance costs incurred due to
low reliability). The aim of this report is to evaluate the suitability of assessment functions to
validate novel mooring and foundation component designs. Various material and design assessment
tools for a broad range of array foundations and moorings are investigated. Particular attention is
given to the introduction of new components made from established or novel materials and
construction techniques and to their capabilities towards improving the reliability and reducing the
costs of MRE mooring and foundation systems.
In Section 2 the technique of grouting which is largely employed in terrestrial and maritime civil
engineering works is described with subsections dedicated to the material characteristics as well as
degradation due to environmental exposure. Synthetic ropes have a long track record of use in the
oil and gas industry. Their use in MRE mooring systems is discussed in Section 3. Materials along with
design approaches and reference standards are the key topics of this section. Section 4 is meant to
derive a best practice with regards to monitoring and mitigation of corrosion and degradation
process for metal and concrete structural elements caused by chemical and biological process. In
each of the aforementioned sections existing approaches to assess cost and reliability are
introduced. The use of novel components in the MRE industry with regard to mooring and
foundation systems is addressed in Section 5. Conclusions and final remarks are drawn in Section 6.

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2
2.1

GROUTING
Background

The technique of grouting is commonly used for offshore installations. Examples are grouted steel
connections or sleeves and both have been used in both steel and concrete structure applications.
Also, connections between the foundation and (rocky) soil can be made through grouting the pile(s)
and the drilled sockets. Both pin piles (small diameters) and monopiles (large diameters) are to be
considered.
More recent examples in offshore marine applications include drilled and grouted piling, as well as
the concrete grouting connection between the pile and the transition piece for wind turbines.
Although the bending moments from wind and waves were always considered as important design
parameters, it was found that the axial holding capacity was significantly lower than previously
assumed due to the effect of larger diameters of monopiles, the lack of control of tolerances and the
abrasive wear of the grout due to the sliding of contact surfaces when subjected to large bending
moments. This resulted in reported failures (DNV.GL, 2011) of the grouted transition sections for
wind turbines, causing them to slip. Typical failure modes include disbonding, cracking, wear and
compressive failure.
The purpose of grouting is to establish a sound and reliable connection between two bodies. In case
of an anchor application, the grout body adheres to the pile and to the anchoring medium and the
pile capacity typically depends on the bond strength between the grout and soil/rock interface.
Drilling and grouting is essentially identical to the method used to set a casing for an oil well. A hole
of somewhat larger diameter than the pile is drilled to the proper depth using rotary drilling tools
and is cleaned out by pumping seawater through the drill string. The pile is placed over the drill
string and lowered into the hole. Portland cement grout is pumped down the drill string and forced
up outside of the pile to fill the annular void and bond the pile to the soil. The interior of the pile is
filled with grout as the drill string is withdrawn. Piles up to 8 feet in diameter have been placed in
water depths in excess of 200 m by drilling and grouting. For small piles set in rock, either cement or
epoxy grout can be used.
It is important to have a system to develop a remotely controlled grouting procedure that can be
applied to deep water grouted pile anchor installations with emphasis on a grout delivery control
system.

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The requirements and technologies for a Quality Control and Certification Procedure to validate
deep underwater grouted pile anchor installations and conformance with identified environmental
concerns should be documented.
The grouting procedure and the qualification pull test procedure were identified as the key
technology areas that required development to advance the concept. An extensive technology
review of currently available grouting methodologies; both terrestrial and marine, to identify
promising grout chemistries and grouting procedures has been carried out. For the pull test, the plan
was to use the concept validation tests as an opportunity to develop and prove a pull test apparatus
and procedure scalable to the production application. The pull out capacity (Tf) of anchorage is
dependent upon the strength of the material mass and is limited in BS8081 to a grout/rock bond
stress of 4N/mm2 for strong rock. Similarly, the grout/tendon bond stress is limited in to 2N/mm 2 for
deformed bar.
2.1.1

Material

Materials which may be used for grouted connections include:

Portland cement grouts with or without inert fillers mixed preferably with fresh water,
although seawater may be used. There may be special circumstances where the use of
seawater is undesirable because of corrosion and other durability effects.
Fresh water/high alumina cement grouts providing that, to take account of the conversion
process, the design is based on the minimum strength appropriate to the curing
temperature, service temperature and water: cement ratio.

Admixtures may be used to improve properties of the slurry or set grout provided that it is
established that they have no harmful effect on the performance of the connection. Calcium
chloride or admixtures containing significant levels of chloride ions should not be used.
2.1.2

Grouting plant

A typical grouting plant consists of the following items:


-

a mixing unit

concrete pumps

waste pans

flexible grout hoses

tool container (with spares, reduction pipe, stinger, etc.)


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2.1.3

Example Installation procedure

The general installation concept for the monopile foundation installation works is summarized as
following:

2.1.4

Upend and lift drilling conductor


Lowering of drilling conductor onto the seabed; through the installation frame
Fixating the conductor into the seabed by means of an hydraulic oscillator (+/- 0.5m
penetration)
RCD boring of socket up to required depth
Upending and lifting of monopile foundation
Installation of monopile foundation within the conductor
Grouting of monopile annulus
Loosen conductor by oscillator
Extract conductor
Other directives

In case of pile foundation grouting, the grout should be injected at the lowest point of the annulus
so that any fluid present is completely displaced. Reliable means of ensuring complete filling of the
annulus with sound grout should be incorporated, such as a) provision for samples of material at the
top of the annulus to be returned to the surface by piping or by divers, or b) the provision of proven
remote monitoring devices at the top of the annulus.
Particularly for monopiles, it is recommended that an attachment (e.g. perforated blanking plate)
will be in place at the bottom section to facilitate quick formation of a grout plug; in order to reduce
the required grout volume inside the monopiles.
2.2

Considerations for specification

2.2.1

Design and classification

The literature review identified that certain key grout attributes would be needed for marine
foundation applications, namely:

Non-shrinkage (expansive properties beneficial)


Good pumpability
Early strength development

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Good strength (minimum unconfined compressive strength of over 6,000psi / approx.


40N/mm2 at 28 days is specified as an example)
Free of chlorides or other salts (high resistance to chemical attack when cured)

It was found that such grouts typically comprise a blend of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC),
selected fillers, plasticizers, expansion additives and waterproofing admixtures. For subsea
placement, the addition of anti-washout properties was also suggested to be beneficial. Finally it
was identified that manufacturers would have to be consulted to ensure that none of the chemicals
or additives to be used would be harmful to the marine environment. A detailed grout specification
was prepared for the project, covering grout properties, chemical composition and also testing
requirements. Due to quality control issues and the relatively small volumes of grout required for
each anchor it was recommended that pre-blended bagged grout be used, and mixed using potable
water. This ensures that the Quality Assurance/Quality Control testing will correlate with
manufacturers recommendations and international design standards. For mixing the grout, a high
speed, high shear colloidal grout mixer was specified. The high-speed shearing action of a colloidal
mixer achieves greater hydration of the cement by wetting each individual particle, and mixing time
is significantly lower than conventional paddle mixers. This type of mixer provides an extremely
efficient and rapid means of producing high quality grout. Additional developments are suggested
investigating the use of grouts compatible with seawater.
2.2.2

Improvement of grouted connections

In order to increase the strength of grouted connections, some measure can be taken as illustrated
below and applied to transition piece connections:
Grouted connections with shear keys (DNV, Certification of Grouted Connections for Offshore Wind
Turbines., 2013)
The new knowledge is also expected to influence the design of large diameter grouted connections
with shear keys. Shear keys are circumferential weld beads on the outside of the monopile and the
inside of the transition piece in the grouted section. The shear keys purpose is to increase the sliding
resistance between the grout and steel so that no settlement occurs. The existing design standards
for such connections are based on limited test data for alternating dynamic loading. Before this
solution can be recommended, a design practises for shear keys should be developed and properly
incorporated in design standards.

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Figure 2-1: Monopile types in terms of axial load transfer mechanism (A: plain pipe; B: connection with shear
keys; C: shear keys only in the center of the connection).

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DNV initiated a complementary joint industry project with the aim of updating existing knowledge of
and design practices for grouted connections with shear keys. DNV JIP is now complete and the
results have been published (Inge Lotsberg, Andrzej Serednicki, Hkon Bertnes and Andreas Lervik,
2012) and results of JIP have been included in latest DNV standards (Design of Offshore Wind
Turbine Structures DNV-OS-J101).
Conical shaped connections (DNV, Summary Report from the JIP on the Capacity of Grouted
Connections in Offshore Wind Turbine Structures, 2010)
Based on the DNV JIP, a design practise to account for large dynamic bending moments on
monopiles has been developed using conical shaped connections. According to this, the monopile
and transition piece are fabricated with a small cone angle in the grouted section.

Figure 2-2: Conical shape connections, DNV


2.2.3

Strength of a grouted connection

The following have been shown to be the principal factors affecting the strength of a grouted
connection:

grout compressive strength and elastic modulus


tubular and grout annulus geometries
outstand and spacing of mechanical shear connectors
grouted length to pile diameter ratio
surface condition of tubular sections
long term grout shrinkage or expansion.
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It is strongly recommended that mechanical shear connectors are used, since their presence can
result in connection strengths of several times that of plain pipe connections with resulting economy
for the complete structure. The use of mechanical shear connectors increases the reliability of the
connection and eliminates the effect of long term grouting shrinkage on the connection capacity.
Mechanical shear connectors may take the form of continuously welded bars or weld beads
attached to the steel surfaces in contact with the grout and may be arranged in hoop or helical
formation. Other forms of shear connectors require special consideration.
Where the design of the grouted connections takes account of the presence of shear connectors, the
following recommendations apply:

2.2.4

Shear connectors should be present on both the pile and sleeve surfaces which are in
contact with the grout.
The shear connector spacing should be uniform along the length of the connection.
The outstand and spacing of shear connectors on the sleeve and pile should be the same. If
this is not the case then the characteristic bond strength should be assessed both for the
outer surface of the pile and the inner surface of the sleeve and the lower value used to
calculate the connection capacity.
For driven piles, shear connectors should be applied to sufficient length of the pile to ensure
that, after driving, the part of the pile in contact with the grout has shear connectors.
Shear connector cross-section and welds on each grout/steel interface should be designed
to transmit the total load applied to the grouted connection.
Degradation and environmental exposure

A review of cementitious materials in the literature indicates that the greatest chemical threat to
cement and concrete in the maritime environment is sulphate attack, which owes to the presence of
magnesium sulphate in seawater (Lea, 1970) (Taylor, 1990). This is especially pronounced in
warmer, tropical waters where the kinetics of degradation are faster. Chemical leaching of
cementitious material in seawater can be enhanced when carbon dioxide levels are elevated
(carbonation), which could be the by-product of organic matter decay or microbial activity. An
elevated carbon dioxide condition primarily occurs in sheltered bays and estuaries so may be of
minimal concern for offshore locations. Sulphate resistant cement formulations - as used in oilfields
and other subsurface engineering applications, can be employed at an economically-feasible manner
to solve the sulphate attack. Understanding the conditions that would lead to elevated carbon
dioxide is an area of potential concern that may need special attention with respect to siting of a
MRE device. Overall, as suggested elsewhere in this report, the proper selection of cement

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formulation and design (i.e. controlling permeability) can eliminate the majority of causes for
chemical attack.
Another important mode of chemical attack pertains to cement in contact with steel. When in
contact with cement, steel is passivated from corrosion due to the hyperalkaline nature of cement
pore waters. However, exposed areas of steel, or steel elements in contact with chemically leached
cement, can corrode, which, in turn, can lead to mechanical degradation. This is a well-documented
ailment of steel-reinforced concrete (Taylor, 1990) in civil engineering applications (mitigation steps
are discussed in Section 4.3.1), and it is recommended that this attack mechanism be identified as an
area of concern, owing to the fact that the generic design concept allows for a variety of steelcement interfaces to be incorporated into the foundation.
A review of the literature also indicated freeze thaw as a potential origin of mechanical degradation
of cement in the maritime environment (Lea, 1970). Structures located in northern latitudes and
periodically exposed, e.g. due to tidal variations, are most susceptible to this mode of degradation.
In general, cement/concrete structures which are completely submerged are at very low (or zero)
risk of suffering freeze thaw attack. Overall, choosing the appropriate cement will be the most
important safeguard with the broadest applicability. However, special concern should be given to
steel/cement interfaces, as well as conditions were microbial activity or decay of organic-rich matter
may produce elevated carbon dioxide levels.
2.3

Cost and reliability assessment

2.3.1

Costs

The expenditures of grouting activities and material supply are very case specific. However, a few
cost drivers can be identified:

Grout volume
Type of connection
o Grout losses (mainly due to spill)
o Pile dimensions (diameter).
Installation time
Grouting speed: of 6 m/h (order of magnitude) but will be affected by different factors
o Weather conditions: (mainly wave and current restrictions) should allow carrying
out the grouting activity continuously.
o Water depth: has its influence on the total grouting time.

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Type of equipment
o The capacity of the grouting equipment,
o The type of support vessel,
o The installation procedure.

To give an indication of the cost of grout materials, a quick survey1 determined that they range from
10 - 150 per ton with the price dependent on the material grade specified. The highest price refers
to grouts which have high compressive strengths (greater than 100MPa) and at the lower end of the
range are grouts based on Portland cement with lower compressive strengths.
2.3.2

Quality control

During the grouting of each connection, samples of grout should be taken from randomly selected
batches. The rate of sampling should take account of the nature of the work. At least four samples,
each of three cubes, should be taken for each connection. One cube for each sample should be
tested to assess compliance (usually at 28 days). The remaining cubes may be tested at earlier ages
to indicate the grout quality. Until tested the specimens should be subjected to a curing regime
representative of the curing conditions of the grouted connection. i.e. underwater and at the
appropriate seawater temperature (DNV, Design of Offshore Wind Turbine Structures, 2011).
Strength compliance can be assumed if no test result in each set of four is below the specified
characteristic grout compressive strength. In the event of non-compliance the action taken should
have due regard for the nature and degree of non-compliance and the implications for safety.
2.3.3

Alternative connections

Due to degradation of grouted connections, recently bolted connections came more and more in the
picture to provide a more sustainable solution in case of connecting a transition piece to a monopile.
Although, with the grouted connection it is possible to correct non-verticalities up to 0.5 and the
grout also serves as barrier to avoid water ingress. Nevertheless, bolted connections are for this type
of connections more and more favourable due its robustness. Moreover, non-verticalities are also
possible to correct with a circular correction plate, to be mounted on the upper flange of the
monopile and oriented according to its horizontal deviation.

Costs obtained in July 2014 by GeoSea, part of the DEME Group

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Figure 2-3: Alternative connections

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SYNTHETIC ROPES

Use of the synthetic mooring ropes began in the 1980s with initial trials of aramid ropes conducted
for Mobile Offshore Drilling Units (MODUs). As the offshore oil and gas industry moved to deeper
water exploration sites, cost and reliability requirements became pivotal to the development of
economic and reliable mooring systems. With a notable number of permanent mooring system
failures caused by the failure of steel components (Noble-Denton, 2006) (Ma, K-t, Duggal A,
Smedley, L'Hostis D and Shu H, 2013), synthetic ropes offer a low cost, low weight, compliant and
durable alternative and they are widely used for a range of temporary and permanent mooring
applications (Ridge, I.M.L., Banfield, S.J. and Mackay, J., 2010) (da Costas Mattos, HS and Chimisso,
FEG, 2011) (Flory, J and Banfield, SJ, 2006). The selection of synthetic ropes over steel components
(e.g. chain and wire) has been identified as a potential way of reducing capital costs (Carbon Trust
and Black & Veatch, 2011) whilst improving the reliability of mooring systems. Several device
developers are known to be using or considering using synthetic ropes, including the CETO wave
energy converter (WEC) developed by Carnegie Wave Energy.
Synthetic rope mooring systems are become attractive for offshore technology due to the following
factors:

Reduced weight
Easier installation
Compliance
Favourable performance in extreme loading conditions
Favourable fatigue performance

Synthetic ropes have become an accepted alternative to chain and steel wire rope mooring lines in
recent years. At present, polyester fibre is the most widely used synthetic fibre for this purpose. High
modulus polyethylene (HMPE) is an alternative to polyester, with many favourable properties.
During recent years (Ridge, Banfield Mackay 2010) nylon fatigue life has been increased to such an
extent that it can be used for permanent mooring systems.
3.1

Materials and constructions

A variety of materials feature in commercially available synthetic ropes, however for brevity only the
main types which are likely to be used by the MRE industry are summarised: nylon (polyamide, PA),
polyester (PET), aramid and high modulus polyethylene (HMPE). Polyester is currently the most
widely used material for permanent mooring systems. Referring to Table 3-1, the strength per unit
weight of these four materials is significantly higher than steel. The low weight per unit length
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means that they are also easier to handle and install and therefore the hanging weight or pretension
of the mooring line is lower. Synthetic materials extend to a greater level than steel before failure
(Table 3-1 and Figure 3-1) and it is this compliance which is the one of the main advantages of using
these materials in mooring ropes. Stiffer materials such as HMPE and aramid tend to be used for
taut-mooring configurations, with polyester and nylon used for applications requiring greater
compliance including permanent mooring systems and hawser. The ability to absorb energy during
dynamic loading can reduce the magnitude of peak loads (e.g. (Kirrane P, Fabricius P and Morvan R,
2010)) and this is due to the viscoelastic or hysteresis response of these materials (Chailleux E and
Davies P, 2003) (Flory JF, Leech CM, Banfield SJ and Petruska DJ, 2005) (Weller SD, Davies P, Vickers
AW, and Johanning, L, 2014) (e.g. Figure 3-2). Under the application of a constant load synthetic
materials will extend or creep. Once load is removed, extension recovery takes place and these two
processes are either immediate or delayed. The response of these materials is therefore dependent
on load history, the magnitude of applied load and in the case of dynamic loading, load amplitude.
Loading rate is generally not important except for the first few loadings in the rope life and therefore
response sensitivity to loading rate is negligible at the load frequencies of interest for moorings.

Figure 3-1: Indicative specific stress-extension curves for various synthetic fibres; aramid, steel, nylon (PA),
polyester (PET) and gel spun high modulus polyethylene (HPPE) (graph adapted from (McKenna, HA, Hearle,
JWS. and OHear, N, 2004)).

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Material

Density (g/cm3)

Modulus (N/tex, GPa)

Tenacity (mN/tex)

Break extension (%)

Steel

7.85

20, 160

330

HMPE

0.97

100, 100

3500

3.5

Aramid

1.45

60, 90

2000

3.5

PET

1.38

11, 15

820

12

PA6

1.14

7, 8

840

20

(2)

Table 3-1: Selected properties of several synthetic fibre materials (values from (McKenna, HA, Hearle, JWS. and
OHear, N, 2004)). Steel is included for reference. Note: the modulus of nylon is approximately 15% lower when
wet. Tex is a measure of weight per unit length (units: g/km)

Figure 3-2: Load-extension behaviour of a new nylon mooring rope sample subjected to 10 cycles of bedding-in
during the tests reported in (Weller SD, Davies P, Vickers AW, and Johanning, L, 2014)

In addition to material properties, construction also has a significant influence on rope performance,
as discussed in (McKenna, HA, Hearle, JWS. and OHear, N, 2004). In Figure 3-2 the response of the
rope to initial loading is clearly different from subsequent loading cycles and the resulting
permanent elongation is due to the viscoplastic response of the material as well as rearrangement of
the rope structure. Most commercially available constructions are hierarchical starting from
individual fibres which are combined to form yarns, yarn assemblies and strands (Figure 3-3a).
2

Yield point of steel.

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Parallel-stranded ropes tend to be used for high load applications and comprise strands assembled
into subropes which are typically covered in a protective jacket (e.g. Figure 3-3b). Plaited and
braided constructions are also used (e.g. Figure 3-3c).

Figure 3-3: a) Typical rope construction hierarchy (image adapted from (Flory JF, Leech CM, Banfield SJ and
Petruska DJ, 2005)), b) nylon parallel-stranded construction (Weller SD, Davies P, Vickers AW, and Johanning, L,
2014) and c) schematic of Bexco double-braid rope (image source: http://www.bexco.be/)
3.2
3.2.1

Design and classification


Strength

The ability of a rope to withstand the expected loaded conditions is clearly of prime importance to
keep the device on station. The minimum break load (MBL) of commercially available rope is readily
available from the manufacturer and is based on tension-tension tests in which the rope is loaded
until failure (e.g. (DNV, 2013)). Whilst preliminary design guidelines have been developed for the
MRE devices (DNV, 2012) (IEC, 2014), the factors of safety which are applied on top of the MBL to
provide an adequate margin of safety are ultimately based on existing offshore guidance (e.g. (API,
2005)) developed for the oil and gas industry. Use of conservative factors of safety is potentially
onerous for MRE array developments because the consequence of mooring component failure will
be less severe than for oil and gas equipment.
Several scenarios are utilised in (DNV, Offshore Standard Position Mooring. DNV-OS-E301, 2010) to
determine the required strength of mooring components3 (Sc), including Ultimate Limit State (ULS)

The statistical uncertainty of strength characteristics based on test statistics has to be accounted for (IEC, 2014)

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and Accident Limit State (ALS) scenarios is calculated using the following equation based on mean
and dynamic loadings (Tc-mean and Tc-dyn) and using the partial safety factors listed in Table 3-2:

When characteristic strengths are not available, Sc is determined from the minimum break strength
of new components (Sc = 0.95Smbs). Different approaches to strength calculation are taken in Bureau
Veritas and Norwegian guidelines (BV, 2012) (NORSOK, 2009).
Mean tension factor
(mean) ULS, ALS

Dynamic
factor (dyn)

tension

ULS, ALS
Dynamic (CC1)

1.10, 1.00

1.50, 1.10

Dynamic (CC2)

1.40, 1.00

2.10, 1.25

Quasi-static (CC1)

1.70, 1.10

1.70, 1.10

Quasi-static (CC2)

2.50, 1.35

2.50, 1.35

Table 3-2: Partial safety factors for synthetic ropes from DNV-OS-E301 Position Mooring (DNV, Offshore
Standard Position Mooring. DNV-OS-E301, 2010) for two consequence criteria (CC)
3.2.2

Fatigue performance

Mooring components undergo cyclic loading which will eventually lead to failure through fatigue and
this could potentially be an issue for MRE devices undergoing highly dynamic motions, particularly
for steel components. There are two main test procedures which have been developed to quantify
the fatigue life of synthetic ropes and rope yarns. The thousand cycle load level test (TCLL) was
originally developed for nylon hawsers and includes several load levels, starting at a load range of 250% MBL (International Marine Forum, 2000). The fatigue life of individual yarns is determined
through yarn-on-yarn abrasion tests (Cordage Institute, 2009) with relevant standards for
performance (Cordage Institute, 2013). For fatigue life analysis, (including Fatigue Limit State (FLS)
calculations) it is possible to obtain fatigue data based on standard testing practices from published
literature (e.g. Figure 3-4).

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Figure 3-4: Fatigue results for several mooring components (Ridge, I.M.L., Banfield, S.J. and Mackay, J., 2010).
Dashed lines indicate extrapolated values
3.2.3

Axial stiffness

Due to the complex behaviour associated with synthetic ropes, modelling of rope axial stiffness (EA,
units: N) is non-trivial. Characteristic performance curves have been developed based on
experimental data such as the following formula to calculate the stiffness of polyester (Cordage
Institute, 2009):

: Polyester rope instantaneous stiffness.

: Static stiffness

: Mean load stiffness coefficient.

: Varying load stiffness coefficient

: Mean load level.

: Amplitude of dynamic loading

In this formulation it can be seen that the stiffness of the rope depends on a combination of the
static stiffness, mean load level and dynamic load range. To a much lesser extent creep and
constructional elongation affect the elastic response. Providing a sufficient installation tension can
be applied to the line, the majority of creep and certainly all the constructional effects can be
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removed. If the installation tension is higher than the maximum tension during service life, then all
the primary creep and constructional effects are removed. Secondary creep is linear with log time
and for most materials is very small. However, the cost of installation will increase with higher
installation tensions as larger capacity equipment will be required. With continued dynamic loading
the stiffness of polyester rope increases until a certain maximum stiffness is reached, a plateau
which depends on mean load and dynamic loading amplitude. The plateau level is the reference
stiffness for design. In realistic extreme environmental conditions, the plateau is reached within an
hour of a storm event occurring (Casey, NF and Banfield, SJ, 2005). For polyester rope, this
behaviour results in dynamic stiffness from 2 to several times the static stiffness. Failure to account
for this behaviour will inevitably yield inaccurate line tension and device offset predictions, which
could lead to device impact in the case of an array of closely spaced devices.
In order to more accurately simulate the static-dynamic elongation behaviour of fibre rope 2-and 3slope models were developed by the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS, Guidance Notes on the
Application of Fiber Rope for Offshore Mooring, 2011). In the 2-slope model the response of the
rope to initial loading up to the mean load is based on static stiffness. For higher magnitude, cyclic
loads, dynamic stiffness is used. Ropes under severe environmental loading will experience dynamic
loads (at low and wave frequencies) oscillating a mean load level. In the 3-slope model low and wave
frequency loads are treated separately. An alternative approach is to use upper and lower stiffness
bounds, although this may over-simplify the complex behaviour of synthetic ropes and is therefore
no longer recommended.
3.2.4

Axial damping

The hysteresis response of viscoelastic materials arises from the phase delay between changes to
the applied load and subsequent extension or recovery. The energy expended during each dynamic
load cycle can be estimated based on the area contained within load-extension response loops and
is related to the damped response of the rope. In addition to other damping mechanisms (such as
drag and viscous damping due to mooring line motions), axial damping will contribute to the overall
damped response of the moored device (Ghoreishi, S.R., Cartraud, P., Davies, P. and Messager, T.,
2007).
3.2.5

Considerations for the design of MRE mooring systems

The approaches to mooring system design and analysis introduced in preceding sections have been
developed for large offshore oil and gas equipment. MRE devices are typically smaller (in both size
and mass) and are therefore more dynamically responsive particularly in the case of WECs tuned to
maximise energy absorption. Therefore the loading scenarios which components are subjected to
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are potentially very different. One particular scenario, which must be considered for devices located
in shallow water, is storm wave loading (i.e. 100 year return period). Numerical modelling has shown
that the 100 year wave is just preceded with a few seconds of zero mooring tension (corresponding
to slack mooring lines) and then the loading increases to the maximum (maybe as high as 50/60%) as
shown in Figure 3-5 (TTI, 2009). As the rope has time to relax and also starts from zero, the stiffness
would be much lower than that predicted by the oil & gas techniques. One example (TTI, 2009)
using this method showed the 100 year dynamic stiffness for a polyester rope to be EA/MBL of 10,
whereas approaches used by the oil and gas industry would give a value approaching 30. The key
learning here is that the rope stiffness must be measured for the expected loading scenario for the
particular device, water depth and environment. This advice has not changed since the Engineers
Design Guide to Deepwater Fibre Moorings JIP, but seems to be often missed.

Figure 3-5: 100 year storm wave loading on a renewable device

More detailed tools have been developed using viscoplastic and viscoelastic formulae, finite element
and continuum methods (e.g. (Franois, M., Davies, P., Grosjean, F., Legerstee, F., 2010) (Chailleux,
E., Davies, P, 2003) ). Fibre Rope Modeller (FRM) developed by Tension Technology International
(TTI) is a commercially available modelling program which is capable of predicting the performance
of any rope constructions in terms of extension, torque and twist, as well as the effects of cycling
and certain damage mechanisms. Creep and the viscoelastic properties can also be modelled and
the properties have to be measured for the base fibre and input. FRM then models the rope
construction behaviour for any loading conditions. To date it has primarily been used to model ropes

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used in deep water mooring applications (e.g. (Flory JF, Leech CM, Banfield SJ and Petruska DJ,
2005), but has recently been used in MRE applications. Although it is possible to include non-linear
load-extension properties of components (such as ropes) in most commercial mooring system design
software (Banfield, SJ, Casey, NF and Nataraja, 2005), this will not include viscoelastic, viscoplastic
and time-dependent behaviour. Simulation tools capable of modelling the (coupled) dynamic
response of the device mooring systems which are also capable of accounting for the complex
behaviour of individual mooring components are not available at the time of writing. In Table 3-3,
offshore certification guidance and recommended practices for synthetic fibre ropes are listed.
Guideline

Publication Date
Det Norske Veritas

Offshore Standard - Offshore Fibre Ropes: DNV-OS-E303

2013

Recommended Practice - Damage Assessment of Fibre Ropes for Offshore Mooring.


DNV-RP-E304

2005

Bureau Veritas
Certification of fibre ropes for deepwater offshore services. 2nd edition. NI 432 DTO
R01E

2007

International Standards Organisation


Fibre ropes for offshore stationkeeping: Polyester: ISO18692:2007

2007

Fibre ropes for offshore stationkeeping: High modulus polyethylene (HMPE):


ISO/TS14909:2012

2012

American Petroleum Institute


Recommended Practice for Design, Manufacture, Installation, and Maintenance of
Synthetic Fiber Ropes for Offshore Mooring: API RP 2SM (amended version)

2007

American Bureau of Shipping


Guidance Notes on the Application of Fiber Rope for Offshore Mooring

2011

Guidelines for the purchasing and testing of SPM hawsers

2000

Table 3-3: Offshore certification guidance and recommended practices for synthetic fibre ropes

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3.3

Degradation

Potential degradation mechanisms include:

Tension fatigue
Creep
Compression fatigue
Hysteresis heating
Snatch loading
Damage during handling or installation

Tension fatigue is the wear caused by friction occurring between adjacent fibres which are subjected
to repeat cycling. Because this can be accelerated by the ingress of foreign particulates into the rope
structure, filtration screens are often used around the load bearing portions of the rope. After years
of deployment experience, the offshore industry has come to a consensus that polyester ropes have
superior fatigue characteristics when compared to other commonly adopted steel components such
as chain, shackles, H-links and spiral-strand work wire. Polyester has at least a factor 50 times longer
fatigue life than steel wire rope (Banfield, SJ, Casey, NF and Nataraja, 2005) and hence fatigue life
will never be an issue for polyester fibre moorings due to the excessively long fatigue life. As a result
of recent research (Ridge, I.M.L., Banfield, S.J. and Mackay, J., 2010) nylon fatigue life has been
increased to such an extent that it can be used for permanent mooring systems.
The major issue of HMPE is its tendency to creep, which should be addressed in the design of
permanent moorings. One of the main concerns with HMPE's high creep rate is the potential for
failure via creep rupture (da Costas Mattos, HS and Chimisso, FEG, 2011). Although predictable, longterm creep may necessitate re-tensioning of the lines, to avoid a drop in quasi-static stiffness of the
mooring system particularly during prolonged storm conditions. Factors affecting HMPE creep
behaviour are fibre type, applied load, load duration, and temperature. Recent development in new
grades of HMPE have led to vastly improved creep properties in both reduced strain and increased
rupture life, so it is vital to specify the applicable fibre grade to the application and to seek specialist
advice.
Stiffer materials such as aramid and to a much lesser extent HMPE are also susceptible to
compression fatigue, where fibres buckle under low loads and become concentrations for fatigue
damage under cyclic loading. Under dynamic loading it is possible for significant temperature
increases to occur from hysteresis heating. In extreme cases of localised heating this can result in
melting or peeling of fibres (Flory JF, Leech CM, Banfield SJ and Petruska DJ, 2005). Whilst this
phenomenon may only be limited to large diameter polyester ropes used on offshore platforms
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(Overington, MS and Leech, CM, 1997), hysteresis heating may be an issue for smaller, more
dynamically responsive equipment such as WECs. Snatch loading, particularly when part of the
mooring system is temporarily slack may also result in hysteresis heating as well as permanent
extension.
Abrasion or cutting damage incurred during handling or installation will also reduce the performance
of the rope. Protective coatings such as woven jackets or polyurethane coatings will reduce the
likelihood of damage to load bearing components. However, it is important that safe working
practices are adopted during use and guidance documents such as those listed in the Appendix
should be followed as well as reports detailing lessons learned from offshore deployments (e.g.
(Noble-Denton, 2006)).
3.4

Cost and reliability assessment

Synthetic ropes have a lower cost per unit length than steel chains or wires. For example 24mm
diameter braid-on-braid polyester rope4 (MBL: 137kN) is 715 /100m which is considerably less than
1679 /110m for 16mm studlink chain5 (MBL: 150kN). As introduced in Section 1, the ability to
reduce peak loadings means that lower capacity connecting components can be specified and the
load bearing requirements of the moored structure are reduced; hence indirect cost savings can also
be achieved. To assess potential cost savings, Ridge et al. in (Ridge, I.M.L., Banfield, S.J. and Mackay,
J., 2010) carried out comparative cost analysis of several single-line taut-moored and catenary
configurations, including several anchor types. The advantages in using durable yet lightweight
components instead of conventional mooring chains was highlighted, such as the use of nylon ropes
to allow lower gauge mooring chain to be used for anchor-chain-surface buoy-rope-device
configurations. This configuration could potentially save over 90K per mooring line (Table 3-3).
Clearly these costs are partially attributable to the specification of lower capacity components such
as anchors and savings of this magnitude may not be achievable for all applications. However there
is clearly scope for further cost reductions by bulk ordering of components for 10s or 100s of devices
in an array deployment.

Price obtained on 13/06/2014 from Lankhorst Ropes and does not include the cost of splicing.

Price obtained on 18/06/2014 from Saxton Marine and is based on 4x27.5m lengths fitted with Kenter shackles.

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Elements

Mooring line

Anchor

Nominal
size (mm)

Length

Unit
weight
(kg/m)

Total
(tonnes)

weight

Chain

81

5d

152

Chain

73

5d

Polyester

104

Buoy

14.1t

Chain

54

5d

66

16.5

31,466

Nylon

80

0.2

1,722

Buoy

9.8t

Total
()

cost

Cost ()

Cost ()

38

74,733

66,784

141,516

123

30.75

58,213

29,486

97,799

8.25

0.41

3,300

13,027

51,115

6,800

4,900

Table 3-4: Cost comparison carried out by Ridge et al. (Ridge, I.M.L., Banfield, S.J. and Mackay, J., 2010) of three
hypothetical catenary mooring systems located in d = 50 m water depth. Buoyancy of the buoys is specified in
tonnes and drag embedment anchors are specified.

The capital cost of components is clearly only part of the total lifecycle costs associated with
mooring components. For the configurations listed in Table 3-3, the lightweight configurations
would be easier to handle and transport during installation, maintenance and recovery operations
and may even allow for smaller, less expensive work boats and associated equipment to be used.
Whilst Ridge et al. provided mooring line weights for the configurations assessed, anchor weights
are not specified in (Ridge, I.M.L., Banfield, S.J. and Mackay, J., 2010) and both would need to be
considered when determining suitable vessels and procedures for installation and recovery
operations.
Reliability assessments are carried out to ensure that all mooring components have the capacity to
withstand 1) peak loadings, 2) fatigue cycling as well as 3) handling and environmental exposure.
Reliability predictions can be made from existing, published data although the accuracy of these is
likely to depend on how similar the application is and this uncertainty will be explored in
forthcoming WP4 tasks.

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Predictions of accumulated fatigue life are based on the number of load cycles6 for a given time
interval (and also load range). These two parameters are established using cycle counting methods
(e.g. rainflow analysis) based on either field measurements (e.g. (Weller SD, Davies P, Vickers AW,
and Johanning, L, 2014)) or dynamic simulations. Damage accumulation methods (such as the
Plmgren-Miner rule (Thies, PR, Johanning, L, Harnois, V, Smith, HCM and Parish, DN, 2014) or
spectral methods (DNV, Offshore Standard Position Mooring. DNV-OS-E301, 2010)) can then be
used to determine the proportion of remaining life left in components based on fatigue life curves,
such as those presented in Section 2.2. This technique is well-established for steel components and
has recently been applied to MRE mooring components (Thies, PR, Johanning, L, Harnois, V, Smith,
HCM and Parish, DN, 2014). The use of damage accumulation methods for synthetic ropes is well
proven for polyester mooring ropes and it has been established that Miners summation is an
applicable technique. The applicability of Miners summation to nylon ropes is subject to ongoing
studies. It should be noted that the lower bound calculated tension-tension fatigue with synthetic
fibre ropes for offshore moorings runs to many hundreds of thousands of years, so that fatigue
degradation will never be an issue. Unlike chain and wire rope the calculated lower bound fatigue
life is often in the hundreds of years so when the safety factor of 10 is applied the design life is often
too close for comfort to the 30/40 year required life. Thus, it is no surprise that fatigue failures
occur, typically due to out of plane bending of the chain in the fairlead. Failure due to fatigue is
unsurprisingly a hot topic as there is simply not enough margin in the fatigue life. In addition to
establishing the number of cycles, counting methods applied to simulated tension time-series enable
the identification of peak loads to ensure that factors of safety are correctly specified.
Whilst the numerical methods to predict rope performance introduced in Section 2.5 have a role to
play in reliability prediction, methods used to establish reliability are shaped by physical testing and
offshore experience. The assessment of synthetic rope reliability is not just seen as a preliminary
design stage but as an on-going process as part of a wider lifecycle strategy. Specifically, procedures
for the assessment of damage through in-situ inspection are well-established (DNV, 2005) and
should be considered.
3.4.1

Reliability experiences from the oil and gas industry


3.4.1.1

Steel wire and chain

A comprehensive study was conducted (A Historical Review on Integrity Issues of Permanent


Mooring Systems, 2013) on the mooring line failures in permanent designed oil & gas production

For steel components, stress, instead of load cycles are quantified

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platforms. During the period 2001-2011 9 system failures occurred in around 300 moorings which
give a probability of failure Pf 3.0 x 10-3.
However, system failures are defined as any incident involving breakage of 2 or more lines or riser
damage. With this definition, an incident would not be counted as a failure if there is only a singleline break. Production systems are always designed with redundancy in the event of 1 line failing.
Loss of station keeping or damage to risers should not occur.
Given that many renewable devices designed and installed so far using a 3 or 4 point mooring
system, there is no redundancy. Maybe a different definition of failure is required for renewables
which is dependent on the array spacing. It may be more prudent to define failure as any mooring
line or component. Since in an array, loss of any line could lead to many devices being damaged in a
progressive collapse scenario. The actual total number of mooring line and component failures was
40, which gives a Pf of 13.0 x 10-3.
Some key learning were established in points (A Historical Review on Integrity Issues of Permanent
Mooring Systems, 2013) and are summarised below:

Some of the failures could have been prevented through more robust inspection and
monitoring
Some were due to new phenomena, e.g. out of plane bending in chain
In the majority of instances, failures occur at an interface or discontinuity
Chain and wire rope in contact with seabed was a common issue
Corrosion had been a major contributor to several incidents
It is more cost effective to build redundancy or margin in a new design during CAPEX phase
compared to a mooring repair or replacement in the future
Inspection of wire or chain seems not to have identified incipient failure modes

Given the long standing research, extensive design and engineering, the failure rate is still much
higher than the industry expects. Even for these steel components and mooring lines, manufacturing
inspection and in service NDT has not reliable or able to identify many of the failures.
Thus, it is clear that the renewable industry needs to take a new approach to make moorings more
reliable as the number of devices and mooring lines over the next 10 year period could easily be 100
times greater than the oil and gas market. The choices are to increase reliability of steel moorings
or not use them, or switch to fibre moored only with no steel components. There is another choice
to design fibre or steel moorings with redundancy, but this will drive up costs and is not desirable in
terms the industry aims to reduce cost per unit energy. This latter option is being studied under the

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MRCF (Carbon-Trust, 2014) grant and a mooring system with no steel components will be deployed
in summer 2015.
3.4.1.2

Fibre rope

From the same study (A Historical Review on Integrity Issues of Permanent Mooring Systems, 2013)
the only statistics gathered so far was for a permanent design polyester moored export buoy in
1300m water depth of West Coast Africa where one polyester line failed due to cutting (P. Jean, K.
Goessens, D. LHostis, 2005) (TTI, 2002) from a wire rope. The polyester line only broke due to the
two adjacent chains in that sector failing, transferring their load to the polyester. The parallel sub
rope rope had around 2/3 of the subropes cut, but the remaining subropes still held the pretension
until the adjacent chains failed. So it could be argued there is redundancy in this design of rope. The
cut damaged polyester rope was extensively examined and found to be in perfect condition (Ref 4)
and had 95% residual strength with no other damage found. Subrope stiffness properties were
extensively laboratory tested (Ref 5) and numerically modelled with Fibre rope Modeller and found
to be unaffected even though the remaining part of the rope had been loaded to near breaking load.
During the same period 2001-2011 there were around 47 permanent designed productions
platforms moored with polyester, which gives a Pf of 2.1 x 10-3. Using the same definition of failure
of any line or components gives a failure rate 6.2 times higher for steel moored systems compared
to fibre rope. There are a few hundred polyester moored MODU systems for which no statistics are
available. This data should be gathered as it would provide additional information, albeit temporary
designed systems.

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CORROSION

4.1

Background

Both floating and submerged ocean energy devices are exposed to the harsh marine environment,
including highly corrosive salt water, in particular in the aerated splash zone, microbiological fouling
and marine growth. Corrosion is of particular concern for MRE devices, because it is a contributing
factor to performance degradation: corrosion fatigue is known to significantly lower the fatigue
strength of the affected material. Studies (Little et al. (2008); Videla and Herrera (2005)) also suggest
that both fouling and marine growth both initiate and accelerate the material degradation through
assisting the corrosion process and by causing increased hydrodynamic loads. Whilst these aspects
are known material phenomena, they have not been investigated in sufficient detail for ocean
energy applications, with a view on how to quantify, mitigate and monitor corrosion, fouling and
marine growth. There is a wide variety of corrosion measurement techniques including nondestructive testing methods, analytical chemistry, operational data fluid electrochemistry and direct
corrosion monitoring. An ideal combination of these methods has not been established for MRE, yet.
Thus an objective of this section is to review the different methods with regards to their suitability to
derive a best practice for corrosion mitigation and monitoring in an efficient and cost-effective
manner.
Herein, the main aspects concerning corrosion and protection measures are summarized for MRE
devices with respect to technical performance and costs. Since only a few devices have been
installed so far, and most of them have been in operation for less than 10 years, there is little
information about corrosion. Hence, the technical evaluation is therefore mainly based on
information from other industries, primarily offshore oil and gas production and offshore wind
technology.
Corrosion is the degradation of a material due to a chemical reaction with the surrounding
environment, generally due to a combination of oxygen and moisture. Corrosion is amplified in the
marine conditions due to the presence of salt in seawater. As MRE devices work in highly corrosive
marine environmental conditions, the material should be appropriately protected or the impact of
corrosion should be negated by other means. It is necessary to identify which zone each component
of the device will exist within to be able to best consider forms of corrosion protection during
design. The rate of corrosion will vary due to the differing oxygen/moisture content in the various
zones, for marine applications. The corrosion zones may be classified as follows (EMEC, 2009):

atmospheric
splash
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inter-tidal
submerged
buried

Corrosion is caused by a chemical (or electrochemical) reaction between a metal and its
environment that produces a deterioration of the material and sometime its properties. For
corrosion to occur, the following basic conditions must be fulfilled:

metal surface is exposed to the environment (bare steel in physical contact with the
environment)
the presence of an electrolyte (e.g. water containing ions, the electrolyte must be able to
conduct current)
the presence of an oxidant (a chemical component causing corrosion (e.g. oxygen, carbon
dioxide)

If one of these conditions is not present, corrosion will not occur. Table 4-1 summarises prospective
corrosion mechanisms for subsea oil and gas production equipment. The presence of organic acids
and sulphur containing compounds (e.g. elemental sulphur) may aggravate the corrosion in the
system.
Table 4-1: Internal and external corrosion mechanisms in a subsea oil and gas production environment (DNV,
MATERIAL RISK - AGEING OFFSHORE, 2006).

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Figure 4-1: Corrosion process, https://www.boundless.com/readings/3151/


4.2
4.2.1

Degradation Mechanisms
Hydrogen Induced Stress Cracking

Cathodic protection may be detrimental for some materials due to Hydrogen Induced Stress
Cracking (HISC). Hydrogen Induced Stress Cracking (HISC) is caused by a combination of load/stress
and hydrogen embrittlement (HE) caused by the ingress of atomic hydrogen into the metal matrix
formed at the steel surface due to cathodic protection (CP). High strength steel (SMYS > 500 MPa)
and some corrosion resistance materials (13Cr-steel and duplex stainless steels) are susceptible to
HISC. Solution annealed austenitic stainless steels and nickel based alloys are generally considered
immune to HISC. DNV RP B401 Sec. 5.5 gives recommendations with regards to materials maximum
hardness level and the specified minimum yield strength for safe combinations of CP. Bolts in
martensitic steels heat treated to SMYS up to 720 MPa and maximum hardness level of 350HV
(ASTM A182 grade B7 and ASTM A320 grade L7) have documented compatibility with CP (see also
Norsok M-001 Sec. 5.6). Factors influencing HISC of duplex stainless steel have been recapitulated in
DNV RP F-112 with recommendation for design criteria based on best practice and on state-of-theart knowledge (i.e. strain/stress criteria). HISC is abrupt of nature and it is expected to occur during
the first years of the installations design life if the conditions are ideal (DNV, MATERIAL RISK AGEING OFFSHORE, 2006).

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4.2.2

CO2-corrosion

CO2-corrosion or sweet corrosion is not anticipated for corrosion resistant materials (e.g. 13Cr, 316L,
22Cr, 25Cr, Alloy 625). Carbon steel, however, will be subjected to CO2-corrosion. The corrosion rate
is dependent on the partial pressure of CO2, the temperature, the flow regime and the in-situ water
pH level. The corrosion takes the form of localised- (pitting), uniform- and grooving- (e.g.
longitudinal, transverse) attacks and is a time dependent degradation mechanism. CO2-corrosion can
be mitigated by the use of corrosion inhibitors and/or by pH- stabilisation of the process fluid
(primarily applicable for pipelines).
4.2.3

O2-corrosion

Internal corrosion due to the presence of O2 is in principle not expected in oil and gas production
systems since no oxygen shall be present in the process medium. Ingress of oxygen may increase
corrosion in the system. Water used for water injection can be either deaerated or aerated, which
will have an impact on the rate of corrosion. Due to the removal of oxygen in deaerated water, the
corrosion rate of carbon steel will be low, whereas in systems carrying aerated water a higher
corrosion rate must be anticipated. This can be relevant for MRE devices; as an example the
pressurised piped water systems (Oyster, Seatricity, etc). Oxygen corrosion is a time dependent
corrosion mechanism and takes principally the form of uniform corrosion, but localised attacks may
also occur (pitting). Corrosion resistance alloys (CRAs) and titanium can be used for seawater
service but there are certain design limitations regarding the use of such materials (e.g.
temperature, presence of crevices, chlorination etc.). Corrosion of CRA takes the form of localised
attack. The unfortunate combination of material and operating environment will, for most cases
result in a corrosion failure during the initial phase of an installations life. Environmental cracking
due to H2S corrosion due to the presence of H2S is primarily related to environmental cracking (i.e.
sulphide stress cracking (SSC)). Both carbon steel and CRAs are susceptible to SSC. The risk for SSC is
dependent on the partial pressure of the H2S, the in-situ pH-value, total tensile stress, chloride ion
concentration, presence of other oxidant etc. (for details reference is made to ISO-15156). Below a
critical partial pressure of H2S no SSC is expected to occur. However, for partial pressures above this
limit there is an increasing risk for SSC and the environmental condition is termed as sour. The
resulting failure mode is cracking and it is of abrupt nature. SSC is controlled by specification of the
material properties (e.g. hardness) and the manufacturing process. For susceptible materials,
environmental cracking is expected to occur during the initial phase of production and is not
expected to have a time dependent development similar to sweet corrosion. The risk for
environmental cracking should for such cases be subjected to evaluations with respect to the
material properties and the new service condition.

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4.2.4

Microbiologically Induced Corrosion (MIC) Corrosion fatigue

The two best known bacteria of concern for the oil and gas industry are the sulphate reducing
bacteria (SRB) and the acid producing bacteria (APB). They may live synergistically in colonies
attached to the steel surface, where the SRB bacteria live beneath the APB colony. SRB bacteria live
in oxygen-free environments and use sulphate ions in the water as a source of oxygen. H2S is
produced as a waste product from the SRB, producing a corrosive environment locally in connection
with the colony of bacteria. The risk for obtaining MIC will depend on the availability of nutrients,
temperature, water and flow condition. MIC takes the form of localised attack causing a pinhole
leakage of a pipe. High corrosion rate can be anticipated (>1 mm/year) if the conditions are ideal.
MIC has been obtained in oil production systems as well as on steel exposed (e.g. anchor chains) to
seabed sediments. The location of MIC is difficult to predict. For pipeline systems, treatments with
biocide may be effective as a preventive measure. A common source for bacteria in a closed system
is seawater. Use of untreated seawater for hydro testing should therefore be avoided (DNV,
MATERIAL RISK - AGEING OFFSHORE, 2006).
4.2.5

Corrosion fatigue

On a general level fatigue is affected by environmental conditions and in particular by corrosion.


HISC and sour service conditions may facilitate fatigue crack initiation. Metal loss by corrosion will
generally enhance crack growth, but under reversed loading conditions (tension-compression)
corrosion products may reduce the impact of the total stress range due to crack closure.
Corrosion fatigue occurs in metals as a result of the combined action of cyclic stress and a corrosive
environment. For a given material, the fatigue strength (or fatigue life at a given maximum stress
value) generally decreases in the presence of an aggressive environment. When corrosion and
fatigue occur simultaneously, the chemical attack accelerates the rate at which fatigue cracks
propagate. Materials which show a definite fatigue limit when tested in air at room temperature
show no indication of a fatigue limit when the test is carried out in a corrosive environment.
Corrosion fatigue crack growth might be influenced by many variables, also by environmental
variables (gaseous or liquid environment, partial pressure of damaging species in gaseous
environments, temperature, pH). A number of methods are available for minimizing corrosion
fatigue damage (DNV, MATERIAL RISK - AGEING OFFSHORE, 2006):

The choice of material for this type of service should be based on its corrosion resistant
properties rather than the conventional fatigue properties (e.g. stainless steel over heattreated steel)

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Protection of the metal from contact with the corrosive environment by metallic or nonmetallic coatings (provided that the coating does not become ruptured from the cyclic
strain)
Addition of a corrosion inhibitor in closed systems to reduce the corrosive attack
Elimination of stress concentrators by careful design

Figure 4-2: Corrosion effects on fatigue life,


http://www.corrosionclinic.com/types_of_corrosion/Corrosion%20Fatigue.htm

Galvanic corrosion may occur when there is an electrical coupling between dissimilar metals. The
least noble material (anode) will be sacrificed on behalf of the noblest material (cathode). The extent
of accelerated corrosion resulting from galvanic coupling is affected by the electrochemical potential
difference between metallic couple, the nature of the environment (rate of corrosion) and the area
ratio of anodic- and cathodic areas (small anode to cathode area ration is unfavourable). Galvanic
corrosion is a time dependent form of corrosion and result in a uniform corrosion attack. The
possibility for obtaining galvanic corrosion should be evaluated during the design phase. For cases
where a galvanic couple is inevitable, a distance spools of a non-conducting material can be installed
or installation of a galvanic spool with sufficient wall thickness where the material is intended to
corrode (i.e. sacrificial spool) (DNV, MATERIAL RISK - AGEING OFFSHORE, 2006).
4.3

Cost and reliability implications

One of the critical challenges for marine energy production is to reduce costs (Knudsen, 2010). Both
capital costs (CAPEX) and operational costs (OPEX) must be considered. Offshore maintenance
operations are generally challenging and expensive, so that maintenance free solutions may be used,
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if possible. In particular, offshore coating maintenance is generally very expensive. For oil and gas
installations, where you have reasonable access to the surfaces to be coated, the cost is estimated
to about 120 /m. However, for an offshore wind turbine tower, access difficulties to the tower are
likely to dramatically increase the costs beyond the oil and gas level. In order to get a person to the
area for maintenance, a special vessel should probably be used. The cost of such vessels may reach
100000 /day. For a large wind farm, where a custom-made vessel may be permanently located at
the field for maintenance operations, the daily costs will probably be significantly lower. However,
maintenance costs will still be high. Using long life maintenance free coatings may be beneficial in a
life cycle cost perspective.
Table 4-2: Costs for coatings and anodes in the submerged zone, all costs in k (Knudsen, 2010).

4.4

Concrete

The design of concrete members should ensure that pre-tensioned tendons and rebars
(reinforcement bars) are sufficiently protected against the corrosive environmental conditions.
Corrosion protection of pre-stressing tendons and reinforcement bars (rebars) is an important
aspect in the design of concrete structures.
The casting of concrete elements is important and shall also be in accordance with design
specification documents. Normally, corrosion protection is provided using detailed specification of a
durable mix design through consideration of chemical exposure such as chlorides and sulphates and
also freeze-thaw damage.
Inspection procedures are implemented during the casting of the elements to ensure workmanship
is undertaken to adopted QA systems. Specially, the specification of a sufficient cover thickness (i.e.
the thickness of concrete between the free surface of the member and rebar) and the limitation of
the allowable size of cracking to minimize the amount of moisture that attacks the tendons and
rebars should be checked (EMEC, 2009).

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Figure 4-3: Illustration of concrete corrosion in offshore environment,


http://www.corrosion-club.com/concreteintro4.htm
4.4.1

Metals

For steel structures, the corrosion protection should consider the following points:

a corrosion allowance (CA) is incorporated in the design (e.g. DNV-OS-E301 Position


Mooring)
an inspection regime to be employed
stress in the component (both mean stress and fatigue) and calculated factor of safety (FOS)
location of the component relative to the seawater surface
areas subject to wear
for areas not protected against corrosion (or that have been painted only with ordinary
coatings), an additional corrosion allowance shall be considered; BS 6349 also provides
advice on free corrosion for steel in maritime structures.

It is important to consider corrosion rates in the design. This should be determined using previous
similar service experience and a code of practice which defines corrosion rates. Special consideration
is needed for aggressive local corrosion (pitting and grooving) and an inspection regime should be
used to establish the accuracy of corrosion rates assumed in the design.
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External corrosion is for most submerged equipment controlled by the use of an external corrosion
coating and a cathodic protection (CP) system. The design of the CP system is dependent on the
design life of the equipment and the type and quality of the external coating system in question. For
carbon steel components a corrosion allowance must then be added. The CA that must be added will
depend on the availability of oxygen (oxidant). For areas with limited access of oxygen, such as
within hollow profiles of structural steel, the corrosion rate will be low and a moderate CA is
tolerable, whereas for instance chains that are freely exposed to seawater, a higher corrosion rate
must be accounted for. The CA is normally determined as a part of the design and is based on the
specified design life of the component. Certain corrosion resistant alloys (CRAs) and titanium are
resistant to seawater corrosion under North Sea ambient seawater conditions and can be used
without cathodic protection (DNV, MATERIAL RISK - AGEING OFFSHORE, 2006). Cathodic protection
is polarizing the steelwork to a sufficient level in order to minimize corrosion and is particularly
effective for the submerged zone. It should be designed for a period equal with the design life of the
structure or the dry docking interval. Cathodic protection can be achieved applying impressed
current anodes or sacrificial anodes (or a combination of both).

Figure 4-4: Cathodic protection, Courtesy of Deepwater Corrosion Services Inc.


http://www.cathodicprotection101.com/

If protection is primarily by an integrated current system (e.g. Figure 4-4), sufficient sacrificial anodes
should be considered to polarize the critical regions of the structure from transportation/installation
until full commissioning of the integrated current system.

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4.4.2

Protective Coatings

Protective coatings been widely applied in a wide range of offshore applications. The surfaces of the
components and the substructure are divided into four different zones that differ with respect to
corrosivity and corrosion protection methods (Knudsen, 2010).
1) Coatings for atmospheric zone:
A coating system consisting of thermally sprayed zinc and a protective organic paint system on top is
frequently used today and will likely give the desired lifetime. Cost savings can be achieved by:

Decrease film thickness of the zinc coating


Decrease corrosion rate of the zinc coating by changing the alloy composition
Decrease the number of paint coats, but still have UV resistance and sufficient barrier
against ion transfer

2) Coatings for splash zone:


Cost savings can be achieved by:

Decrease corrosion rate of the zinc coating by changing the alloy composition
Decrease the number of paint coats, but still have UV resistance and sufficient barrier
against ion transfer

3) Coatings for submerged zone:


Cost estimates show that a CP system without coating has a lower cost than the coating/CP
combination. Hence, improved coatings for submerged service should not be our focus, unless the
coating costs can be reduced to a fraction of todays level.
4) Coatings for internal surfaces:
Sufficient corrosion protection probably can be achieved with rather simple coating systems, so the
potential for savings is smaller. The use of dehumidification instead of protective paint is a viable
alternative, but coating is probably a more robust method for the projected 20 year lifetime of MRE
devices. Potential tasks for further research may be investigation of simple, low cost coatings.
Protective coatings which have good abrasion and ultraviolet (UV) resistance attributes are applied
for areas that are not continuously submerged (such as the splash zone). Protective coatings include

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the use of galvanizing or epoxy based paint systems. Such coating systems generally have design
lives in the order of 5 to 10 years and should be reapplied.
Thicker steel sections based on corrosion rates and the design life of the structure can mitigate the
effects of corrosion. This approach provides a sacrificial thickness of steel which ensure that the
remaining cross section of the section provides sufficient structural integrity. The inspection regime
should confirm the corrosion rates assumed in the design. Consideration is needed for aggressive
local corrosion (pitting and grooving). The chain size chosen should account for the corrosion/wear
which can occur over the service life of the anchor chain and associated components. Additional
greater margins are required where chains are subjected to high wear rates.
The surface of the steel wire used in mooring lines is (almost) always protected by galvanising. The
thickness of the zinc coating (usually expressed as the weight in g/m2) depends on the class of
galvanising, which may be normal or heavy marine: Class B or A respectively (BS EN 10244-2,
2001). It is also common practice for the wire manufacturer to provide an average cover significantly
in excess of the minimum required by standards, to allow for variation in the coating process. Class B
galvanizing involves drawing after the hot-dip galvanizing, which gives better control of wire
diameter and coating thickness; to achieve the greater thickness required for class A, the hot-dip is
the final process which makes diameter more difficult to control and limits tensile strength.

Figure 4-5: Left: corrosion and break-up of IWRC of 76 mm ungalvanized MODU mooring rope after five years'
service; right: IWRC of 90 mm galvanised MODU mooring rope after 7 years (C.R.Chaplin, A.E. Potts and A.
Curtis, 2008)

Table 3 lists some coating systems applied inside and in the external atmospheric zone on towers for
six offshore wind farms. On the external surface metallization was used on five out of six wind farms.
Though the metallization alloys are not specified it is fair to assume that the 85% zinc 15%
aluminium alloy has been used. On the Utgrunden wind farm, a zinc rich epoxy was used instead of
metallization. On all six wind farms two layers of epoxy, approximately 100 m thick each, and 50
m polyurethane topcoat was applied. On the internal surfaces there is a larger variation regarding
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coatings between the wind farms. This may be related to use of dehumidification on some
installations, which will enable use of simpler coating systems.
Hywind and Sheringham Shoal were developed by Statoil. Table 4 shows coating selection for the
various external zones. The coating selection for the atmospheric zone differs from what Statoil
normally use for oil and gas installations, while the thick two-coat polyester in the splash zone is
frequently used in oil and gas as well. The 2 x 250 m epoxy in the submerged zone is also used in oil
and gas applications.
Table 5 shows coatings applied on five different jacket projects at Aker Verdal the last seven years.
Only the Buzzard jackets are for wind farms. The other four jackets are for oil and gas installations.
The atmospheric zone on a jacket is difficult to access for coating maintenance. Hence, long lifetime
maintenance free coating systems are normally preferred. That is reflected in the use of thermally
sprayed aluminium (TSA) on four of the jackets. For the Ekofisk jacket a thick two-coat polyester was
used, which also is a long life coating. TSA with a full paint system on top, which was used on
Goldeneye and Claire, is not used anymore since this combination has been shown to give severe
corrosion problems.

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Table 4-3: Coating specification outside and inside for steel towers for wind turbines in different wind parks
given by Hempel (Knudsen, 2010)

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Table 4-4: Corrosion protection for Hywind offshore wind turbine and the Sharingham Shoal offshore wind park

Table 4-5: Corrosion protection systems for the five last steel jackets produced by Aker Solutions, Verdal

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NOVEL COMPONENTS

In this section several recent innovations are introduced which have the potential to contribute to
the development of economic and reliable mooring and foundation systems.
5.1

Marine micropile foundations

Micropile anchors (see Figure 5-1) are a new technology that can be utilized for offshore renewables
to decrease the final cost of produced energy (Dallas J. Meggitt, Jon Machin, Eric Jackson and Robert
Taylor, 2013). Micropile anchors can be used for as an alternative for conventional anchors as well as
for applications that require fixing objects to the seafloor. Marine micropile anchor systems typically
comprise multiple, relatively small, hollow micropiles (3-6 cm diameter) that are drilled into the
seafloor using an expendable drill bit. Grout is pumped through the hollow micropile, filling the hole
around the pile. The micropiles are grouted in place, through a template that then forms the anchor
assembly.
However, conventional anchors and foundations normally include large diameter mono-piles, gravity
bases and steel spread foundations that are secured by large driven or drilled-in piles. For floating
structures, drag embedment anchors, piles, direct embedment anchors and clump (deadweight)
anchors are also utilized. One configuration, for example, is concrete deadweight anchor. This type
of anchor requires large, and usually specialized, vessels for transport and installation. Pipelines are
often anchored by being covered with rock riprap. Other ocean engineering applications often are
not anchored at all, or are held down on the seafloor with large weights, concrete mattresses and
the like.
Micropile anchor advantages:

Broad range of seafloor conditions and water depths


Based on existing terrestrial technology
Self-drilling, caseless installation
Services all load cases
Long service life
Micropile technology can dramatically reduce system and installation costs
o Less Material
o Smaller, less-costly installation vessels
Smaller, lighter than conventional anchors or foundations
Highly adaptable and scalable designs
Very high unit anchoring efficiency
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Figure 5-1: Micropile, Courtesy of Marine Micropile Technology Group, http://www.marinemicropile.com

Comparison with gravity anchors

5.2

Gravity anchors and monopiles require special equipment and vessels


Gravity anchors depend on net weight to develop holding capacity
Gravity anchors are substantially heavier and larger than comparable capacity Micropile
anchors
Micropiles can be installed from smaller vessels and do not require very specialized handling
equipment/methods
The Exeter Tether

The mooring system of a marine renewable energy (MRE) device has two key requirements; to keep
the device on station whilst maintaining mooring tensions within acceptable limits. As introduced in
Section 3, the use of compliant mooring components such as synthetic ropes is one way to mitigate
both peak and fatigue loads. This has the added benefit of allowing a reduction in mass of both the
device structure and mooring system, hence reducing costs and improving system reliability. Certain
applications may however require mechanical properties that are not satisfied by commercially
available ropes, for example even greater compliance than is provided by nylon. The Exeter Tether is
a novel mooring tether design developed and patented by the University of Exeter (Parish50

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Johanning, 2012). One of the unique features of the Tether is that the design can be tailored to
satisfy the application (i.e. the specification of axial stiffness and minimum break load). The first
stage of performance and reliability assessment of the tether is detailed by Gordelier et al. in
(Gordelier T, Parish D and Johanning L, 2014). The proof of concept stage included rigorous testing of
10 tether prototypes (manufactured by Lankhorst Ropes) at the University of Exeters Dynamic
Marine Component Test Facility (DMaC), including:

Performance tension-extension tests


Breaking load test
Dynamic tension tests at different load frequencies
Fatigue endurance test

In addition sea trails utilising the South West Moorings Test Facility (SWMTF) were successfully
carried out between June and November 2013 to determine functional performance and durability
of the Tether (Figure 5-2).

Figure 5-2: Deployment of the SWMTF with two Exeter Tethers (left, foreground)
5.3

Bag anchors

Research (Carbon-Trust, Mooring systems, anchors and intermediate components (MOSAIC), 2007)
was started in 2007 to develop a lower cost and carbon footprint anchor system. Many WEC
devices will need to be moored in shallow water where the seabed sand/mud layer may only be a
few metres deep. Such conditions are insufficient for drag anchors and alternatives are either very
expensive (e.g. rock anchors) or very large (e.g. concrete gravity anchors). These also require very
large and expensive day rate vessels for installation. The bag anchor system comprised flexible bags
filled with aggregate and contained with a fibre rope net. The design intent was no metallic
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components anywhere in this system and this was achieved. The design allows for a smaller
installation vessel to be chartered as clusters of small bag anchors could be used to make a larger
anchor. The main advantages of bag anchors are:

Cheaper mooring manufacturing costs per system installation


Cheaper mooring installation/deployment costs per system installation using smaller vessels
Potentially cheaper recovery costs per system installation
Lower Carbon footprint of mooring anchors
Potentially lower carbon footprint of installation, deployment and recovery of the mooring
anchors

In 2010 (Carbon-Trust, Moorings and anchors for wave energy devices, 2010), a 28 tonne bag anchor
was built and deployed for field trial and verified that the anchor holding capacity met design criteria
for a wide range of vertical angles and slewing. The next stage (Carbon-Trust, Testing, qualification
and commercialisation of advanced mooring system for wave and tidal arrays, 2014) is to deploy bag
anchors on a mooring system in EMEC Orkney in 2014 to gather long term field experience.

Figure 5-3: Bag anchor


5.4

Connectors

Connectors are required to join mooring line segments of varying materials together (e.g. fibre ropes
to a wave or tidal device). Traditional jewellery for oil and gas markets has a high failure rate that
would make OPEX costs prohibitive for renewables applications. A research study (Carbon-Trust,
Mooring systems, anchors and intermediate components (MOSAIC), 2007) was conducted to
develop a generic suite of connectors using SDSS for the side plates as shown in Figures 5-4, 5-5 and
5-6. The generic design followed guidance from BS 5950 Part 1:2000 to provide a robust connector
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design. Rolled plate, with machined profile was selected as it is a very reliable material since failures
are fairly common with cast or welded components. The spool for the fibre rope was made from
Orkot (a thermoset composite material) which does not corrode or cause abrasion to the fibre rope.
Since MRE devices are moored in shallow water, the 1st order motions are high and quite large
angles are induced between connector and rope. It is essential for the spool to rotate in the
connector, rather than the rope sliding or bending. Hence for the design to be maintenance-free it
included SDSS pins to allow the Orkot spools to rotate. Figure 5-7 shows an in-line connector for a
400 tonne polyester rope.

Figure 5-4: Triplate connector

Figure 5-6: Generic range of mooring connectors

Figure 5-5: Inline or end connector

Figure 5-7: SDSS Inline connectors with pins

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CONCLUSIONS

It has been the purpose of this report to review existing component assessment functions for array
foundation, anchor, and mooring applications. In addition, the introduction of new components
made from well-established or novel materials/construction, and capabilities towards reliability and
cost prediction in terms of corrosion effects, grouts and synthetic materials have been considered.
Grouting systems are widely used in terrestrial and maritime civil engineering works and hence
material characteristics as well as degradation due to environmental exposure are well understood.
However, lessons can still be learnt from the offshore wind industry where overestimation of axial
capacity of grouted connections and deviations in grouting characteristics due to composition,
installation and environmental effects resulted in the failure of some of these connections.
Thorough investigations are ongoing and have led to updated improved guidelines on the design of
grouted connections. Applying these guidelines and using extensive quality control during execution
of the works should prevent failures of grouted connections in the future. Bolted connections can be
used as an alternative but have other drawbacks.
Synthetic ropes have been used extensively in the permanent mooring systems of offshore
equipment for several decades. Given their relative (compared to steel components) low unit cost,
low unit weight, superior fatigue performance and energy absorbing properties, it is unsurprising
that they have found use in MRE mooring systems. Whilst a great deal can be learnt from the
accrued experience of these components gained by the oil and gas industry, MRE mooring systems
are an entirely new application which present unique challenges, for example dynamically
responsive devices such as WECs. Existing certification and design guidelines may therefore not
account for these differences and it is important that the particularities of these components are
fully considered in this new context at the mooring design stage.
Corrosion in the maritime environment has been well studied and best practices exist regarding the
monitoring and mitigation of corrosion and degradation process for metal and concrete structural
elements caused by chemical and biological process. Corrosion is of particular concern for MRE
devices, because it can contribute to fatigue degradation. Both floating and submerged ocean
energy devices are exposed to the harsh marine environment, including highly corrosive salt water,
in particular in the aerated splash zone, microbiological fouling and marine growth. The rate of
corrosion will vary due to the differing oxygen/moisture content in the various zones. Thicker steel
sections (i.e. corrosion allowances) based on corrosion rates and the design life of the structure can
mitigate the effects of corrosion. Cathodic protection (CP) systems are widely applied in offshore

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industry. As one of the main challenges for the MRE industry is CAPEX and OPEX reduction,
developers must balance the need to have robust and reliable devices with the costs associated with
implementing mitigation measures (i.e. corrosion protection and allowance). One strategy could be
the use of maintenance free coating systems to avoid expensive marine operations.
Novel mooring and foundation components are starting to be adopted by the MRE industry. Marine
micropile foundations, the novel Exeter tether, bag anchors and innovative connectors have been
presented in this report as examples of new components that may be suitable for MRE applications.
The unique features of these components are presented along with the potential cost and reliability
advantages that may be provided over pre-existing technologies. All the novel components
discussed show the potential to be advantageous for MRE devices however long-term sea trials are
required before the reliability, economic and environmental impact benefits are fully known.
This report has found that assessment of cost and reliability is very specific to the device or system
and given the lack of concurrent methodologies, a number of different methodologies will likely
have to be employed throughout the development of the Design Tool. Of the components that make
up a MRE device a large proportion can, in the global database, be assigned a unit cost or
alternatively unit cost per quantity (i.e. /metre) which is then multiplied by the required quantity.
The difficulty, which has been illustrated in Section 2 for grout systems, is the estimation of costs
which are highly specific to a procedure (i.e. installation) which is itself dependent on a multitude of
factors (such as varying equipment and vessels costs and weather windows). Prediction of
component reliability is similarly non-trivial and although certain information exists (i.e. the fatigue
performance of synthetic ropes) it may not be totally applicable to MRE devices. Whilst indicative
cost and reliability examples are given in this report, a complete framework for assessing the cost,
reliability and environmental impact of specific components and systems will be outlined in the
forthcoming deliverable D4.6. This document will present the findings from tasks 4.5-4.7 which
investigate the reliability, economics and environmental aspects respectively.

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ACRONYMS

ALS
CA
CAPEX
CP
CRA
HISC
HMPE
MRE
OPEX
QA
QC
TCLL
TSA
ULS
WP

Accidental Limit State


Corrosion Allowance
Capital Expenditure
Cathodic Protection
Corrosion Resistance Alloys
Hydrogen Induced Stress Cracking
High modulus polyethylene
Marine Renewable Energy
Operating Expenditure
Quality Assurance
Quality Control
Thousand Cycle Load Level Test
Thermally Sprayed Aluminium
Ultimate Limit state
Work Package

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