Numerical Validation of Floating Offshore Wind Turbine Scaled Rotors for Surge Motion

Krishnamoorthi Sivalingam, Steven Martin and Abdulqadir Aziz Singapore Wala
Additional contact information
Krishnamoorthi Sivalingam: Lloyd’s Register Singapore Pte Ltd., 1 Fusionopolis Place, #09-11 Galaxis, Singapore 138522, Singapore
Steven Martin: Wind Energy Systems Centre for Doctoral Training, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G1 1XQ, UK
Abdulqadir Aziz Singapore Wala: Lloyd’s Register Singapore Pte Ltd., 1 Fusionopolis Place, #09-11 Galaxis, Singapore 138522, Singapore

Energies, 2018, vol. 11, issue 10, 1-25

Abstract: Aerodynamic performance of a floating offshore wind turbine (FOWT) is significantly influenced by platform surging motions. Accurate prediction of the unsteady aerodynamic loads is imperative for determining the fatigue life, ultimate loads on key components such as FOWT rotor blades, gearbox and power converter. The current study examines the predictions of numerical codes by comparing with unsteady experimental results of a scaled floating wind turbine rotor. The influence of platform surge amplitude together with the tip speed ratio on the unsteady aerodynamic loading has been simulated through unsteady CFD. It is shown that the unsteady aerodynamic loads of FOWT are highly sensitive to the changes in frequency and amplitude of the platform motion. Also, the surging motion significantly influences the windmill operating state due to strong flow interaction between the rotating blades and generated blade-tip vortices. Almost in all frequencies and amplitudes, CFD, LR-BEM and LR-uBEM predictions of mean thrust shows a good correlation with experimental results.

Keywords: CFD; unsteady BEM; floating offshore wind turbine; scaled wind turbine rotor (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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