Full-coupled analysis of offshore floating wind turbine supported by very large floating structure with consideration of hydroelasticity

Abstract

A multi-bodies hydroelastic model is developed and coupled to the full aero-hydro-servo-elastic analysis of a VLFS (very large floating structure) floating wind turbine. The proposed hydroelastic model discretizes the VLFS into a set of interconnected submodules. The hydrodynamic load acting on the entire VFLS is lumped to the mass center of submodules whilst the structural flexibility is represented by the finite element model used to connect submodules. The multi-bodies character makes the developed hydroelastic model robust to the floating structure and convenient to be embedded into coupled dynamic modelling of offshore floating wind turbines. The established model is validated against model test first and subsequently coupled to the numerical model of a moored VFLS floating wind turbine. The wind turbine power production, VFLS flexible deformation and structural loads are investigated. The analysis results reveal the significance of hydroelasticity on wind turbine power production and structural dynamics.