A Coupled Floating Offshore Wind Turbine Analysis with High-fidelity Methods

Abstract

This paper presents results of numerical computations for floating off-shore wind turbines using, as an example, a machine of 10-MW rated power. The hydrodynamic loads on the support platform are computed using the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics method, which is mesh-free and represents the water and floating structures as a set of particles. The aerodynamic loads on the rotor are computed using the Helicopter Multi-Block flow solver. The method solves the Navier-Stokes equations in integral form using the arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian formulation for time-dependent domains with moving boundaries. The motion of the floating offshore wind turbine is computed using a Multi-Body Dynamic Model of rigid bodies and frictionless joints. Mooring cables are modelled as a set of springs and dampers. The loosely coupled algorithm used in this work is described in detail and the obtained results are presented.