Semi-submersible Floating Offshore Wind Turbine Research Articles

Coupled analysis of floating offshore wind turbines with new mooring systems by CFD method

This paper presents a fully coupled aero-hydro-mooring numerical model of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL) 5 MW OC4 semi-submersible Floating Offshore Wind Turbine (FOWT). The model's accuracy was validated through comparisons with existing experimental and numerical data, utilizing OpenFOAM, a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software. The key contributions of this study include demonstrating the model's precision in predicting aerodynamic performance, motion responses, and mooring system dynamics under wind and wave conditions. Additionally, a comparative analysis is conducted between a Conventional mooring system (CMS) and a New mooring system (NMS). The results show that the NMS offers improved stability in surge and heave motions, crucial for operational effectiveness and resilience. Furthermore, the NMS demonstrates a more efficient stress distribution and also reduced tensions in the mooring lines, contributing to the long-term durability and safety of the structure. In terms of aerodynamic performance, the differences between the two mooring systems are limited due to the combined surge and pitch motion phase difference. Future research will focus on optimizing these phase differences to enhance performance and refine the cost-efficiency of the mooring system.

The surrogate model for short-term extreme response prediction based on ANN and Kriging algorithm

Numerical simulation is a common method for calculating the short-term extreme response of floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs). However, it requires significant computational resources. This study presents a dynamic response database for a 5MW semi-submersible FOWT under complex environmental conditions, including wind speed, effective wave height, and wave spectral peak period, using a numerical model. The peak over threshold (POT) method can be used to obtain the parametric database of short-term extreme responses, which includes the short-term extreme response distribution parameters for four responses: float surge, mooring tension, outward bending moment at the leaf root surface (OoPBM) and tower base pitching moment (TBPM). And the parameter database is applied to train models such as the Genetic Algorithm optimization Back Propagation neural network (GA-BP) and Kriging algorithm models. The research indicates that a correlation can be established between environmental conditions and short-term extreme response parameters using two algorithms. The accuracy of surrogate model prediction for some parameters can be improved by grouping the data based on wind speed and training separately. Additionally, selecting the appropriate surrogate model for each parameter separately can improve the accuracy of short-term extreme response prediction.

Verification and validation of a coupled CFD–FEM approach with overset structured grid through free decay and regular wave tests

This paper presents a comprehensive verification and validation study applied to the hydrodynamic analysis of a semi-submersible Floating Offshore Wind Turbine (FOWT) platform. The numerical simulation is conducted using a coupled Computational Fluid Dynamics-Finite Element Method (CFD–FEM) approach. The CFD program incorporates an overset grid interpolation method, facilitating a more systematic grid refinement in the estimation of discretization uncertainties. A mooring analysis program, based on the FEM scheme, is integrated with the CFD program to simulate the dynamic responses of mooring system. The necessity of the nonlinear mooring model is demonstrated by comparing solutions with a comparative test using a linear mooring model. The verification study, based on a least-squares-based extrapolation method, quantifies the spatial and temporal discretization errors of the numerical model. The numerical solutions based on the baseline model are further validated against the model test measurements. A pitch free decay model test and a regular wave model test conducted within the OC5 project are utilized for the verification and validation study. Results from both tests demonstrate the reliability and accuracy of the coupled method.

Power absorption and dynamic response analysis of a hybrid system with a semi-submersible wind turbine and a Salter's duck wave energy converter array

A multi-energy system that integrates a floating offshore wind turbine (FOWT) with wave energy converters (WEC) is an effective way to commercialize new offshore energy and the levelized cost of energy in the future. This paper proposes a FOWT-WEC hybrid system concept consisting of a semi-submersible FOWT with a Salter's duck (SD) WEC array. A coupling framework is established based on OpenFAST and ANSYS-AQWA. A preliminary feasibility study is conducted on the power absorption and motion response of the hybrid system to evaluate the interaction between the SD WEC array and the FOWT. Systematic studies demonstrate that the SD WEC array significantly reduces the motion response of the hybrid system in terms of pitch and heave. An increase in the equilibrium position of the platform in the surge direction does not have a large effect on the stability of the system. The WEC array improves the stability of wind power output and can be used as an effective supplement to power generation. The effect of wave direction shows that the SD WEC has a high sensitivity to the angle of incident waves, and the diffraction and radiation from the platform have a large impact on the power absorption of the SD WEC array.

Modeling and vortex-induced vibrations of semi-submersible floating offshore wind turbines

A rigid-flexible coupling dynamic model of a semi-submersible floating offshore wind turbine (FOWT) is established, and the characteristics of vortex-induced vibration (VIV) of the tower are studied. Lagrange’s equation is used to establish the equations of motion of a semi-submersible FOWT, a wake oscillator model is applied to simulate the interaction between tower and wind field, and the semi-empirical parameters in the wake oscillator model are optimized by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method. The VIV characteristics of the semi-submersible FOWT before and after hoisting are investigated, and the influence of waves on VIV is analyzed. The results show that the VIV of tower bending mode with large amplitude of the semi-submersible FOWT will occur when the wind speed is in certain ranges, and the possibility of VIV of rigid-body modes with large amplitudes of the tower is low. The amplitudes of VIV and corresponding wind speed ranges can be greatly reduced, and the frequency lock-in domains will become narrower after hoisting the rotor system. The action of waves can reduce the amplitudes of VIV and cause the deviation of frequency lock-in domains, which may widen the coverage of wind speed of lock-in domains.

Dynamic response analysis of a semisubmersible floating offshore wind turbine subjected to mooring line failure under normal and extreme environmental conditions

Floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs) offer a significant opportunity for harnessing wind energy and achieving clean energy goals. This paper investigates the effects of mooring line failure in semisubmersible FOWTs under normal and extreme environmental conditions. The OC4 DeepCwind type semisubmersible with an NREL 5 MW wind turbine is considered for investigating the behavior of FOWT under intact and failed mooring lines. This study covers a wide range of environmental conditions, operational conditions of wind turbines, and mooring line failure scenarios. This paper investigates the mooring line failure effects on platform responses, mooring line fairlead tensions, and tower responses. The results show that the platform surge, heave, pitch responses, tower fore-aft displacement, base shear force in X-direction, and base moment in Y-direction are increased for upwind side mooring line failure during the operational condition of FOWT. Subsequently, the platform sway, roll, yaw responses, tower side-to-side displacement, base shear force in Y-direction, and base moment in X-direction are more during downwind side mooring line failure in the same environment. On the other hand, the impact of upwind side mooring line failure affects all 6 Degrees of Freedom (DOF) platform responses significantly during the parked state of FOWT. The maximum fairlead tensions observed in the remaining mooring lines remain below the mooring line breaking strength even after a mooring line failure during both operational and parked states of FOWT. It is also observed that the platform responses (excluding heave), tower responses, and fairlead tensions exhibit greater values when an extreme turbulence wind model is employed. The platform surge, heave, pitch responses, maximum fairlead tension, tower fore-aft displacement, and tower base moment in Y-direction show higher values under severe sea state condition.

Catenary Mooring Length Control for Motion Mitigation of Semi-Submersible Floating Wind Turbines

Besides improving the generator torque and blade pitch controller, incorporating additional control actuations, such as a vibration absorber and active ballast, into the floating offshore wind turbine (FOWT) system is also promising for the motion mitigation of FOWTs. This work aims to study the catenary mooring length re-configuration effect on the dynamic behaviours of semi-submersible FOWTs. The mooring length re-configuration mentioned here is achieved by altering the mooring length with winches mounted on the floating platform, which is in a period of minutes to hours, so that the mooring tensions could be adjusted to reduce the aerodynamic load induced platform mean pitch. Control designs for both single mooring line and multiple mooring lines have been described and studied comparatively. In order to assess the motion mitigation performance of the proposed mooring line length re-configuration methods, fully coupled numerical simulations under different environmental cases have been conducted. Results indicate that the catenary mooring length re-configuration is able to reduce the platform pitch motion by up to 15.8% under rated condition, while careful attention must be paid to the scenarios where the catenary moorings become taut, which may lead to large load variations.

Application of suspended inter-array power cables in floating offshore wind farms

The aim of the present study is to propose an engineering approach of designing suspended inter-array power cable configuration for offshore wind farms. To achieve this, a spar type and a semi-submersible type floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs) are modeled in the dynamic analysis software OrcaFlex. The accuracy of these models is validated against reference studies. Several different cable configurations connecting two spar FOWTs are assessed based on Fitness Factors using static and dynamic analyses. The non-linear bending behavior and the marine growth effects are considered in the analyses. The number of buoys is found to be the main parameter affecting the maximum effective tension and the minimum bending radii of the cables. The buoy spacing determines whether the cable touches the seabed, floats fully submerged, or floats at the sea surface. The influence of the cable length and the marine growth on the observed cable tensions and curvatures is small for the investigated configurations. The optimum cable configuration found for the two spar FOWTs is employed to connect two semi-submersible FOWTs. The influence of the floater type on the suspended power cable tension and curvature is found to be negligible. Analysis of power cable behavior in an offshore wind farm layout shows that a two-turbine setup with different environmental load directions can be used as a representative case for the suspended power cables design of the entire wind farm.

Experimental and numerical analysis of power take-off control effects on the dynamic performance of a floating wind-wave combined system

The integration of wave energy converters (WEC) into floating offshore wind turbines (FOWT) is regarded as a promising approach for comprehensively harnessing deep-sea energy and reducing the levelized cost of energy. This study aims to investigate the WEC power take-off (PTO) control effects on the dynamic performance of a floating wind-wave combined system, wherein three heaving-type WECs are integrated into a semi-submersible FOWT. In particular, the hydraulic PTO is modelled as a Coulomb damping system to enable a more realistic analysis. The aero-hydro-servo-elastic-mooring coupled numerical simulations and 1:50 wave basin experimental data demonstrate good agreement. It is observed that wave power production varies significantly with different control settings, potentially reaching 24.0 % of the overall hybrid energy production with proper control parameters. Furthermore, platform pitch oscillation generally shows a decreasing trend with increasing damping forces under below-rated and rated conditions, while showing minimal influence when above-rated. Conversely, tower base damage equivalent load (DEL) tends to initially decrease and subsequently increase across all examined conditions. This consistent convexity indicates the potential use of DEL as a performance index for optimising PTO control. In summary, power increment, motion reduction, and load mitigation could be achieved concurrently with appropriate control design. For instance, an extra 0.48 MW wave power could be produced under the rated condition, while a 10.4 % reduction in tower base DEL and a 6.57 % mitigation in platform pitch oscillation could also be achieved at the same time.

Effects of the yaw error and the fault conditions on the dynamic characteristics of the 15 MW offshore semi-submersible wind turbine

The floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs) have a higher failure rate compared to onshore wind turbines, which could lead to aerodynamic imbalance on the floating systems. In addition, yaw error presents an inevitable challenge for FOWTs. This study aims to investigate the effects of the yaw error and the fault conditions on the dynamic properties of the IEA 15 MW semi-submersible FOWT using OpenFAST. The fault conditions involve blade seize without shutdown, blade seize with shutdown and grid loss. The platform motions and structure loads under different yaw errors (−20°, −8°, 0°, 8°, 20°) for different fault conditions were investigated. The dynamic response resulting from the fault was compared with the normal condition. Moreover, the optimal yaw angle under fault conditions was investigated in this paper. The results revealed that the fault shutdown conditions significantly impact the motions and loads of the wind turbine, with substantial reverse tower top and base bending moments. The yaw error, conversely, has less effect on the motions of the wind turbine, but can ameliorate the transient effect in the fault shutdown conditions. Additionally, it is recommended to operate the wind turbine at a yaw angle of 25–30° for wind speeds greater than 12 m/s.

Research on dynamic response prediction of semi-submersible wind turbine platform in real sea test model based on machine learning

The motion response of floating offshore wind turbine (FOWT) platform is closely related to its safety, and model test is the most direct method to fully study its dynamic characteristic behavior. In this paper the dynamic response of intermediate-scale physical semi-submersible FOWT model test under real sea environmental loads is studied and compared with the numerical model dynamic response, demonstrating that some limitations of small-scale physical model tests can be overcome, such as the catenary effect of mooring lines. It is found that the nonlinear dynamic characteristics of the physical model under actual marine environmental loads can be captured by the numerical model, which can improve the fidelity of model test data for semi-submersible FOWT structures in the existing literature. The dynamic response database of semi-submersible FOWT under complex wind, wave and current loads was established by using a numerical model with high accuracy, and was used in the prediction research of different machine learning algorithm models such as Genetic Algorithm optimization Back Propagation neural network (GA-BP), Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Gaussian Process (GP). The research shows that the relationship between the environmental load and the dynamic response of FOWT can be established by using the machine learning model, in which the number of samples has a significant impact on the prediction of the mooring line tension, and the research on the three algorithm models shows that GP performs significantly better than GA-BP and SVM in predicting the mean value of surge, pitch and mooring line force. For the dynamic response prediction of mooring line tension, GP model can get better results. In the future, this method will become an important method to predict and monitor the dynamic response of FOWT.

OF2: coupling OpenFAST and OpenFOAM for high-fidelity aero-hydro-servo-elastic FOWT simulations

Abstract. The numerical study of floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs) requires accurate integrated simulations which consider the aerodynamic, hydrodynamic, servo and elastic responses of these systems. In addition, the floating system dynamics couplings need to be included to calculate the excitation over the ensemble accurately. In this paper, a new tool has been developed for coupling NREL's aero-servo-elastic tool OpenFAST with the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) toolbox OpenFOAM. OpenFAST is used to model the rotor aerodynamics along with the flexible response of the different components of the wind turbine and the controller at each time step considering the dynamic response of the platform. OpenFOAM is used to simulate the hydrodynamics and the platform's response considering the loads from the wind turbine. The whole simulation environment is called OF2 (OpenFAST and OpenFOAM). The OC4 DeepCWind semi-submersible FOWT together with NREL's 5 MW wind turbine has been simulated using OF2 under two load cases. The purpose of coupling these tools to simulate FOWT is to obtain high-fidelity results for design purposes, thereby reducing the computational time compared with the use of CFD simulations both for the rotor aerodynamics, which usually consider rigid blades, and for the platform's hydrodynamics. The OF2 approach also allows us to include the aero-servo-elastic couplings that exist on the wind turbine along with the hydrodynamic system resolved by CFD. High-complexity situations of floating offshore wind turbines, like storms, yaw drifts, weather vanes or mooring line breaks, which imply high displacements and rotations of the floating platform or relevant non-linear effects, can be resolved using OF2, overcoming the limitation of many state-of-the-art potential hydrodynamic codes that assume small displacements of the platform. In addition, all the necessary information for the FOWT calculation and design processes can be obtained simultaneously, such as the pressure distribution at the platform components and the loads at the tower base, fairleads tension, etc. Moreover, the effect of turbulent winds and/or elastic blades could be taken into account to resolve load cases from the design and certification standards.

Quantitative assessment on fatigue damage induced by wake effect and yaw misalignment for floating offshore wind turbines

Wake interaction between floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs) is complex and necessitates a comprehensive assessment, which is a prerequisite for the yaw misalignment control. However, existing research on the influence of the wake effect on fatigue damage still suffers from unreliable conclusions and incomplete analysis. Consequently, we aim to precisely and comprehensively evaluate the influence of the wake effect and yaw misalignment on the fatigue damage of FOWTs. Initially, FAST.Farm is employed to holistically assess the output power, motion response, and dynamic response of two semi-submersible FOWTs arranged in series under varying yaw misalignments and wind speeds. Subsequently, the fatigue damage results of tower welds are calculated and analyzed based on the damage equivalent load and the time-varying stress, respectively. Finally, extensive comparisons and summaries are made between FOWTs under different conditions on power performance, platform motions and fatigue damage. The results indicate that active yaw control of upstream wind turbines reduces their fatigue damage of tower weld while exacerbating that of downstream wind turbines. Moreover, yaw optimization control is crucial in managing the platform motion responses.

Experimental Validation of Models of a Hull-Based Tuned Mass Damper System for a Semisubmersible Floating Offshore Wind Turbine Platform

Floating offshore wind turbine designs can be further optimized if the controller and remaining systems are designed together, known as control co-design. To effectively perform control co-design, modeling tools predicting the influence of the control systems on the response of a system must be validated. This article presents an experimental validation that utilizes a scale model of a semisubmersible platform for an offshore wind turbine that is fitted with adjustable tuned mass dampers. These dampers can be tuned to attenuate either the hull-pitch resonance or the tower-bending resonance. The data from the experiment are used to validate state-of-the-art modeling tools. It is shown that the models capture the overall effects of the tuned mass dampers; however, some models overpredict the reduction in platform pitch motion when the dampers are tuned to the pitch resonance. The relative reduction in the tower-base bending moment is more consistently captured by the models when the dampers are tuned to the tower-bending resonance. However, there are significant differences in the absolute level of tower-base bending moment between the models and the experiment. Much of the differences observed are a consequence of the challenge with accurately predicting the baseline platform resonance motion and the tower-bending moment, which should be addressed in future modeling efforts.

Application of CFD on VIM of semi-submersible FOWT: A Case Study

This study examines the Vortex Induced Motions (VIM) of the INO WINDMOOR 12 MW semi-submersible Floating Offshore Wind Turbine (FOWT) platform using three-dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). The results from both model- and full-scale simulations are presented. The model scale results reveal varying VIM performances at different current headings, with detailed flow visualizations and analyses of hydrodynamic loads on FOWT components providing insights into the underlying wake interaction scenarios. One simulation shows bifurcated VIM, where regular motions are intermittently interrupted due to simultaneous suppression of vortex shedding on all FOWT columns. Preliminary full-scale CFD results suggest a strong scale effect. The paper concludes with a discussion on how CFD simulation can be more effectively used in VIM research.

Hydrodynamic studies of a 15 MW semi-submersible FOWT to assess the suitability of the inclusion of a damper system

Floating Offshore Wind Turbines (FOWT) can exploit the high energy density found in the offshore environment, with turbines now reaching up to 15 MW in size. At the same time, however, the energetic environment and the massive size of the device present significant challenges in the motion stabilization and mooring system. To overcome these challenges, a tuned mass damper (TMD) has been considered for integration in the FOWT for peak motion reduction. This paper investigates the baseline responses including motion, dynamic response, and tensile loading of the mooring line for a 15MW FOWT on a semi-submersible platform without TMD to identify the damageable motion and the impacts of the TMD on the motion response under wave-wind environmental loadings. The comprehensive analysis is conducted in a package for the dynamic analysis of offshore marine systems, named as Orcaflex. The dynamic and motion characteristics of the 15MW FOWT are analysed and compared under different environmental parameters. The wave and wind parameters are quantified by the 20-years statistical data of the Celtic Sea including both operational and extreme conditions (with a 50-year return period). Subsequently, the key parameters of TMD are investigated by configuring different combinations of mass, damping coefficients and stiffnesses. The preliminary results of the study show that the TMD system can successfully mitigate extreme motion characteristics, however this is strongly dependent on damping properties. Unsuitable TMD designs may increase the motion responses of FOWT and the tensile loading on the mooring line. Therefore, the TMD properties have to be adjusted based onsite environmental conditions). With this consideration, an active TMD with changeable damping properties will be conducted in future research.

Global sensitivity analysis of a semi-submersible floating wind turbine using a neural network fitting method

The stochastic platform motions of a floating offshore wind turbine (FOWT) significantly affect its load characteristics and power production. It is vital to understand the influence of various input parameters on the global performance of an FOWT to ensure structural safety and power efficiency. This study investigates the influence of key design parameters related to metocean conditions and natural periods of platform motions on wind turbine performance. A global sensitivity analysis (GSA) framework is proposed to map the input-output relation of a 4-MW semi-submersible FOWT. This framework uses fully-coupled numerical analysis and neural network fitting (NNF). Several important parameters are selected, including natural periods of the platform motions, mean wind speed, turbulence intensity, wave spectral peak period and significant wave height. Results demonstrate that natural periods of platform motions and wave conditions have a significant influence on the dynamic responses of the FOWT. Furthermore, statistical analysis reveals that severe sea states and low natural periods of platform motions can increase the operation cycles of the blade pitch system by 20%. The use of NNF method effectively increases the efficiency of the GSA by at least forty times. The proposed framework can be applied to other areas of FOWTs.

Aero-Hydrodynamic Coupled Dynamic Characteristics of Semi-Submersible Floating Offshore Wind Turbines Under Inflow Turbulence

Aero-Hydrodynamic Coupled Dynamic Characteristics of Semi-Submersible Floating Offshore Wind Turbines Under Inflow Turbulence

Hydrodynamic characteristics of a 15 MW semi-submersible floating offshore wind turbine in freak waves

Dynamics of the floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs) in harsh ocean environments gains increasing attention due to the high maintenance costs in case of structural damage. The freak wave occurring more frequently than believed poses a threat to FOWTs, but mechanism and influencing factors of the wave-structure interaction problem have not been fully explained. In this paper, dynamics of the VolturnUS-S semi-submersible platform designed for the IEA 15 MW wind turbine under freak waves is studied using a coupled computational fluid dynamics and finite element mooring line model. First, the hydrodynamic model is validated using the DeepCwind semi-submersible platform. Then, the validated model is employed for the analysis of the VolturnUS-S semi-submersible platform under freak waves described as a focused group of waves. Hydrodynamic behaviors of the semi-submersible FOWT are described in detail, and parametric analysis of the problem including the effects of focusing crest amplitude, focusing location, incident angle, gravity center location is conducted. Important results include the dramatic surge motion of the platform and fairlead tension of the upstream mooring line, and alleviation of these responses by varying the wave angle to 30° and moving the gravity center to the centroid of the platform geometry.

Wave diffraction and radiation from a semi-submersible floating foundation for wind turbines: A semi-analytical study

Many marine structures are composed of vertical axisymmetric floats. In this paper, a semi-analytical model based on the linear potential flow theory and an eigenfunction expansion method is developed to study wave diffraction and radiation by an array of cylindrical structures. Each structure can be formed by three coaxial cylinders of different dimensions. Based on the semi-analytical model, a constrained matrix equation of motion is presented and solved to evaluate the performance of multiple interconnected cylindrical structures. In order to verify the accuracy of the semi-analytical model, a typical OC4-DeepCwind floating offshore wind turbine (FOWT) is selected for validation. The validated model is, then, applied to study the effect of base column submergence depth, radius, and thickness on the motion response of a semi-submersible platform. Although the results of this study are of significance for the selection of the optimum semi-submersible FOWT for specific locations (with specific prevailing wave directions), the focus of this work was placed on the semi-analytical model itself, which is efficient in modeling the interaction of the wave field and can be used in future FOWT projects.