Offshore wind turbines : How to ensure the durability of floating structures and their anchoring systems ?

The European Duralink Project focuses on optimizing the durability of offshore structures and developing effective, environmentally friendly solutions to protect them against corrosion.

The Duralink Project was launched in July 2024 and will run for 3 ½ years. It involves 7 European partners (see the list below). It is funded by the European Union’s Research Fund for Coal and Steel (RFCS) for a total of more than 2.5 million Euros.

The main objectives of the project are to optimize materials for anchor chains and welded joints on floating platforms. Anti-corrosion coatings and cathodic protection introduce hydrogen into the material and modify its fatigue properties. This phenomenon takes the form of a mechanism known as hydrogen embrittlement (HE). This must be taken into account in the design phase, to enable the use of high strength steels (HSS) and ensure the integrity of the welds over time.   

Drawing on their expertise in study the durability of materials and structures, the ENSTA/IRDL teams are helping to optimize the materials used in the anchor chains and welds of the floating structure. Their research focuses on studying the fatigue of these materials and assemblies, taking into account hydrogen embrittlement. To this end, the research team has opted for the rapid characterization method (based on the self-heating process under cyclic loading) developed over several years at the IRDL (Dupuy de Lôme Research Institute) on a wide range of metallic and composite materials.

As part of the Duralink Project, this method will be used to highlight the influence of hydrogen on the thermal signature and to predict the service life of these structural elements.  Finally, the project will also develop a tool to help design these structures. It will integrate the effects of the environment and provide recommendations to optimize the design of future floating platforms.