Structural Control of an Ultra-Large Semi-Submersible Floating Offshore Wind Turbine

2020 ◽  
Vol 143 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhixin Zhao ◽  
Wenhua Wang ◽  
Dongdong Han ◽  
Wei Shi ◽  
Yulin Si ◽  
...  

Abstract A braceless semi-submersible floating platform is proposed for a Technical University of Denmark (DTU) 10-MW wind turbine at moderate water depths with reference to an existing National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 5-MW braceless semi-submersible floating platform, and a servo control system for a 10-MW semi-submersible floating offshore wind turbine (FOWT) is introduced. To control the ultimate and fatigue loads of the FOWT, a fore-aft tuned mass damper (TMD) installed in the nacelle of the 10-MW semi-submersible FOWT was investigated for vibration alleviation and load reduction. Considering the hydrodynamic and mooring effect, a four degrees-of-freedom (DOFs) (platform surge and pitch motions, tower fore-aft bending, and TMD translation) simplified dynamic model for the 10-MW semi-submersible FOWT is established based on D’Alembert’s principle. Then, the parameter estimation is conducted based on the Levenberg–Marquardt (LM) algorithm, and the simplified dynamic model was further verified by comparing the output responses with FAST and the proposed model. Furthermore, the exhaustive search (ES) and genetic algorithm (GA) are embedded into the simplified dynamic model to optimize the TMD parameters. Finally, a fully coupled time-domain simulation for all the selected environmental conditions is conducted in FAST, and the vibration suppression performance of the optimized TMD design for the 10-W semi-submersible FOWT was further examined and analyzed.

Author(s):  
Xin Li ◽  
Zhixin Zhao ◽  
Dongdong Han ◽  
Haisheng Zhao

Abstract Taking the DTU 10 MW braceless semi-submersible floating offshore wind turbine (FOWT) as the research object, an ideal tuned mass damper (TMD) installed in platform of the 10 MW semi-submersible FOWT is investigated to dynamically compensate the vibrations and reduce the structural loads. Considering the hydrodynamic and mooring effects, a simplified model of FOWT with four degrees of freedom (DOFs) including platform surge, pitch, tower fore-aft bending and TMD translation is established according to the D’Alembert’s principle. Then, based on the Levenberg-Marquardt (LM) algorithm, the unknown parameters related to the simplified model are estimated. Compared with results from FAST-SC, the simplified dynamic model is validated. Furthermore, the response surface method and genetic algorithm (GA) are used to determine the optimized TMD parameter. Finally, the fully coupled time-domain simulation of the FOWT with active TMD subjected to environmental loadings is conducted by using FAST-SC, and the effect of the TMD on the load reduction of the 10 MW braceless semi-submersible FOWT is analyzed. The study provides a feasible method for the structural control of the ultra-large semi-submersible FOWTs.


Author(s):  
Mohammed Khair Al-Solihat ◽  
Meyer Nahon ◽  
Kamran Behdinan

This paper presents a rigid multibody dynamic model to simulate the dynamic response of a spar floating offshore wind turbine (FOWT). The system consists of a spar floating platform, the moorings, the wind turbine tower, nacelle, and the rotor. The spar platform is modeled as a six degrees-of-freedom (6DOFs) rigid body subject to buoyancy, hydrodynamic and moorings loads. The wind turbine tower supports rigid nacelle and rotor at the tip. The rigid rotor is modeled as a disk spinning around its axis and subject to the aerodynamic load. The generator torque control law is incorporated into the system dynamics to capture the rotor spinning speed response when the turbine is operating below the rated wind speed. The equations of motions are derived using Lagrange's equation in terms of the platform quasi-coordinates and rotor spin speed. The external loads due to hydrostatics, hydrodynamics, and aerodynamics are formulated and incorporated into the equations of motion. The dynamic simulations of the spar FOWT are performed for three load cases to examine the system eigen frequencies, free decay response, and response to a combined wave and wind load. The results obtained from the present model are validated against their counterparts obtained from other simulation tools, namely, FAST, HAWC2, and Bladed, with excellent agreement. Finally, the influence of the rotor gyroscopic moment on the system dynamics is investigated.


Author(s):  
Iman Ramzanpoor ◽  
Martin Nuernberg ◽  
Longbin Tao

Abstract The main drivers for the continued decarbonisation of the global energy market are renewable energy sources. Moreover, the leading technological solutions to achieve this are offshore wind turbines. As installed capacity has been increasing rapidly and shallow water near shore sites are exhausted, projects will need to be developed further from shore and often in deeper waters, which will pose greater technical challenges and constrain efforts to reduce costs. Current floating platform solutions such as the spar and semi-submersible rely on large amounts of ballast and complex structural designs with active stabilisation systems for stability of the floating offshore wind turbine platform (FOWT). The primary focus of this study is to present a design concept and mooring arrangement for an alternative floating platform solution that places emphasis on the mooring system to achieve stability for a FOWT. The tension leg buoy (TLB) is designed to support future 10MW offshore wind turbine generators. This paper presents the numerical methodology used for a coupled hydro-elastic analysis of the floater and mooring system under combined wind, wave and current effects. A concept TLB design is presented and its platform motion and mooring line tension characteristics are analysed for a three-hour time domain simulation representing operating and survival conditions in the northern North Sea with water depths of 110 metres. The importance of wave drift forces and the other non-linear excitation forces in the concept design stage are evaluated by comparing the motion and tension responses of three different numerical simulation cases with increasing numerical complexity. The preliminary TLB system design demonstrated satisfactory motion response for the operation of a FOWT and survival in a 100-year storm condition. The results show that accounting for second-order effect is vital in terms of having a clear understanding of the full behaviour of the system and the detailed response characteristics in operational and survival conditions. Extreme loads are significantly reduced when accounting for the second-order effects. This can be a key aspect to not overdesign the system and consequently achieve significant cost savings.


Author(s):  
Federico Taruffi ◽  
Simone Di Carlo ◽  
Sara Muggiasca ◽  
Alessandro Fontanella

Abstract This paper deals with the numerical design of a floating offshore wind turbine outdoor large-scale prototype based on the DTU 10MW. The objective of this work is to develop a numerical simulation environment for the design of an outdoor scaled prototype. The numerical model is realized coupling the preliminary designed Blue Growth Farm large-scale turbine model with a traditional floater, the OC3 spar buoy. The numerical model is used to evaluate the loads associated with the wind turbine when combined to a floating foundation, with the focus on the coupling between the dynamics of the control system and the one of the floating platform. In addition to this, also the consistency of loads on crucial turbine components is an interesting test bench for the evaluation of the dynamical effects and drives the final design of the physical model.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 1232
Author(s):  
Xuan Mei ◽  
Min Xiong

In order to investigate the effects of second-order hydrodynamic loads on a 15 MW floating offshore wind turbine (FOWT), this study employs a tool that integrates AQWA and OpenFAST to conduct fully coupled simulations of the FOWT subjected to wind and wave loadings. The load cases covering normal and extreme conditions are defined based on the met-ocean data observed at a specific site. The results indicate that the second-order wave excitations activate the surge mode of the platform. As a result, the surge motion is increased for each of the examined load case. In addition, the pitch, heave, and yaw motions are underestimated when neglecting the second-order hydrodynamics under the extreme condition. First-order wave excitation is the major contributor to the tower-base bending moments. The fatigue damage of the tower-base under the extreme condition is underestimated by 57.1% if the effect of second-order hydrodynamics is ignored. In addition, the accumulative fatigue damage over 25 years at the tower-base is overestimated by 16.92%. Therefore, it is suggested to consider the effects of second-order wave excitations of the floating platform for the design of the tower to reduce the cost of the FOWT.


2013 ◽  
Vol 477-478 ◽  
pp. 109-113
Author(s):  
Bin Bin Lai ◽  
Cheng Bi Zhao ◽  
Xiao Ming Chen ◽  
You Hong Tang ◽  
Wei Lin

With the mature of floating offshore wind turbine technology, floating wind farm building in the deep sea becomes an inevitable trend. In the design of floating offshore wind turbine, the change of structural form is the main factor influencing hydrodynamic performance. This research, taking a typical sea condition in China's coastal areas as the object of study, designs a novel semi-submersible foundation for NREL 5 MW offshore wind turbine in 200 m deep water. In the design, deep-draft buoys structures are used to reduce the force of waves on the floating offshore, while damping structures are used to optimize the stability of wind turbine and reduce the heave amplitude. By means of numerical simulation method, the hydrodynamic performance of semi-submersible support is studied. Meanwhile, the response amplitude operators (RAOs) and the wave response motions of platform are calculated. The results in time domain indicate that the floating wind turbine system can keep safe and survive in the harsh sea condition, coupling wind, waves and currents. It is showed that the designed semi-submersible support of platform has excellent hydrodynamic performance. This change of structural form may serve as a reference on the development of offshore wind floating platform.


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