Characterisation of hydrodynamic loads on floating Wind Turbine Generator substructures

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The Stiesdal TetraSub platform for offshore wind turbine generators (WTG), is a semi-submersible floating concept comprising of three pairs of ballast tasks triangularly positioned around a central column. The floating foundation is moored by taut mooring lines that can be suitable for a range of water depths.Currently, as part of the front-end engineering design (FEED) process and load assessment, extreme wave loading on floating platforms is predicted using a combination of linear wave theory and the Morison equation, followed by the application of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and finite element analysis (FEA). This approach leads to the creation of multiple system models which can be an inefficient and ineffective approach.Furthermore, similar methods are applied when predicting wave run-up on floating structures; this is typically estimated using model scale tank testing combined with CFD results. As with predicting extreme loads, these methods have a number of shortcomings, leading to over-engineered systems, which effect the operation, survivability, and cost of the system