Complex dynamics of downwind floating offshore wind turbines due to tower shadow and platform motions

Jun Leng, Gen Li and Lei Duan

Energy, 2025, vol. 328, issue C

Abstract: As the wind power industry expands into deeper waters and adopts floating wind turbines, downwind floating offshore wind turbines are becoming increasingly attractive due to their elimination of tip clearance requirements and improved yaw stability. However, the aerodynamic and structural complexities introduced by tower shadow effects, platform motions, and aeroelasticity present significant challenges. This study conducts a detailed simulation and analysis of a 5 MW downwind floating wind turbine using flexible multibody dynamics, actuator line method (ALM), and large eddy simulation (LES). The coupling effects of tower shadow, surge motion, and blade flexibility on the turbine’s aerodynamic performance and structural responses are investigated. Results indicate that tower shadow causes notable decreases in angles of attack (AOAs) and aerodynamic loads, leading to intensified blade vibrations and higher-order frequency oscillations. Blade vibrations result in high-frequency fluctuations in AOAs, particularly near the blade tip, which jeopardize power generation stability. Additionally, simulations reveal that platform surge motions induce periodic blade oscillations, increasing the amplitude of bending vibrations and further destabilizing aerodynamic loads. The combined effects of aeroelasticity, tower motion, and platform movement produce unique aerodynamic performance patterns, with periodic variations in thrust and torque synchronized with surge motion frequency.

Keywords: Aeroelastic analysis; Floating wind turbine; Tower effect; Actuator line method; Flexible multibody dynamics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544225020201
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:energy:v:328:y:2025:i:c:s0360544225020201

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2025.136378

Access Statistics for this article

Energy is currently edited by Henrik Lund and Mark J. Kaiser

More articles in Energy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().