A new floating foundation for multi-MW wind turbine is being developed within a collaboration between SBM Offshore and IFP Energies nouvelles. This inclined leg TLP, is made up of four immersed buoys and a bracing structure, making the floater transparent to wave excitation. The particular mooring arrangement gives the floater interesting motion properties since it creates a fixed point close to the nacelle, strongly reducing the motion at this elevation.
In order to validate the concept and the simulation strategy, a model test campaign has been carried out during three weeks in 2015 at MARIN’s offshore basin. The downscaling is performed according to the Froude law of similitude to maintain the hydrodynamic loadings and behavior. The tower bending natural period, the mooring stiffness, and the turbine rotation speed are also maintained in order to reproduce the relevant structural modes and check that no unexpected phenomena occur in the system during production or parked conditions.
The scale 1/50 was initially selected so that the MARIN Stock Wind Turbine (MSWT) can be used. This model wind turbine was designed by MARIN with low Reynolds blade airfoils to mimic the NREL 5 MW wind turbine, especially the thrust force. However because of mass distribution issues, the scale has to be changed from 1/50 to 1/40, at this scale only the thrust force and the rotation speed can be replicated.
First, a set of calibration tests are performed in the basin and simulated with Orcaflex™ and DeepLinesWind™ for a better understanding of the system and to validate independently the various components of the numerical models. Secondly, design parked and operational cases are conducted with wind, wave and current loadings for two floater orientations and two water depths.
The objective of this campaign is to validate the concept behavior as well as the simulation tools and methodologies. Hydrodynamic and structural models are very similar in both software and are checked with the calibration tests from the basin, whereas two strategies are implemented to model the aerodynamic contribution. The Simplified Coupled Simulations (SCS), performed with Orcaflex, use the aerodynamic forces recorded during the model tests to be imposed at tower top; the Fully Coupled Simulations (FCS), run with DeepLinesWind, use the aerodynamic loading computed with the BEM theory from the measured wind.
