An Experimental Study on the Effects of Base Motion on the Aeromechanic Performance of Floating Wind Turbines

Abstract

An experimental study was conducted to investigate the effects of the wave-induced base motions experienced by floating wind turbines sited in offshore wind farms on their aeromechanic performance and wake characteristics, in comparison with those of a bottom- fixed wind turbine. The experimental study was performed in a large-scale atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) wind tunnel with a scaled wind turbine model placed in a turbulent boundary layer flow with similar mean and turbulence characteristics as those over a typical offshore wind farm. During the experiments, a scaled wind turbine model was mounted on a translational and rotational stage, which can generate translation and/or rotation motions to simulate the dynamic wave-induced motions (i.e., surge, pitch and heave motions) experienced by floating wind turbines in offshore wind farms. In addition to measuring dynamic wind loadings (both forces and moments)acting on the model turbine, a high-resolution Particle Image Velocity (PIV) system was also used to conduct detailed flow field measurements to characterize the turbine wakes with the turbine base in motion. The detailed flow field measurements were correlated with the dynamic wind load data to elucidate underlying physics for higher total power yield and better durability of floating offshore wind turbines.