The service environment of offshore wind turbine (OWT) support structures is harsh, and it is extremely difficult to replace these structures during their operational lifespan, making their failure a catastrophic event. The structural health monitoring (SHM) of OWT support structures is a crucial aspect of operational maintenance for OWT support structures, aiming to mitigate significant financial losses. This paper systematically summarizes the current monitoring methods and technologies for OWT support structures, including towers and foundations. Through the review of monitoring content and the evolution of monitoring techniques for supporting structures, it delves deeper into the challenges faced by wind turbine monitoring and highlights potential avenues for future development. Then, the current damage identification techniques for OWT towers and foundations are analyzed, exploring various methods including model-based, vibration-based, artificial intelligence and hybrid fault diagnosis methods. The article also examines the advantages and disadvantages of each approach and outlines potential future directions for research and development in this field. Furthermore, it delves into the current damage identification techniques for OWT towers and foundations, discussing prevalent challenges and future directions in this domain. This status review can provide reference and guidance for the monitoring design of OWT support structures, and provide support for the fault diagnosis of OWT support structures.

Numerous offshore wind turbines (OWTs) with bucket foundations have been installed in seismic regions. Compared to the relative development of monopiles (widely installed), seismic design guidelines for bucket-supported OWTs still need to be developed. Moreover, scour around bucket foundations induced by water–current actions also creates more challenges for the seismic design of OWTs. In this study, a simplified seismic analysis method is proposed that incorporates the soil–structure interaction (SSI) for the preliminary design of scoured bucket-supported OWTs, aiming to balance accuracy and efficiency. The dynamic SSI effects are represented using lumped parameter models (LPMs), which are developed by fitting impedance functions of the soil–bucket foundation obtained from the four-spring Winkler model. The water–structure interaction is also considered by the added mass in seismic analysis. Based on the OpenSees 3.3.0 platform, an integral model is established and validated using the three-dimensional finite element method. The results indicate that the bucket-supported OWT demonstrates greater dynamic impedance and first-order natural frequency compared to the monopile-supported OWT, which has an increased seismic response. Seismic spectral characteristics and intensities also play an important role in the responses. Additionally, scour can change the bucket impedance functions and the frequency characteristics of the OWT system, leading to a significant alteration in the seismic response. Scour effects may be advantageous or disadvantageous, depending on the spectral characteristics of seismic excitations. These findings provide insights into the seismic response of bucket-supported OWTs under scoured conditions.

Piles are frequently used to support lateral loads. Nonlinear p-y analysis is one of the most widely used methods to design laterally loaded piles. However, nonlinear p-y analysis requires special computer programs to perform the analysis. In this paper, an alternative solution based on a variational approach is presented to capture the behaviors of laterally loaded piles using Winkler beams on elastoplastic foundation. The displacements of piles are represented by finite series, and no discretisation of the pile shaft is required. Therefore, the proposed nonlinear solution can be easily implemented using the general computational software such as MATLAB. To facilitate the use of the numerical solution, methods for determining the parameters of the model are provided. The validity of the proposed method is confirmed through comparisons with existing theoretical solutions. Case studies are also presented to show the application of the present method to laterally loaded piles in field. The simplicity and the relative ease of the solution makes the proposed method a good alternative approach to analyze the nonlinear response of laterally loaded piles.

Riprap scour protection is commonly employed to protect against local scour around large-diameter monopile foundations for offshore wind turbines (OWTs), and considering its influence on the static and dynamic behavior of monopiles may also provide the opportunity for further optimization of monopile design. However, only limited studies have gradually begun to investigate the contribution of scour protection to monopile bearing capacity, while its effects on the seismic responses of monopile-supported OWTs deployed in seismic zones have attracted even less attention. In this study, a series of centrifuge shaking table tests were conducted on large-diameter monopile foundations under both initial and scour protection conditions. Then, to further investigate the effects of scour protection parameters on the seismic response of offshore wind turbines, a three-dimensional finite element model was developed and validated based on experimental results. The results demonstrate that the presence of scour protection not only slightly increases the first natural frequency but also alters seismic responses of the OWT. Lower peak responses at the lumped mass are observed under Chi-Chi excitation, while lower peak bending moments of the pile occur under Kobe excitation. Additionally, seismic responses are more sensitive to variations in the scour protection length than its elastic modulus. Therefore, compared to material selection, greater emphasis should be placed on optimizing the scour protection length by comprehensively considering environmental loads, site conditions, and turbine dynamic characteristics. This study quantifies the effects of scour protection on the seismic responses of monopile-supported offshore wind turbines, which can provide new insights into seismic design optimization of offshore wind turbines with riprap scour protection.

This study investigates the response of laterally loaded pile foundations embedded in sloping beds under scour conditions, which is vital for the design and stability of coastal and offshore infrastructure like sea-crossing bridges, offshore wind turbines, and wharves. While previous studies have focused on scour-affected pile performance in horizontal beds, this research expands the scope by incorporating sloped beds and corresponding scour effect, which are common in coastal and offshore environments. A three-dimensional finite element model was established to evaluate the pile foundation’s lateral load-bearing capacity under different slope and scour conditions, according to preceding flume tests on the mechanism of local scour around a pile in sloping bed. The results indicate that the lateral response of the pile is significantly influenced by the seabed slope and scour depth. A negatively inclined seabed weakens the interaction between the pile and the surrounding sediment, thereby reducing the lateral bearing capacity and bending moment. As the scour depth increases, the support provided by the soil further weakens, intensifying the reduction in lateral resistance. This effect is particularly pronounced for steep negative slopes, where the combined impact of slope and scour has a more significant detrimental effect.