The expansion of offshore wind farms, driven by better offshore wind conditions and fewer spatial limitations, has promoted the growth of this technology. This study focuses on the design of jacket support structures for Offshore Wind Turbines, which are suitable for deeper waters. However, the structural analysis required for designing these structures is computationally intensive due to multiple load cases and numerous checks. To reduce this computational cost, artificial-neural-network-based surrogate models capable of estimating the feasibility of a jacket structure acting as the support structure for any given wind turbine at a specific site are developed. A synthetic dataset generated through random sampling and evaluated by a structural model is utilized for training and testing the models. Two kind of models are compared: one is trained to estimate global feasibility, while the other estimates compliance with each of the structural partial requirements. Also, several assembly methods are proposed and compared. The best-performing model shows great classification metrics, with a Matthews Correlation Coefficient of 0.674, enabling an initial assessment of the structural feasibility. The low computational cost of artificial neural networks compared to structural models makes this surrogate model useful for accelerating otherwise prohibitive parametric studies or optimization processes.

Advances in the design process and understanding of the structural behaviour of jacket -type foundations for offshore wind turbines are fundamental to the expansion of these devices in medium -depth waters. The structural evaluation of jacket foundations is a complex and computationally expensive task because of the large number of structural elements and numerous load scenarios and requirements imposed by international standards. In this context, the soil-structure interaction is not usually incorporated into the optimisation process of these devices, assuming that the foundation flexibility does not significantly affect the supporting structure. This study investigated an approach for analysing the influence of the soil-structure interaction on the structural design. To perform a relevant analysis, an optimisation process was used to obtain feasible designs for a 10 -MW wind turbine in a specific location. To optimise and evaluate the jackets, a structural model based on static equivalent analysis of the most representative load scenarios for environmental loads was used. The obtained designs highlight the importance of considering the soil-structure interaction for evaluating the technical requirements imposed on these structures, especially in the ultimate limit states.