Experimental Study on a 3-Dimensional Hydro-Elastic Deformation of “Underwater Platform” With Multi-Towers in Waves
Underwater platform was proposed in OMAE 2015 for the purpose of enhancing productivity of various types of renewable energy converter on the sea and its feasibility study was carried out through 2 types of tank experiment [1]. The underwater platform which is a very large frame shape structure connects several floaters under the sea to share power cables and mooring lines and to keep relative distances between the floaters. In the experiment, 1/200 scale elastic model with three spar buoys was used. The buoys imitated spar type floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs). From the experiment, it was shown that the platform with large draft can reduce its response in waves. In this paper, we report new result and knowledge obtained by additional model experiments use the 1/200 model. In the experiment, we changed the arrangement and draft of the model and measured hydro-elastic deformation of the underwater platform in waves. From the last experiment, relationship between draft settings and response was shown. In the experiment, relationship between wave angles and response was surveyed. From the experiment, we have confirmed followings: 1. Rigid-body motion is remarkable in beam waves, 2. Elastic response is remarkable in head waves, and 3. Remarkable torsional motion is occurred in 45 degrees’ waves. The more important thing, however, is that the experimental result indicated that the platform of large draft decreases its motion in the all the wave angles.