STTR Phase II: Fabrication and Structural Testing of a 3D Concrete Printed Anchor for Floating Offshore Wind

The broader/commercial impact of this Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase II project is to lower the cost and accelerate deployment of clean renewable energy by advancing a 3D printed concrete anchor for floating offshore wind turbines. The anchor has potential to become the lowest cost, most scalable, and highest domestic content anchor solution, helping to maximize US jobs and economic benefits. The project advances the commercial potential of the technology by validating the structural design and mooring line connection, de-risking the anchor sufficiently to secure future investments. The project will enhance scientific and technology understanding by advancing U.S. capabilities in state-of-the-art 3D concrete printing technologies, enhancing industry and academia partnerships with the STTR university partner, and by performing research, development, and stakeholder outreach (including tours for over 2000 students, teachers, policymakers, investors, and government officials) at a port-side facility in Los Angeles, California. This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase II project will advance the technology readiness level of an innovative, reliable, and low-cost 3D printed concrete suction anchor for mooring floating offshore wind turbines. Floating offshore wind power is poised for rapid growth in the United States, where approximately 2/3 of the offshore wind energy potential exists over waters deep enough to require the use of floating platforms. However, cost remains an obstacle to extensive deployment of floating wind. Development of low-cost anchoring presents an important opportunity for cost reduction. The key project objective is to develop a low-cost suction anchor capable of resisting extreme tension loads that arise where the mooring line connects to the anchor. The proposed research includes: 1. developing optimized detailed designs of anchors and mooring line connections manufactured using a 3D concrete printing process, 2. fabricating high-fidelity anchor prototypes, 3. validating the prototype anchor design via laboratory structural testing and finite element analysis, and 4. updating models for anchor manufacturing throughput, cost, and lifecycle emissions impacts. The anticipated technical results include an experimentally validated structural design and manufacturing approach for the anchor and corresponding models for production throughput, cost, and lifecycle impacts. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.