The coupled wind-wave solver (Yang & Shen, 2011) is extended to offshore wind energy research, with the embedment of turbine model (Yang & Sotiropoulos, 2015). The composite solver consists of a high-order spectral method for surface waves, large-eddy simulation for offshore wind on wave-surface-fitted dynamic grid, and an actuator based model for the representation of blades and nacelles. The blades are discretized by line elements, and its bound motion with floating platform is considered. Some smoothed spectral operations are applied to alleviate Gibbs phenomenon brought by local jump of turbine force. By performing simulations for a turbine array on land and over ocean waves, we have analyzed the impacts of waves on the wind farm in terms of mean wind speed and mean kinetic energy budget. It is found that a fast-propagating swell at the sea surface leads to a higher mean velocity at turbine hub height, which affects the wind power extraction. The influence of floating platform motion is also investigated. It is found that pitch motion has stronger influence than other in-plane motions, i.e., surge and heave. The interaction between tip vortex sheet and nacelle wake meandering is also studied. The intersection of these two flow structures coincides with a change of growth rate of mean velocity deficit width. The results will be useful for the understanding and control of turbine wakes in offshore wind farm.

This paper presents wind speed measurements collected at 40m to 200m above sea-level to support the New England Aqua Ventus I 12 MW Floating Offshore Wind Farm to be located 17km offshore the Northeast United States. The high-altitude wind speed data are unique and represent some of the first measurements made offshore in this part of the country which is actively being developed for offshore wind. Multiple LiDAR measurements were made using a DeepCLiDAR floating buoy and LiDARs located on land on a nearby island. The LiDARs compared favorably thereby confirming the LiDAR buoy measurements. Wind speed shear profiles are presented. The measurements are compared against industry standard mesoscale model outputs and offshore design codes including the American Bureau of Shipping, American Petroleum Institute, and DNV-GL guides. Significant variation in the vertical wind speed profile occurs throughout the year. This variation is not currently addressed in offshore wind design standards which typically recommend the use of only a few values for wind shear in operational and extreme conditions. The mean wind shears recorded were also higher than industry recommended values. Additionally, turbulence measurements made from the LiDAR, although not widely accepted in the scientific community, are presented and compared against industry guidelines.

A database of global satellite measurements of wind speed is calibrated and validated to provide a consistent set of global measurements over a period of 30 years. This database is used to describe the global wind resource including: mean monthly climatology, extreme value estimates of global wind speed and global estimates of trend (changes) in wind speed.

Engineering design codes specify a variety of different relationships to quantify vertical variations in wind speed, gust factor and turbulence intensity. These are required to support applications including assessment of wind resource, operability and engineering design. Differences between the available relationships lead to undesirable uncertainty in all stages of an offshore wind project. Reducing these uncertainties will become increasingly important as wind energy is harnessed in deeper waters and at lower costs. Installation of a traditional met mast is not an option in deep water. Reliable measurement of the local wind, gust and turbulence profiles from floating LiDAR can be challenging. Fortunately, alternative data sources can provide improved characterisation of winds at offshore locations. Numerical modelling of wind in the lower few hundred metres of the atmosphere is generally much simpler at remote deepwater locations than over complex onshore terrain. The sophistication, resolution and reliability of such models is advancing rapidly. Mesoscale models can now allow nesting of large scale conditions to horizontal scales less than one kilometre. Models can also provide many decades of wind data, a major advantage over the site specific measurements gathered to support a wind energy development. Model data are also immediately available at the start of a project at relatively low cost. At offshore locations these models can be validated and calibrated, just above the sea surface, using well established satellite wind products. Reliable long term statistics of near surface wind can be used to quantify winds at the higher elevations applicable to wind turbines using the wide range of existing standard profile relationships. Reduced uncertainty in these profile relationships will be of considerable benefit to the wider use of satellite and model data sources in the wind energy industry. This paper describes a new assessment of various industry standard wind profile relationships, using a range of available met mast datasets and numerical models.

The marine environmental conditions of typhoon affected area in South China Sea (SCS) in China are complicated. The parameters of wind, wave and current speed of different return period are the basis of the selection of oilfield project and the important role of development cost evaluation. Based on the deduction method of API specification, the design criteria of the typhoon in SCS oil and gas regions with the two-layer nested model combined with typhoon numerical model is proposed in this paper. The statistical analysis of typhoon characteristics were presented, then wind speed of all the blocks in north part of SCS induced by typhoon with long return period was calculated. The prediction accuracy of the design parameters of long return period is improved by this model.

A laboratory study of turbulent boundary layers over wind-generated waves using Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) in a wind-wave flume at the University of Melbourne is presented. The experiments are taken at two different wind speeds of 5.5 and 8.5 m/s at a fetch length of 3.5 m. Two types of multi-camera measurement are specifically tailored to capture the flow behaviours. The first is a measurement with high spatial resolution, with aims of characterizing the mean velocity, surface drag and Reynolds stresses over the non-stationary surface. The second type is a large field-of-view measurement, designed to capture the large-scale turbulent motions which are directly associated with the surface-wave topography. Although the turbulent flow is developed over a non-stationary surface (i.e. wind-generated waves), it embodies similarities in both integral parameters and Reynolds stress behaviours to the turbulent flows over stationary rough surfaces. This observation could open a possibility to develop an important turbulence model as well as drag prediction over wind-generated waves, which could be closely related to stationary rough-wall boundary layers.

In March 2017, Statoil performed station-keeping trials in drifting ice in the Bay of Bothnia with the two anchor handling tug supply vessels Magne Viking and Tor Viking . During the trials observations of ice and metocean conditions were performed via a range of platforms and techniques. The purpose of the observations was to document the main physical parameters affecting the station-keeping vessel and ice management vessel, as well as giving tactical information on ice conditions and input to simultaneous numerical simulations. Measurements of meteorological parameters (wind speed, wind direction, air temperature, etc.) were done from the two vessels and supplemented with manual observations. Ice drift was independently measured by drifting ice trackers and ADCPs (also measuring ocean current) moored on the sea bed. Measurements of ice thickness were carried out with moored Ice Profiling Sensors (IPSs) and manual ice core samples, which were also analyzed for salinity and temperature profiles. The IPS ice thickness data was later processed together with the ice drift to provide 2D spatial data. The deepest ice ridge keels ranged from 5.4 m at the site with the most benign ice conditions to 10.9 m at the most severe site. Ridge frequency also increased from 2 ridges km −1 to 16 ridges km −1 at the most severe site (given a keel threshold of 3 m). In the present study, statistical summaries of the different time series collected at the sites of the station-keeping trials are presented, highlighting the variability in the ice conditions. Using the vessel tracks and overall drift of the broken channels, ice thickness and drift measurements are classified as being inside or outside the managed ice zone.

As a reference point for the extreme Metocean conditions, the hurricane-scale classification is often used: that is a tropical storm becomes a hurricane if the wind speed reaches U ∼ 33m/s. In this paper, it is argued that such classification is not arbitrary, and indeed signifies change of the physical regimes in all environments near the air-sea interface: in the atmospheric boundary layer, at the surface, and through the upper ocean. This threshold is approximately the wind speed at which the drag coefficient was found to saturate in the field observations (U10 ≈ 32–33m/s), which saturation has received a lot of attention. Less known are the observations that below the surface, change of the upper-ocean mixing mechanism and of bubble dynamics occur at U10 > 35m/s. Directly at the surface, wave dynamics also undergoes essential transformations, from wave breaking (dissipation) being driven by evolution of nonlinear waves, to the breaking being forced directly by the winds, at U10 ≈ 34 m/s. It is therefore argued that the simultaneous change of physical regime in all the three air-sea environments cannot be coincidental, and consequences of the regime change for the Metocean modelling are discussed. As an important byproduct, parameterisation of wave-breaking probability is obtained in terms of the mean symmetry of surface waves. Such parameterisation allows us to estimate frequency of breaking events, based on time series of surface elevations, without explicitly detecting the breaking waves.

Flexible cylinders, such as marine risers, often experience sustained vortex-induced vibration (VIV). Both helical strakes and fairings are demonstrated to be effective in suppressing VIV, while, helical strakes result in large drag, which increases the rotational angle and bending moment at the riser hang-off location and, fairings are cumbersome in term of storage, installation and maintenance. This study was inspired by the giant Saguaro Cacti which grow in desert region. Saguaro Cacti have shallow root system, but can grow up to fifty feet in height and can withstand very high wind velocities. In this study, numerical simulations of flow past a stationary cactus-shaped cylinder are performed in two-dimensional field at a low Reynolds number of 200. The hydrodynamic coefficients and the vortex-shedding patterns of a cactus-shaped cylinder are compared with those of a circular cylinder. In addition, a set of two cactus-shaped cylinders of tandem arrangement are also studied to investigate the effects of wake. Results showed that a cactus-shaped cylinder can reduce the drag, lift, and Strouhal number, which suggests its potential as an alternative technology to suppress VIV of a riser.

Crabbing is a critical manoeuvre that requires all of the ship’s propulsors to counteract environmental forces. It is a complex hydrodynamic scenario in which it is difficult to assess the factors, nonetheless the crabbing capability is often calculated by means of simple static calculations which consider only means values. The ship designer or master should instead be aware of how much the crabbing capability can change when the propulsors are less efficient than expected or the wind loads are higher. The present paper details the application of sensitivity and uncertainty methods to the crabbing manoeuvre of a ship. The objective is to estimate the sensitivity of the main parameters involved in a crabbing calculation and express the results in terms of uncertainty range. To this purpose, first a sensitivity analysis is performed, showing how the maximum sustainable wind speed of a test-case ship varies. The curves derived from this analysis are then used to estimate numerically the relation between wind speed and a variation in each parameter. Typical values of uncertainty of these parameters are presented, and finally the crabbing capability calculated taking into account the uncertainties.

The design of floating wind turbines requires both, simulation tools and scaled testing methods, accurately integrating the different phenomena involved in the system dynamics, such as the aerodynamic and hydrodynamic forces, the mooring lines dynamics and the control strategies. In particular, one of the technical challenges when testing a scaled floating wind turbine in a wave tank is the proper integration of the rotor aerodynamic thrust. The scaling of the model based on the Froude number produces equivalent hydrodynamic forces, but out of scale aerodynamic forces at the rotor, because the Reynolds number, that governs the aerodynamic forces, is not kept constant. Several approaches have been taken to solve this conflict, like using a tuned drag disk or redesigning the scaled rotor to provide the correct scaled thrust at low Reynolds numbers. This work proposes a hybrid method for the integration of the aerodynamic thrust during the scaled tests. The work also explores the agreement between the experimental measurements and the simulation results through the calibration and improvement of the numerical models. CENER has developed a hybrid testing method that replaces the rotor by a ducted fan at the model tower top. The fan can introduce a variable force which represents the total wind thrust by the rotor. This load is obtained from an aerodynamic simulation that is performed in synchrony with the test and it is fed in real time with the displacements of the platform provided by the acquisition system. Thus, the simulation considers the displacements of the turbine within the wind field and the relative wind speed on the rotor, including the effect of the aerodynamic damping on the tests. The method has been called “Software-in-the-Loop” (SiL). The method has been applied on a test campaign at the Ecole Centrale de Nantes wave tank of the OC4 semisubmersible 5MW wind turbine, with a scale factor of 1/45. The experimental results have been compared with equivalent numerical simulations of the floating wind turbine using the integrated code FAST. Simple cases as only steady wind and free decays with constant wind showed a good agreement with computations, demonstrating that the SiL method is able to successfully introduce the rotor scaled thrust and the effect of the aerodynamic damping on the global dynamics. Cases with turbulent wind and irregular waves showed better agreement with the simulations when mooring line dynamics and second order effects were included in the numerical models.

Using wind speeds and sea ice fields from the EC-Earth global climate model to run the WAVEWATCH III model, we investigate the changes in the wave climate of the northeast Atlantic by the end of the 21 st century. Changes in wave climate parameters are related to changes in wind forcing both locally and remotely. In particular, we are interested in the behavior of large-scale atmospheric oscillations and their influence on the wave climate of the North Atlantic Ocean. Knowing that the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) is related to large-scale atmospheric circulation, we carried out a correlation analysis of the NAO pattern using an ensemble of EC-Earth global climate simulations. These simulations include historical periods (1980–2009) and projected changes (2070–2099) by the end of the century under the RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) forcing scenarios with three members in each RCP wave model ensemble. In addition, we analysed the correlations between the NAO and a range of wave parameters that describe the wave climate from EC-Earth driven WAVEWATCH III model simulation over the North Atlantic basin, focusing on a high resolution two-way nested grid over the northeast Atlantic. The results show a distinct decrease by the end of the century and a strong positive correlation with the NAO for all wave parameters observed.

A vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) typically has a low position of the center of gravity and a large allowable tilt angle, which could allow for a relatively small floating support structure. Normally however, the drawback of large loads on the VAWT rotor during parked survival conditions limits the extent to which the floater size can be reduced. If active blade pitch control is applied to the VAWT, this drawback can be mitigated and the benefits can be fully utilized. The coupled dynamics of a 6 MW VAWT with active blade pitch control supported by a GustoMSC Tri-Floater semi-submersible floater have been simulated using coupled aero-hydro-servo-elastic software. The applied blade pitch control during power production results in a steady-state thrust curve which is more comparable to a HAWT, with the maximum thrust occurring at rated wind velocity. During power production, floater motions occur predominantly at low frequencies. These low frequency motions are caused by variations in the wind velocity and consequently the rotor thrust and torque. For the parked survival condition, it is illustrated that active blade pitch control can be used to effectively reduce dynamic load variations on the rotor and minimize floater motions and mooring line tensions.

The pitch motion of the Offshore Floating Wind Turbine (OFWT) introduces additional wind speed to the rotor. The additional wind speed distributes linearly along the vertical altitude, which is called as the platform-pitch-induced wind shear effect in this paper. Comparisons between the typical wind shear and the platform-pitch-induced wind shear are conducted with the Free Vortex Method (FVM) for the NREL 5MW baseline wind turbine. It is found that the platform-pitch-induced wind shear is the results of the rotor rotating and platform pitching, and its wind speed profile is time-varying. At the designed point of tip speed ratio of 7, the averaged power output is reduced slightly under the typical wind shear while it is increased by 4% under the platform-pitch-induced wind shear. The aerodynamic loads of the OFWT under the platform pitch-induced wind shear experience much more considerable variations than the typical wind shear, which introduce severer fatigue damages to the OFWT components. For the sake of the safety of the OFWT, advanced control strategy and superior design should be developed to mitigate the platform pitch motion.

As floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs) become the most viable option for wind farms in deeper waters, it is important to investigate their dynamic response in inclement conditions when failures, such as yaw misalignment, are more likely to occur. This research uses hour-long simulations in FAST, software developed by The National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL), to analyze the effect of yaw error on anchor tensions and platform displacements in both a traditional single-line wind farm geometry, where each anchor is connected to one turbine, and an optimum multiline anchor geometry, where each anchor is connected to three turbines. NREL’s 5 MW reference turbine on a semi-submersible base is analyzed using six realizations of each combination of co-directional wind and waves, wind speed and yaw error; resulting in 2,484 simulations in total. The variability in platform displacements and mooring forces increases as wind speed increases, and as yaw errors approach critical values. The angle of incidence of the co-directional wind and waves dictates which anchor experiences the most tension for both the single-line and multiline concepts. In the multiline geometry, the greatest increases in anchor tension occurs when the downwind turbine has yaw error. Yaw error increases the maximum anchor tension by up to 43% in the single-line geometry and up to 37% in the multiline geometry. In the multiline geometry, yaw error causes the direction of the resultant anchor force to vary by up to 20°. These changes in anchor tension magnitudes and directions are governed by the platform displacements, and are a direct result of the differences in the tangential and normal coefficients of drag of the turbine blades. When designing floating offshore wind farms, the influence of yaw error on loading magnitudes and directions are to be considered when determining the necessary capacities and calculating the corresponding reliabilities for wind turbine components.

In order to accurately estimate the fatigue life a floating structure, it is necessary to have a large set of discrete environmental conditions. If the damage to a structure largely stems from wave-induced forces, then the creation of a set of environmental conditions or ‘bins’ is trivial. However, when considering a floating platform supporting a wind turbine, it is necessary to consider not only the wave conditions, but also the wind conditions (and perhaps current, if possible). Thus, it is common to have greater than 5 dimensions in the timeseries (e.g., significant wave height, wave period, wave direction, wind speed, wind direction, etc). The creation of bins in two dimensions is quite easily solved by creating an arbitrary grid and taking the mean of all the observations which fall in a specific cell. In higher dimensions, a p-dimensional cell is not easily visualized and so the resulting set of bins cannot easily be graphically represented. In this paper, an iterative algorithm is developed to convert N observations, each with p-dimensions, into a set with M discrete bins, where M << N. The algorithm presented borrows heavily from the maximum dissimilarity algorithm used in a wide array of fields. The benefit of using this algorithm is that there is no ‘bias’ introduced by an initial grid from the user. That is, given a desired final number of clusters and a certain distance tolerance, a unique set of cluster exists for a given data set. Inherently, the algorithm selects a diverse array of observations, usually including extreme events or outliers, which may have undue impact on the fatigue life of a structure. Although the algorithm is computationally expensive O(N 2 M), reductions in computational cost are possible. Most importantly, the algorithm can be written in such a way that memory constraints are not an issue even for N = O(10 5 ). The clustering algorithm is described in both graphical and logical terms. A case study is presented, using publicly available data from the Netherlands Enterprise Agency. The data is visualized in two dimensions with the final number of bins equaling approximately 50, 100, 200, 500, 1000, and 2000 bins. These bins are compared with a previous algorithm from these authors. Various measures are presented to assess the fidelity of a set of bins with respect to the initial observations. Each set of bins are analyzed and it is clear the MDA-based algorithm outperforms the previous algorithm.

Based on good simulation results during storm events in 2009, MIKE21 was used to study the extreme water level, current velocity and wave height in Laizhou Bay, China. 95 extreme weather processes during 1988–2012 were simulated. For each event, coupled hydrodynamic and wave modules of MIKE21 was chosen to calculate the maximum water level and current velocity. The Gumbel distribution method, commonly used for estimating return-period values of marine hydrodynamic variables, is adopted in this study. The extreme high water level of 50-year return period in Laizhou Bay can reach 2.6–3.8 m; and that of 100-year return period can be as high as 2.8–4.6 m. The 50-year and 100-year return-period values of current velocity can reach up to about 2.8 m/s and 3.2 m/s respectively, both around the Yellow River mouth. Wave height strongly depends on water depth, water level rise, wind speed and direction. The results provide parameter reference for structure design in the Laizhou Bay.

In order to run a fatigue analysis on a floating structure, it is common practice among ocean engineers to rely upon a large set of test cases, each with a unique set of environmental conditions. For a specific test site, the issue remains of how to obtain a limited set of environmental conditions for these test cases, sometimes known as bins, which can accurately recreate the conditions. When considering a floating offshore wind turbine, it is necessary to obtain a timeseries of not only the wave conditions, but also the wind conditions (and perhaps current, if possible). Thus, it is common to have greater than 5 dimensions in the time-series (e.g., significant wave height, wave period, wave direction, wind speed, wind direction, etc). The creation of bins in two dimensions is quite easily solved by creating an arbitrary grid and taking the mean of all the observations which fall in a specific cell. In higher dimensions, an N-dimensional cell is not easily visualized and so the resulting set of bins cannot easily be graphically represented. In this paper, an efficient, iterative algorithm is developed to convert N-dimensional metocean data into a set of discrete bins of arbitrary size. The algorithm works by setting a tolerance level on the number of observations that must be included in a cell in order to create a bin. If the population threshold is not met, the observations remain unbinned and another iteration is required. Generally, the population threshold can be a function of iteration number so that all observations will be binned. The algorithm can properly take into account extreme data by setting a tolerance level on the N-dimensional distance by which an observation can be included in a certain bin. A quality measure, q, is created to measure the level of representation of the original data by a set of bins, independent of the number of bins. Depending on the tolerance levels, the algorithm can be completed in seconds on a normal laptop for the available data set of 20 years with a 3-hour sampling rate. The observations and bins from a case study are shown as an example of how the bins can be created and visualized.

An innovative concept of harnessing wind energy is presented. The concept consists of a wind driven ship equipped with a hydro-generator that converts the kinetic energy of the water flow into electricity. The electricity is then converted into hydrogen by electrolysis. In the present study the use of a Flettner rotor is considered to propel the ship. A mathematical model of the hydrogen producing ship is developed based on existing data for high performance ship hulls and aerodynamic coefficients of existing Flettner rotors. The design is optimized with respect to the axial induction velocity through the water turbine disk. Results indicate that a 22m long vessel could produce 200 kW while a 80 m long vessel is able to generate 1 MW of mechanical power both for a true wind speed of 8 m/s.

The design process for offshore wind turbines includes a fatigue life evaluation of the structure with the relevant environmental conditions at the specified wind farm location. Such analyses require long-term distributions of the environmental parameters including their correlation. In general, the significant wave height, wave peak period and mean wind speed are the most important parameters for describing offshore environmental conditions. However, due to the low side-to-side damping level of offshore bottom-fixed wind turbines, wave directions misaligned with the wind direction may excite low-damped vibrational modes. As a consequence, the accumulated fatigue damage in the wind turbine foundation may change, compared to collinear wind and waves. In the current work, an extension to the three-parameter environmental joint probability distribution is presented, with the resulting distribution being a function of the significant wave height, peak period of the total sea, mean wind speed and the wave directional offset compared to the mean wind heading i.e. the wind-wave misalignment. The sea states within a 1-year return period for Dogger Bank are presented, as well as the 10- and 50-year environmental contour lines and extreme wind-wave misalignment angles.