To increase efficiency and lower production costs, the offshore wind industry is focusing on the development of larger wind generators. The HELIX project aims to provide high-strength steel fasteners for the offshore wind industry at a lower cost, more resistant to corrosion and with a wider diameter to support the ever-increasing size of wind turbines, leading to higher productivity and supporting the development of larger foundations to support above 10MW OWT and allow an easy assembly and disassembly of the whole structure.
During the project, novel high-strength steel grades and protecting zinc-flake based coatings will be developed and validated. In addition, HELIX will use advanced characterisation and traditional techniques under both atmospheric and immersion conditions to advance in the knowledge of hydrogen absorption in high-strength steels under cathodic protection and in atmospheric conditions.
HELIX innovation will advance the state of the art in coating development and in high strength steels with high toughness and resistance to hydrogen embrittlement. Project results will contribute to better understand the interaction between steel, coating, and service environment in the hydrogen embrittlement phenomenon.
1
To optimise new lower cost high strength steel composition with improved hardenability, high toughness and high hydrogen embrittlement resistance to produce 10.9 and 12.9 steel grades after Quenching and Tempering (Q&T) treatments
2
To identify the mechanisms of hydrogen absorption / desorption of the optimised steels
3
To develop coatings based on zinc flakes and different topcoat materials to protect the steel and to reduce hydrogen entry in service
4
To study the interaction of the optimised steels, the novel coatings and the environment on
the hydrogen absorption quantity and mechanisms
5
To demonstrate the higher performance of the developed fasteners in real service
environments
HELIX interdisciplinary team is made up of 6 partners from 5 European countries covering all the value chain, from steel, bolt and fastener manufacturer companies, research centres to universities.
HELIX Final Workshop showcases breakthroughs in offshore wind fastener technologies The HELIX project celebrated the successful culmination of its work with its Final Workshop, held on September 10th, 2025, as part of the EUROCORR 2025 congress in Stavanger, Norway. The event brought together researchers, industrial experts, and stakeholders from across Europe to explore the project’s…
Presenting HELIX results at the AKI 2024 conference Kateřina Žambochová, Head of Testing Laboratory at Technopark Kralupy of the University of Chemistry and Technology in Prague, participated in the 27th conference of the Association of Czech and Slovak Corrosion Engineers (AKI), held on November 6th-8th, 2024, at the Hotel Castle in Valeč (Czech Republic). During…
The French Corrosion Institute disseminates HELIX at EUROCORR 2024 Geoffrey Ringot, HELIX partner and engineer from the French Corrosion Institute, took part in the European Corrosion Congress (EUROCORR 2024), held between September 1st-5th in Paris (France). On September 3rd, he delivered the presentation “Sensitivity of high strength steel bolts to hydrogen embrittlement under cathodic protection…
Presenting HELIX research during the ARCOR Days 2024 Flavien Vucko, Global Research Leader from the French Corrosion Institute, attended the ARCOR Days 2024, an event organised by the Association for Research on Corrosion and Corrosion Protection (ARCOR) on May 28th-29th, 2024, in Brest (France). On May 28th, during the slot reserved for presentations to the…
The HELIX consortium gathers in Germany for its second year meeting Partners from the HELIX project have met physically on the occasion of the second year meeting, marking the equator of the initiative. The meeting took place on March 5th-7th at the headquarters of PEINER and DÖRKEN in Germany. During the meeting, each partner presented…
Six RFCS projects coordinated by Eurecat presented at the Steel Tech Congress Eurecat has participated as exhibitor of the Steel Tech 2023 this week in Bilbao Exhibition Center from October 25-27. Amongst the center capacities in the steel sector, information on six Research Fund for Coal and Steel (RFCS)-funded projects COOPHS, HELIX, SuPreAM, NewAIMS, Sup3rForm…
The HELIX project has celebrated its 3rd General Meeting on March 30th, 2023. During the meeting, held online, all partners presented their work done in the previous months and discussed next steps for developing new steel links solutions for off-shore wind turbines. The General Meeting included different sessions focused on the main ongoing topics and work packages…
HELIX partners have met online for the project’s 2nd General Meeting on January 20th, 2023. During the meeting, partners have reviewed the project tasks done during the first 6 months and discussed next steps and activities to provide the offshore wind industry with high-strength steel fasteners at a lower cost, more resistant to corrosion and…
The HELIX project has kick-started on July 2022, with the aim to provide lower cost (up to 20% reduction), high corrosion resistant (a minimum of 25 service years), high strength steel (10.9 and 12.9 grades) and high diameter (≥ M64) fasteners to the offshore wind industry to support the ever-increasing size of wind turbines, leading…