Dynamic response of a monopile wind turbine in waves: Experimental uncertainty analysis for validation of numerical tools

The responses of a monopile offshore wind turbine subjected to irregular wave loads are investigated numerically and experimentally, considering a range of sea states. An extensive experimental campaign was carried out on a fully flexible model, representative of a 5 MW offshore wind turbine, at 1:40 scale. An assessment of the experimental results for the response amplitude operator for regular waves and the 90th percentile seabed bending moment in long-crested irregular waves is carried out using two models (analytical and numerical) for uncertainty propagation, suggesting that bias errors in the model properties and in the wave elevation contribute the most to the total uncertainty. The experimental results are also compared to a numerical model using beam elements and Morison-type wave loads with second order wave kinematics. The numerical model does not capture all of the responses within the level of uncertainty of the experiments, and possible reasons for the discrepancies are discussed.