Irregular Nonlinear Wave Simulation and Associated Loads on Offshore Wind Turbines

2015 ◽  
Vol 137 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Marino ◽  
H. Nguyen ◽  
C. Lugni ◽  
L. Manuel ◽  
C. Borri
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Nonlinear Wave ◽  
Wind Turbines ◽  
Breaking Waves ◽  
Design Guidelines ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Offshore Wind Turbine ◽  
Wave Modeling ◽  
Linear Solution ◽  
Offshore Wind Turbines

The accuracy of predicted loads on offshore wind turbines depends on the mathematical models employed to describe the combined action of the wind and waves. Using a global simulation framework that employs a domain-decomposition strategy for computational efficiency, this study investigates the effects of nonlinear waves on computed loads on the support structure (monopile) and the rotor–nacelle assembly of a bottom-supported offshore wind turbine. The fully nonlinear (FNL) numerical wave solver is invoked only on subdomains where nonlinearities are detected; thus, only locally in space and time, a linear solution (and associated Morison hydrodynamics) is replaced by the FNL one. An efficient carefully tuned linear–nonlinear transition scheme makes it possible to run long simulations such that effects from weakly nonlinear up to FNL events, such as imminent breaking waves, can be accounted for. The unsteady nonlinear free-surface problem governing the propagation of gravity waves is formulated using potential theory and a higher-order boundary element method (HOBEM) is used to discretize Laplace’s equation. The FNL solver is employed and associated hydrodynamic loads are simulated in conjunction with aerodynamic loads on the rotor of a 5-MW wind turbine using the NREL open-source software, fast. We assess load statistics associated with a single severe sea state. Such load statistics are needed in evaluating relevant load cases specified in offshore wind turbine design guidelines; in this context, the influence of nonlinear wave modeling and its selection over alternative linear or linearized wave modeling is compared. Ultimately, a study such as this one will seek to evaluate long-term loads using the FNL solver in computations directed toward reliability-based design of offshore wind turbines where a range of sea states will need to be evaluated.

Irregular Nonlinear Wave Simulation and Associated Loads on Offshore Wind Turbines

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Marino ◽  
H. Nguyen ◽  
C. Lugni ◽  
L. Manuel ◽  
C. Borri
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Nonlinear Wave ◽  
Wind Turbines ◽  
Design Guidelines ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Offshore Wind Turbine ◽  
Wave Modeling ◽  
Linear Solution ◽  
Fully Nonlinear ◽  
Offshore Wind Turbines

The accuracy of predicted loads on offshore wind turbines depends on the mathematical models employed to describe the combined action of the wind and waves. Using a global simulation framework that employs a domain-decomposition strategy for computational efficiency, this study investigates the effects of nonlinear waves on computed loads on the support structure (monopile) and the rotor-nacelle assembly of a bottom-supported offshore wind turbine. The fully nonlinear (FNL) numerical wave solver is invoked only on sub-domains where nonlinearities are detected; thus, only locally in space and time, a linear solution (and associated Morison hydrodynamics) is replaced by the FNL one. An efficient carefully tuned linear-nonlinear transition scheme makes it possible to run long simulations such that effects from weakly nonlinear up to fully nonlinear events, such as imminent breaking waves, can be accounted for. The unsteady nonlinear free-surface problem governing the propagation of gravity waves is formulated using potential theory and a higher-order boundary element method (HOBEM) is used to discretize Laplace’s equation. The FNL solver is employed and associated hydrodynamic loads are simulated in conjunction with aerodynamic loads on the rotor of a 5-MW wind turbine using the NREL open-source software, FAST. We assess load statistics associated with a single severe sea state. Such load statistics are needed in evaluating relevant load cases specified in offshore wind turbine design guidelines; in this context, the influence of nonlinear wave modeling and its selection over alternative linear or linearized wave modeling is compared. Ultimately, a study such as this one will seek to evaluate long-term loads using the FNL solver in computations directed towards reliability-based design of offshore wind turbines where a range of sea states will need to be evaluated.

Using Nonlinear Wave Kinematics to Estimate the Loads on Offshore Wind Turbines in 3-Hour Sea States

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim Bunnik ◽  
Erik-Jan de Ridder
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Nonlinear Wave ◽  
Wind Turbines ◽  
Wave Model ◽  
Breaking Waves ◽  
Model Tests ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Wave Loads ◽  
Offshore Wind Turbines ◽  
Wave Basin

The effects of operational wave loads and wind loads on offshore mono pile wind turbines are well understood. For most sites, however, the water depth is such that breaking or near-breaking waves will occur causing impulsive excitation of the mono pile and consequently considerable stresses, displacements and accelerations in the monopile, tower and turbine. As has been shown in earlier, recent publications, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) can be used to accurately analyze wave impacts on offshore wind turbines. However, it is not yet well suited to study the statistical variability of wave impact loads in long-duration sea states, and thus estimate the ULS and ALS loads for which a wind turbine has to be designed. An alternative, simplified approach, is the use of a Morison model in which the kinematics (water particle velocities and accelerations) from a nonlinear wave model are used. For long-crested waves the nonlinear wave model can be run in a 2D mode and is therefore relatively cheap. In this paper model tests for steep and breaking waves on an offshore wind turbine are compared with results from the Morison model. First, a deterministic comparison is made between the wave loads from the model tests and the simulation model (simulating the same 3-hour wave realization as in the basin), which turns out to be difficult because of differences between wave reflections in the wave basin (a physical beach) and the numerical wave model (absorbing boundary condition). Second, a statistical comparison is made by comparing with different wave realizations measured in the wave basin.

scholarly journals Improving the Strategy of Maintaining Offshore Wind Turbines through Petri Net Modelling

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 574
Author(s):  
Rundong Yan ◽  
Sarah Dunnett
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Wind Turbines ◽  
Petri Net ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Offshore Wind Turbine ◽  
Maintenance Costs ◽  
Offshore Wind Turbines ◽  
Major Repair ◽  
Wind Turbine System ◽  
Periodic Maintenance

In order to improve the operation and maintenance (O&M) of offshore wind turbines, a new Petri net (PN)-based offshore wind turbine maintenance model is developed in this paper to simulate the O&M activities in an offshore wind farm. With the aid of the PN model developed, three new potential wind turbine maintenance strategies are studied. They are (1) carrying out periodic maintenance of the wind turbine components at different frequencies according to their specific reliability features; (2) conducting a full inspection of the entire wind turbine system following a major repair; and (3) equipping the wind turbine with a condition monitoring system (CMS) that has powerful fault detection capability. From the research results, it is found that periodic maintenance is essential, but in order to ensure that the turbine is operated economically, this maintenance needs to be carried out at an optimal frequency. Conducting a full inspection of the entire wind turbine system following a major repair enables efficient utilisation of the maintenance resources. If periodic maintenance is performed infrequently, this measure leads to less unexpected shutdowns, lower downtime, and lower maintenance costs. It has been shown that to install the wind turbine with a CMS is helpful to relieve the burden of periodic maintenance. Moreover, the higher the quality of the CMS, the more the downtime and maintenance costs can be reduced. However, the cost of the CMS needs to be considered, as a high cost may make the operation of the offshore wind turbine uneconomical.

scholarly journals Impact of Typhoons on Floating Offshore Wind Turbines: A Case Study of Typhoon Mangkhut

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 543
Author(s):  
Jiawen Li ◽  
Jingyu Bian ◽  
Yuxiang Ma ◽  
Yichen Jiang
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Wind Turbines ◽  
Safety Evaluation ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Offshore Wind Turbine ◽  
Motion Response ◽  
Offshore Wind Turbines ◽  
Floating Offshore Wind Turbines ◽  
Coupling Motion

A typhoon is a restrictive factor in the development of floating wind power in China. However, the influences of multistage typhoon wind and waves on offshore wind turbines have not yet been studied. Based on Typhoon Mangkhut, in this study, the characteristics of the motion response and structural loads of an offshore wind turbine are investigated during the travel process. For this purpose, a framework is established and verified for investigating the typhoon-induced effects of offshore wind turbines, including a multistage typhoon wave field and a coupled dynamic model of offshore wind turbines. On this basis, the motion response and structural loads of different stages are calculated and analyzed systematically. The results show that the maximum response does not exactly correspond to the maximum wave or wind stage. Considering only the maximum wave height or wind speed may underestimate the motion response during the traveling process of the typhoon, which has problems in guiding the anti-typhoon design of offshore wind turbines. In addition, the coupling motion between the floating foundation and turbine should be considered in the safety evaluation of the floating offshore wind turbine under typhoon conditions.

scholarly journals Physical Modelling of Offshore Wind Turbine Foundations for TRL (Technology Readiness Level) Studies

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 589
Author(s):  
Subhamoy Bhattacharya ◽  
Domenico Lombardi ◽  
Sadra Amani ◽  
Muhammad Aleem ◽  
Ganga Prakhya ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Wind Turbines ◽  
Prior Experience ◽  
Physical Modelling ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Offshore Wind Turbine ◽  
Foundation Design ◽  
Offshore Wind Turbines ◽  
Sea Bed ◽  
Geological Conditions

Offshore wind turbines are a complex, dynamically sensitive structure due to their irregular mass and stiffness distribution, and complexity of the loading conditions they need to withstand. There are other challenges in particular locations such as typhoons, hurricanes, earthquakes, sea-bed currents, and tsunami. Because offshore wind turbines have stringent Serviceability Limit State (SLS) requirements and need to be installed in variable and often complex ground conditions, their foundation design is challenging. Foundation design must be robust due to the enormous cost of retrofitting in a challenging environment should any problem occur during the design lifetime. Traditionally, engineers use conventional types of foundation systems, such as shallow gravity-based foundations (GBF), suction caissons, or slender piles or monopiles, based on prior experience with designing such foundations for the oil and gas industry. For offshore wind turbines, however, new types of foundations are being considered for which neither prior experience nor guidelines exist. One of the major challenges is to develop a method to de-risk the life cycle of offshore wind turbines in diverse metocean and geological conditions. The paper, therefore, has the following aims: (a) provide an overview of the complexities and the common SLS performance requirements for offshore wind turbine; (b) discuss the use of physical modelling for verification and validation of innovative design concepts, taking into account all possible angles to de-risk the project; and (c) provide examples of applications in scaled model tests.

scholarly journals A Review of Recent Advancements in Offshore Wind Turbine Technology

Energies ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 579
Author(s):  
Taimoor Asim ◽  
Sheikh Zahidul Islam ◽  
Arman Hemmati ◽  
Muhammad Saif Ullah Khalid
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Wind Turbines ◽  
Structural Integrity ◽  
Turbine Blades ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
System Level ◽  
Offshore Wind Turbine ◽  
Component Level ◽  
Foundation Design ◽  
Offshore Wind Turbines

Offshore wind turbines are becoming increasingly popular due to their higher wind energy harnessing capabilities and lower visual pollution. Researchers around the globe have been reporting significant scientific advancements in offshore wind turbines technology, addressing key issues, such as aerodynamic characteristics of turbine blades, dynamic response of the turbine, structural integrity of the turbine foundation, design of the mooring cables, ground scouring and cost modelling for commercial viability. These investigations range from component-level design and analysis to system-level response and optimization using a multitude of analytical, empirical and numerical techniques. With such wide-ranging studies available in the public domain, there is a need to carry out an extensive yet critical literature review on the recent advancements in offshore wind turbine technology. Offshore wind turbine blades’ aerodynamics and the structural integrity of offshore wind turbines are of particular importance, which can lead towards system’s optimal design and operation, leading to reduced maintenance costs. Thus, in this study, our focus is to highlight key knowledge gaps in the scientific investigations on offshore wind turbines’ aerodynamic and structural response. It is envisaged that this study will pave the way for future concentrated efforts in better understanding the complex behavior of these machines.

scholarly journals Proposal and Performance Study of a Novel Mooring System with Six Mooring Lines for Spar-Type Offshore Wind Turbines

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (24) ◽  
pp. 11665
Author(s):  
Shi Liu ◽  
Yi Yang ◽  
Chao Wang ◽  
Yuangang Tu
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Wind Turbines ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Irregular Waves ◽  
Offshore Wind Turbine ◽  
Mooring System ◽  
Mooring Lines ◽  
Included Angle ◽  
Offshore Wind Turbines ◽  
Floating Offshore Wind Turbines

Spar-type floating offshore wind turbines commonly vibrate excessively when under the coupling impact of wind and wave. The wind turbine vibration can be controlled by developing its mooring system. Thus, this study proposes a novel mooring system for the spar-type floating offshore wind turbine. The proposed mooring system has six mooring lines, which are divided into three groups, with two mooring lines in the same group being connected to the same fairlead. Subsequently, the effects of the included angle between the two mooring lines on the mooring-system’s performance are investigated. Then, these six mooring lines are connected to six independent fairleads for comparison. FAST is utilized to calculate wind turbine dynamic response. Wind turbine surge, pitch, and yaw movements are presented and analyzed in time and frequency domains to quantitatively evaluate the performances of the proposed mooring systems. Compared with the mooring system with six fairleads, the mooring system with three fairleads performed better. When the included angle was 40°, surge, pitch, and yaw movement amplitudes of the wind turbine reduced by 39.51%, 6.8%, and 12.34%, respectively, when under regular waves; they reduced by 56.08%, 25.00%, and 47.5%, respectively, when under irregular waves. Thus, the mooring system with three fairleads and 40° included angle is recommended.

scholarly journals Support condition monitoring of offshore wind turbines using model updating techniques

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 1017-1031 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying Xu ◽  
George Nikitas ◽  
Tong Zhang ◽  
Qinghua Han ◽  
Marios Chryssanthopoulos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Finite Element ◽  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Wind Turbines ◽  
Model Updating ◽  
Element Model ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Offshore Wind Turbine ◽  
Support Condition ◽  
Offshore Wind Turbines ◽  
Wind Turbine System

The offshore wind turbines are dynamically sensitive, whose fundamental frequency can be very close to the forcing frequencies activated by the environmental and turbine loads. Minor changes of support conditions may lead to the shift of natural frequencies, and this could be disastrous if resonance happens. To monitor the support conditions and thus to enhance the safety of offshore wind turbines, a model updating method is developed in this study. A hybrid sensing system was fabricated and set up in the laboratory to investigate the long-term dynamic behaviour of the offshore wind turbine system with monopile foundation in sandy deposits. A finite element model was constructed to simulate structural behaviours of the offshore wind turbine system. Distributed nonlinear springs and a roller boundary condition are used to model the soil–structure interaction properties. The finite element model and the test results were used to analyse the variation of the support condition of the monopile, through an finite element model updating process using estimation of distribution algorithms. The results show that the fundamental frequency of the test model increases after a period under cyclic loading, which is attributed to the compaction of the surrounding sand instead of local damage of the structure. The hybrid sensing system is reliable to detect both the acceleration and strain responses of the offshore wind turbine model and can be potentially applied to the remote monitoring of real offshore wind turbines. The estimation of distribution algorithm–based model updating technique is demonstrated to be successful for the support condition monitoring of the offshore wind turbine system, which is potentially useful for other model updating and condition monitoring applications.

scholarly journals The Effect of the Second-Order Wave Loads on Drift Motion of a Semi-Submersible Floating Offshore Wind Turbine

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (11) ◽  
pp. 859
Author(s):  
Thanh-Dam Pham ◽  
Hyunkyoung Shin
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Wind Turbines ◽  
Second Order ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Offshore Wind Turbine ◽  
Wave Loads ◽  
Hydrodynamic Loads ◽  
Drift Motion ◽  
Offshore Wind Turbines ◽  
Floating Offshore Wind Turbines

Floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs) have been installed in Europe and Japan with relatively modern technology. The installation of floating wind farms in deep water is recommended because the wind speed is stronger and more stable. The design of the FOWT must ensure it is able to withstand complex environmental conditions including wind, wave, current, and performance of the wind turbine. It needs simulation tools with fully integrated hydrodynamic-servo-elastic modeling capabilities for the floating offshore wind turbines. Most of the numerical simulation approaches consider only first-order hydrodynamic loads; however, the second-order hydrodynamic loads have an effect on a floating platform which is moored by a catenary mooring system. At the difference-frequencies of the incident wave components, the drift motion of a FOWT system is able to have large oscillation around its natural frequency. This paper presents the effects of second-order wave loads to the drift motion of a semi-submersible type. This work also aimed to validate the hydrodynamic model of Ulsan University (UOU) in-house codes through numerical simulations and model tests. The NREL FAST code was used for the fully coupled simulation, and in-house codes of UOU generates hydrodynamic coefficients as the input for the FAST code. The model test was performed in the water tank of UOU.

Experimental Study on the Wave Loads on Monopile and Jacket Type Support of Offshore Wind Turbines

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing Zhang ◽  
Qin Liu ◽  
Xing Hua Shi ◽  
C. Guedes Soares
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Study ◽  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Nonlinear Wave ◽  
Wave Force ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Offshore Wind Turbine ◽  
Wave Forces ◽  
Wave Loads ◽  
Morison Equation ◽  
Offshore Wind Turbines

As the offshore fixed wind turbine developed, more ones will be installed in the sea field with the depth 15–50 meters. Wave force will be one of the main forces that dominate the design of the wind turbine base, which is calculated using the Morison equation traditionally. This method can predict the wave forces for the small cylinders if the drag and inertia coefficients are obtained accurately. This paper will give a series scaled tests of monopile and jacket type base of the offshore wind turbine in tank to study the nonlinear wave loads.

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