Mechanical reliability of flexible power cables for marine energy Show others and affiliations
2021 (English) In: Proceedings of the European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference Pages 2146-1 - 2146-102021, European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference Series , 2021, p. 2146-1-2146-10Conference paper, Published paper (Refereed)
Abstract [en]
Marine power cables play a crucial role to utilize energy in marine areas, such as offshore wind, wave energy and tidal energy. Marine energy devices are typically grouped into arrays to increase the economic viability, and power cables transfer the energy from the devices to a central hub which is then transmitted ashore. Cables connected to moving devices may experience millions of load cycles per year, and thus they need to be flexible and designed for mechanical loads due to the movements of the cable. In this study, the focus is on the mechanical life of flexible cables connecting devices to hubs, and thus lowand medium voltage power cables is the focus. The reliability design method Variational Mode and Effect Analysis (VMEA) is applied that is based on identifying and quantifying different types of uncertainty sources, such as scatter, model uncertainties and statistical uncertainties. It implements a load-strength-approach that combines numerical simulations to assess the loads on the cable and experimental tests to assess the strength of the cable. The VMEA method is demonstrated for an evaluation of bending fatigue, and it has been found to be a useful tool to evaluate uncertainties in fatigue life for cables in WEC (Wave Energy Converter) systems during the design phase. The results give a firm foundation for evaluation of safety against fatigue and are also helpful for identifying weak spots in the reliability assessment that can motivate actions in the improvement process. Uncertainties in terms of scatter, statistical uncertainty and model uncertainty have been evaluated with respect to the WaveEL 3.0, a WEC designed by the company Waves4Power, and deployed in Runde, Norway. A major contribution to the overall uncertainty is found to originate from the fatigue life model, both in terms of scatter and model uncertainty.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference Series , 2021. p. 2146-1-2146-10
Keywords [en]
Experimental test, Fatigue life, Numerical simulation, Power cable, Reliability, Uncertainty, VMEA (Variation Mode and Effect Analysis), Wave energy
National Category
Other Electrical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Information Engineering
Identifiers URN: urn:nbn:se:ri:diva-57360 Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85120072280 OAI: oai:DiVA.org:ri-57360 DiVA, id: diva2:1623464
Conference 14th European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference, EWTEC 2021Virtual, Online5 September 2021 through 9 September 2021
Note Funding details: Chalmers Tekniska Högskola; Funding details: Energimyndigheten, 36357-2, 41240-1; Funding text 1: The research was partially funded by strategic internal funding from Chalmers University of Technology and from RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, and by the Swedish Energy Agency projects “R&D of dynamic low voltage cables between the buoy and floating hub in a marine energy system” under contract No. 41240-1, and “Simulation model for operation and maintenance strategy of floating wave energy converters – analysis of fatigue, wear, and influence of biofouling for effective and profitable energy harvesting” under contract No. 36357-2 P. Johannesson and E. Johnson are with RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, Gibraltargatan 35, SE-412 79 Göteborg, Sweden (e-mails: par.johannesson@ri.se, erland.johnson@ri.se).
2021-12-292021-12-292023-06-07 Bibliographically approved