A New Perspective on Offshore Wind Turbine Certification Using High Performance Computing

Abstract

A correct estimation of fatigue and ultimate loads on the structure is key for wind turbine design and certification. In a greater perspective, wind turbines are large structures placed in the natural environment and are thus subject to environmental loads that are stochastic in nature. In the case of offshore turbines, the design space is even vaster, as wind speed, turbulence intensity, wave height and period, and wind/wave direction need to be considered. Due to this complexity, standardization is a challenge, and current design standards prescribe load calculations to be performed on a site-per-site basis. Performing this task requires obtaining a long-term statistical representation of the installation site, which can be complex. Moreover, this process is affected by uncertainties. This work explores an alternative to this approach, i.e., partially, or entirely simulating the lifetime of the offshore asset. Results show how this method can reliably predict fatigue loads even using as little as one year of data. On the other hand, prediction of extreme loads is influenced by the sample size and time-period.