Abstract
In China, most of the offshore wind turbine farms are located in the water depth between 30–60 meters. It is a big challenge for positioning mooring system designed for floating wind turbine in such intermediate water. Research work is carried out for mooring system design for an integrated 15MW semi-submersible floating wind turbine working under 60 meters water depth. Mooring system is designed by testing a series of line length, buoys and clump weight impacts. Fully coupled time domain simulations are carried out to investigate dynamic response of the system under different sea loads. Motions and mooring tension of the platform are compared under the same working condition to investigate the rationality and efficiency of the mooring system design. The research results show that mooring line length shall be at least ten-times of water depth to realize proper positioning control. Clump weight and buoys play an effective role to change the catenary shape. The axial force of mooring lines and the motion response under various working conditions are tested by displaying different designs of buoys and clump weights. This study provides a good reference for the future development of the floating wind turbines industry in intermediate waters.
