Dynamic response of spar-type floating offshore wind turbine in freak wave considering the wave-current interaction effect

Abstract

In this paper, the dynamic responses of a Spar-type floating offshore wind turbine (FOWT) are simulated and analyzed under the scenarios with freak wave superimposed a uniform current. The wave-current interaction is considered in the process of freak wave generation. An improved phase modulation algorithm is used to generate the free surface profile of the freak wave. Compared with the deterministic wave modeling method, this method can realize the randomness of the sea state and also achieve high efficiency. The effect of the presence of current on the wave energy spectra is firstly investigated. Then the OC3 Hywind Spar-type FOWT in the parked condition is chosen as an example to study the dynamic responses under the extreme wave scenarios. An in-house MATLAB code based on a nonlinear aero-hydro-mooring coupled model is adopted to perform these numerical investigations. The simulations are conducted in the time domain and then the results of wave forces and platform motions in the surge, heave and pitch are summarized and analyzed considering the presence of current with different velocities. The results of mooring lines tension and the acceleration at nacelle are also investigated. Through the simulation results, we can have a clear understanding of the mechanism of the wave-current interaction phenomenon for extremely high waves in Gaussian seas. Furthermore, it also allows identifying the severest wave conditions which are important for the analysis of the floating structure ultimate design conditions.