Design of Scour Protections in Offshore Wind Farms

Scour phenomenon is a key issue to be taken into account in the design of monopile supports for offshore wind turbine generators. Suitable considerations have to be done to reduce the risk of bad consequences like loss of structural stability, sliding, etc. A research has been carried out with the following objectives: a better understanding of the scour phenomenon, identification of different alternatives to solve the possible problems related to scour, and analysis of riprap scour protections. In fact, a new criterion for the design of riprap scour protections has been developed. This criterion is based on the use of the wave length parameter. Furthermore, scour protection systems have been classified according Van der Meer PhD classification.