1. FRP Towers for Wind Turbine Facility
The trend to build larger wind turbines to generate more energy and to move to deep ocean means very heavy towers if steel is used. This in turn makes the floating pontoons very large, heavy, and expensive. Using FRP to build such towers to support the wind turbines (which are also made of fibre composites) will reduce the weight of the towers leading to cheaper floating pontoons. However, there is no research in FRP towers for floating wind turbines to-date. The challenge lies in the materials level (durable, strong, large-scale effect), structure level (structural form, connections), and performance assessment (strength, stiffness, dynamic response). Structural health monitoring of turbine blades and support towers will be a huge challenge.
2. FRP Superstructure of Multilayer Floating Platforms There is a need to build multi-layer floating farms/platforms to generate blue economy and to enhance food security and food sustainability. Such multilayer structures could be used for fishing, poultry, agriculture products. It is beneficial to have the superstructure lightweight and durable (Fig. 8). Using FRPs for such types of superstructures has many benefits compared with using traditional construction materials such as steel and concrete. But there is a lack of research in large-scale FRP structures built in harsh ocean environment. The cost effectiveness of using FRPs must be evaluated. Other challenges lie in the materials level (durable, strong, large-scale effect), structure level (structural form, connections), and performance assessment (strength, stiffness, fatigue).
