Numerical Assessment of a Tension-Leg Platform Wind Turbine in Intermediate Water Using the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics Method

Abstract

The open-source code DualSPHysics, based on the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics method for solving fluid mechanics problems, defines a complete numerical environment for simulating the interaction of floating structures with ocean waves, and includes external libraries to simulate kinematic- and dynamic-type restrictions. In this work, a full validation of the SPH framework using experimental data available for an experimental test campaign on a 1:37-scale floating offshore wind turbine tension-leg platform (TLP) is presented. The first set of validation cases includes a surge decay test, to assess the quality of the fluid–solid interaction, and regular wave tests, which stimulate the mooring system to a large extent. During this phase, tendons (tension legs) that are simulated by MoorDyn+ are validated. Spectral comparison shows that the model is able to capture the surge and pitch dynamic amplification that occurs around the resonant fundamental mode of vibration. This work concludes with a numerical investigation that estimates the response of TLP under extreme events defined using multiple realizations of irregular sea states; the results suggest that the tendon loads are sensitive to the sea-state realization, providing maximum tendon peak forces in a range of ±10% about the mean. Furthermore, it is shown that the load pattern that forms from considering the relative position of the tendons to the incident wave direction leads to higher forces (≈20%).

Conceptual modeling and parametric study of the nonlinear dynamics of the floating wind turbine in the presence of primary and internal resonance

“…However, the complexity of the oating wind turbine is considerably more than that of a single TLP due to the various wind and wave loading and interactions between the oating platform and the wind turbine. In this regard, the development of a comprehensive simulation tool for modeling the coupled dynamic response of FOWT [10], numerical assessment of a TLP wind turbine in intermediate water [11], numerical and experimental study on the e ect of the tuned mass dampers on the dynamic response of the TLP [12], computations and measurements of the global drag force on a TLP [13], investigation of the e ect of the added mass uctuation and lateral vibration absorbers on the vertical nonlinear vibrations of the o shore wind turbine [14] and model development and uniform energy extraction of an FOWT [15] have been done.…”

Semi-Analytical Characterization of a Sloshing Fluid Mass With the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamic Based Method

“…During the last few years, the code has seen an increase in availability of functionalities that are very apt for the simulation of Fluid-Structure Interaction in different engineering fields, ranging from renewable energy device [19,20,21] to hydroelasticity problems [22,23,24,25]. The code, moreover, proved its reliability for nearly any kind of free-surface flow interacting with rigid structures: dambreak-induced violent flows on downhill structures [26,27], coastal breakwaters [28,29] or floating objects [30,31,32]. Sloshing simulations as well have been performed using DualSPHysics.…”