This paper deals with statistical and modeling uncertainty on the estimation of long-term extrapolated extreme responses in a monopile offshore wind turbine. The statistical uncertainty is addressed by studying the effect of simulation length. Modeling uncertainty is explored by evaluating the effects of considering a rigid and flexible foundation. The soil's flexibility is taking into account by considering the improved apparent fixity method. To identify the most relevant environmental conditions, the modified environmental contour method is used. The analysis focuses on the fore-aft shear force (FASF) and the fore-aft bending moment (FABM) at the mudline. The results show that using a simulation length of 10-min, does not provide sufficient accuracy. It was found that for the FASF, simulation lengths of at least 30-min are required to achieve an accuracy of about +/-5%. For the FABM, it was found that both the extrapolations made with 20-min and 30-min simulations achieved similar levels of accuracy of about 20%. Meanwhile, the results obtained from 10-min simulations reached deviations of about 40%. Finally, from the comparison made between a rigid and flexible foundation, it was found that the extrapolated responses exhibit maximum deviations up to around 5% and 10% for the FASF and the FABM, respectively. Also, for the FABM, it was observed that the consideration of a flexible foundation causes the critical wind speed to shift from 16.5 m/s (rigid) to 18 m/s (flexible).

Floating offshore wind turbines are subjected to higher tower fatigue loads than their fixed-to-seabed counterparts, which could lead to reductions in turbine life. The worst increases are generally seen in the tower axial fatigue, associated with the tower fore-aft bending moment. For a spar type platform, this has been shown to increase by up to 2.5 times and for a semi-submersible platform, by up to 1.8 times. Reducing these loads would be beneficial, as the alternative of strengthening the towers leads to increase in cost. Here, two offshore floating wind turbine systems, of the spar type, are analyzed and selected responses and tower fatigue are compared: one incorporates a variable-speed, variable-pitch-to-stall blade control system and a back twisted blade, and the other a conventional pitch-to-feather control. The results are then compared with those obtained in an earlier study, where the same turbine configurations were coupled to a semi-submersible platform. A weighted wind frequency analysis at three mean turbulent wind speeds of 8, 13, and 18 m/s highlights that the impact of the back twist angle magnitude and initiation point on tower axial fatigue life extension was the same for both platform types. Compared with their respective feather base models, an increase in the tower axial fatigue life of 18.8% was seen with a spar platform and 10.2% with a semi-submersible platform, when a back twist angle to the tip of −6 deg was imposed along with the variable-speed, variable-pitch-to-stall control.

The main objective of the Offshore Code Comparison Collaboration Continuation, with Correlation (OC5) project is validation of aero-hydro-servo-elastic simulation tools for offshore wind turbines (OWTs) through comparison of simulated results to the response data of physical systems. Phase III of the OC5 project validates OWT models against the measurements recorded on a Senvion 5M wind turbine supported by the OWEC Quattropod from the alpha ventus offshore wind farm. The following operating conditions of the wind turbine were chosen for the validation: (1) idling below the cut-in wind speed, (2) rotor-nacelle assembly (RNA) rotation maneuver below the cut-in wind speed, (3) power production below and above the rated wind speed, and (4) shutdown. A number of validation load cases were defined based on these operating conditions. The following measurements were used for validation: (1) strains and accelerations recorded on the support structure and (2) pitch, yaw, and azimuth angles, generator speed, and electrical power recorded from the RNA. Strains were not directly available from the majority of the OWT simulation tools; therefore, strains were calculated based on out-of-plane bending moments, axial forces, and cross-sectional properties of the structural members. The simulation results and measurements were compared in terms of time series, discrete Fourier transforms, power spectral densities, and probability density functions of strains and accelerometers. A good match was achieved between the measurements and models setup by OC5 Phase III participants.

Environmental contour method is an efficient method for predicting the long-term extreme response of offshore structures. The traditional environmental contour is obtained using the joint distribution of mean wind speed, significant wave height, and spectral peak period. To improve the accuracy of traditional environmental contour method, a modified method was proposed considering the non-monotonic aerodynamic behavior of offshore wind turbines. Still, the modified method assumes constant wind turbulence intensity. In this paper, we extend the existing environmental contour methods by considering the wind turbulence intensity as a stochastic variable. The 50-year extreme responses of a monopile-based offshore wind turbine are compared using the extended environmental contour methods and the full long-term method. It is found that both the environmental contour method and the modified environmental contour method, with the wind turbulence intensity included as an individual variable, give more accurate predictions compared with those without. Using the full long-term method as a benchmark, this extended approach could reduce the nonconservatism of the environmental contour method and conservatism of the modified environmental contour method. This approach is effective under wind-dominated or combined wind-wave loading conditions, but may not be as important for wave-dominated conditions.

For a turbine mounted on a floating platform, extreme induced loads can be increased by up to 1.6 times those experienced by a turbine situated on a fixed base. If these loads cannot be reduced, towers must be strengthened which will result in increased costs and weight. These tower loads would be additionally exasperated for a pitch-to-feather controlled turbine by a phenomenon generally referred to as “negative damping,” if it were not avoided. Preventing negative damping from occurring on a pitch-to-feather controlled floating platform negatively affects rotor speed control and regulated power performance. However, minimizing the blade bending moment response can result in a reduction in the tower fore-aft moment response, which can increase the tower life. A variable-speed, variable pitch-to-stall (VSVP-S) floating semi-submersible wind turbine, which does not suffer from the negative damping and hence provides a more regulated power output, is presented. This incorporates a back twist blade profile such that the blade twist, starting at the root, initially twists toward stall and, at some pre-determined “initiation” point, changes direction to twist back toward feather until the tip. Wind frequency weighting was applied to the tower axial fatigue life trends of different blade profiles and a preferred blade back twist profile was identified. This had a back twist angle of −3 deg and started at 87.5% along the blade length and achieved a 5.1% increase in the tower fatigue life.

Non-linear hydrostatic and wave forces on floating structures are very important during large amplitude waves. The computer program simdyn is a blended time domain program developed by Marine Dynamics Laboratory at TAMU and is capable of capturing the role of non-linear fluid forces. simdyn has previously been used to demonstrate that nonlinear hydrostatics have become very important in the problem of parametric excitation. In the current work simdyn is coupled with the computer program fast developed by U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) for numerical simulation of floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs). fast - simdyn is now a tool that is capable of studying large amplitude motions of FOWTs in extreme seas. fast - simdyn was then used to study the classic instability of negative damping that occurs in FOWTs that use conventional land-based control. The development of platform pitch and platform surge instability are studied in relation to different wave and wind scenarios. The intent was to do an analysis to see if the non-linear forces do play a significant role in large amplitude motions induced by negative damping. This study gives an indication of whether the development and application of higher fidelity hydrodynamic modules are justified.

This paper presents an analysis of stratification-dependent mean velocity profiles measured in a Norwegian coastal wind climate, and its comparison with models available in the literature. For this purpose, we use 3 years of observations from a 100 m meteorological mast located at the Frøya island (150 km west of Trondheim, Norway), equipped with a set of two-dimensional (2D) ultrasonic anemometers. The presented analysis is preceded by a general description of the site wind climate, the atmospheric stratification, the roughness length, and the surface layer height. Finally, the measured wind velocity profile is compared with selected models: the basic power and logarithmic law and the stability-corrected models: stability-corrected logarithmic wind profile, the Panofsky and Dutton model, the Peña boundary layer height corrected model, and the correlation-based Smedman-Högström model.

Common industrial practice for designing floating wind turbines is to set an operational limit for the tower-top axial acceleration, normally in the range of 0.2–0.3 g, which is typically understood to be related to the safety of turbine components. This paper investigates the rationality of the tower-top acceleration limit by evaluating the correlation between acceleration and drivetrain responses. A 5-MW reference drivetrain is selected and modeled on a spar-type floating wind turbine in 320 m water depth. A range of environmental conditions are selected based on the long-term distribution of wind speed, significant wave height, and peak period from hindcast data for the Northern North Sea. For each condition, global analysis using an aero-hydro-servo-elastic tool is carried out for six one-hour realizations. The global analysis results provide useful information on their own—regarding the correlation between environmental condition and tower top acceleration, and the correlation between tower top acceleration and other responses of interest—which are used as input in a decoupled analysis approach. The load effects and motions from the global analysis are applied on a detailed drivetrain model in a multibody system (MBS) analysis tool. The local responses on bearings are then obtained from MBS analysis and postprocessed for the correlation study. Although the maximum acceleration provides a good indication of the wave-induced loads, it is not seen to be a good predictor for significant fatigue damage on the main bearings in this case.

This paper focuses on load mitigation by implementing controllable trailing-edge slotted flaps on the blades of an offshore wind turbine (OWT). The benchmark NREL 5 MW horizontal axis OWT is subjected to coupled stochastic aerodynamic-hydrodynamic analysis for obtaining the responses. The OWT is supported on three different fixed-bottom structures situated in various water depths. Blade element momentum (BEM) theory and Morison's equation are used to compute the aerodynamic and hydrodynamic loads, respectively. Presently, the load reduction obtained by means of the slotted flaps is regulated using an external dynamic link library considering the proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller. BEM theory is presently modified to account for unsteady effects of flaps along the blade span. The present analysis results show reduction up to 20% in blade and tower loads for the turbine with different support structures on implementing controllable trailing edge flaps (TEFs). This study can form the basis for evaluating the performance of large-scale fixed OWT rotors.

For large-scale offshore wind turbine rotating blades (NREL 5MW), the theoretical model of vibration due to fluid-structure interaction (FSI) is established, and the basic equations for modal analysis are given. Based on ANSYS workbench platform, the blade modal characteristics at different rotating speeds are analyzed, and further research on dynamic stability is carried out. The results indicate that the FSI and the blade rotation have a great influence on modal frequencies, which increase with the rotating speed of the blade under FSI. When the frequency of the periodic wind speed is close to the first-order natural frequency of the blade, both the maximum flapping displacement and the maximum von Mises stress increase with time, and the vibration divergence appears. At the safe tower clearance of 4.50 m, the critical value of the blade maximum von Mises stress shows a linear upward trend with the increase of the elasticity modulus, which provides technical references for optimization design and safe operation of wind turbine blades.

This study assesses the serviceability and fatigue limit states of the offshore wind turbine (OWT) founded in clay incorporating the impact of climate change. Two different offshore locations at east and west coasts in India are chosen. The ensemble of future time series of wind speed, wave height, and period is forecasted using statistical downscaling model (SDSM) at the regional level using the general circulation model (GCM) corresponding to the A1B, A2, and B1 emission scenarios. The downscaling model is calibrated by comparing simulations driven by the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) high-resolution data and station data. Responses of OWT are obtained from dynamic analysis in a time domain using finite element (FE). The tower and monopile are modeled as Euler–Bernoulli beam, and soil resistance is modeled as American Petroleum Institute (API)-based p–y springs. The study shows future wind and wave loads are site specific, and it increases in the west coast and decreases in the east coast of India due to climate change. The simulation shows a substantial increase in future wind energy production at west coast compared to that of the east coast; however, safety margin considering serviceability and fatigue life decreases which requires modification in the design.

The prediction of extreme loads for the offshore floating wind turbine is analyzed based on the inverse reliability technique. The inverse reliability approach is in general used to establish the design levels associated with the specified probability of failure. The present study is performed using the environmental contour (EC) method to estimate the long-term joint probability distribution of extreme loads for different types of offshore floating wind turbines. The analysis is carried out in order to predict the out-of-plane bending moment (OoPBM) loads at the blade root and tower base moment (TBM) loads for a 5 MW offshore floating wind turbine of different floater configuration. The spar-type and semisubmersible type offshore floating wind turbines are considered for the analysis. The FAST code is used to simulate the wind conditions for various return periods and the design loads of various floating wind turbine configurations. The extreme and operation situation of the spar-type and semisubmersible type offshore floating wind turbine are analyzed using one-dimensional (1D) and two-dimensional (2D)-EC methods for different return periods. The study is useful to predict long-term design loads for offshore wind turbines without requiring excessive computational effort.

The design of wind turbines requires information about joint data for wind and wave conditions. Moreover, combining offshore wind and wave energy facilities is a potential way to reduce the cost of offshore wind farms. To design combined offshore renewable energy concepts, it is important to choose sites where both wind and wave energy resources are substantial. This paper deals with joint environmental data for five European offshore sites which serve as basis for the analysis and comparison of combined renewable energy concepts developed in the EU FP7 project—MARINA Platform. The five sites cover both shallow and deep water, with three sites facing the Atlantic Ocean and two sites in the North Sea. The long-term joint distributions of wind and wave parameters are presented for these sites. Simultaneous hourly mean wind and wave hindcast data from 2001 to 2010 are used as a database. The joint distributions are modeled by fitting analytical distributions to the hindcast data. The long-term joint distributions can be used to estimate the wind and wave power output from each combined concept and to estimate the fatigue lifetime of the structure. The marginal distributions of wind and wave parameters are also provided. Based on the joint distributions, contour surfaces are established for combined wind and wave parameters for which the probability of exceedance corresponds to a return period of 50 years. The design points on the 50-year contour surfaces are suggested for extreme response analysis of combined concepts.

A new floating wind turbine platform design called VolturnUS developed by the University of Maine uses innovations in materials, construction, and deployment technologies such as a concrete semisubmersible hull and a composite tower to reduce the costs of offshore wind. These novel characteristics require research and development prior to full-scale construction. This paper presents a unique offshore model testing effort aimed at derisking full-scale commercial projects by providing scaled global motion data, allowing for testing of materials representative of the full-scale system, and demonstrating full-scale construction and deployment methods. A 1:8-scale model of a 6 MW semisubmersible floating wind turbine was deployed offshore Castine, ME, in June 2013. The model includes a fully operational commercial 20 kW wind turbine and was the first grid-connected offshore wind turbine in the U.S. The testing effort includes careful selection of the offshore test site, the commercial wind turbine that produces the correct aerodynamic thrust given the wind conditions at the test site, scaling methods, model design, and construction. A suitable test site was identified that produced scaled design load cases (DLCs) prescribed by the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) Guide for Building and Classing Floating Offshore Wind Turbines. A turbine with a small rotor diameter was selected because it produces the correct thrust load given the wind conditions at the test site. Some representative data from the test are provided in this paper. Model test data are compared directly to full-scale design predictions made using coupled aeroelastic/hydrodynamic software. Scaled VolturnUS performance data during DLCs show excellent agreement with full-scale predictive models. Model test data are also compared directly without scaling against a numerical representation of the 1:8-scale physical model for the purposes of numerical code validation. The numerical model results compare favorably with data collected from the physical model.

In the reliability engineering and design of offshore structures, probabilistic approaches are frequently adopted. They require the estimation of extreme quantiles of oceanographic data based on the statistical information. Due to strong correlation between such random variables as, e.g., wave heights and wind speeds (WS), application of the multivariate, or bivariate in the simplest case, extreme value theory is sometimes necessary. The paper focuses on the extension of the average conditional exceedance rate (ACER) method for prediction of extreme value statistics to the case of bivariate time series. Using the ACER method, it is possible to provide an accurate estimate of the extreme value distribution of a univariate time series. This is obtained by introducing a cascade of conditioning approximations to the true extreme value distribution. When it has been ascertained that this cascade has converged, an estimate of the extreme value distribution has been obtained. In this paper, it will be shown how the univariate ACER method can be extended in a natural way to also cover the case of bivariate data. Application of the bivariate ACER method will be demonstrated for measured coupled WS and wave height data.

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.

The shutdown of wind turbines may induce excessive loads on the structures and is an important factor to consider in their design. For pitch-regulated turbines, shutdown calls for blade pitching, and one- or two-blade shutdown may occur during pitch actuator failure. Through coupled analysis, this study investigated the dynamic responses of land-based and spar-type floating wind turbines (FWTs) during shutdown. We simulated the shutdown procedures by pitching one, two, or three blades, and by varying the pitch rate. The nonpitching blades have a fixed pitch angle during the process. Three generator torque conditions were considered: (1) grid loss, (2) mechanical braking, and (3) grid connection. The extreme response values and short-term and annual fatigue damages to the structural components were compared against these values under normal operation and parked conditions. Three-blade shutdown is recommended for both turbines. One- or two-blade shutdown with grid loss may result in a significant rotor overspeed and imbalanced loads acting on the rotor plane. Therefore, unfavorable structural responses are observed. Grid connection or mechanical braking alleviates the situation. The land-based turbine is more sensitive to the pitch rate when considering the tower bottom bending moment, but the blade moments and mooring line loads of the spar-type turbine are affected more.

Model tests were conducted on three generic floating wind turbine systems in 2011 and reported in a series of papers at the 31st Ocean, Offshore, and Arctic Engineering Conference in 2012. These tests were conducted at the MARIN facility in The Netherlands, by a consortium of universities, government research organizations, and industry. As part of the testing program, decay tests in platform pitch were conducted with and without wind forcing. It was found that for spar and semisubmersible type structures, resonant pitch motion was damped due to wind in storm sea conditions. The nonlinear decay motion of a floating wind turbine platform is modeled using a one degree-of-freedom nonlinear oscillation equation about a mean offset angle. Attention is paid to the turbine thrust coefficient and its variability with respect to oncoming flow speed, which in turn is affected by the structure pitch motion. The equation of motion reveals that the mean offset position has an important role in the stiffness, damping, and consequently the natural period of pitch motion. Several important dimensionless parameters are introduced. The paper discusses a simple thrust model for an offshore wind turbine (OWT) based on rudiments of blade element theory. Using the simplified thrust coefficient formulation, the increase in platform pitch damping due to wind is formulated. Experimental data reported from prior tests described above show good agreement with the theoretical model.

Scale-model wave basin testing is often employed in the development and validation of large-scale offshore vessels and structures by the oil and gas, military, and marine industries. A basin-model test requires less time, resources, and risk than a full-scale test, while providing real and accurate data for numerical simulator validation. As the development of floating wind turbine technology progresses in order to capture the vast deep-water wind energy resource, it is clear that model testing will be essential for the economical and efficient advancement of this technology. However, the scale model testing of floating wind turbines requires accurate simulation of the wind and wave environments, structural flexibility, and wind turbine aerodynamics and thus requires a comprehensive scaling methodology. This paper presents a unified methodology for Froude scale model testing of floating wind turbines under combined wind and wave loading. First, an overview of the scaling relationships employed for the environment, floater, and wind turbine are presented. Afterward, a discussion is presented concerning suggested methods for manufacturing a high-quality, low-turbulence Froude scale wind environment in a wave basin to facilitate simultaneous application of wind and waves to the model. Subsequently, the difficulties of scaling the highly Reynolds number–dependent wind turbine aerodynamics is presented in addition to methods for tailoring the turbine and wind characteristics to best emulate the full-scale condition. Lastly, the scaling methodology is demonstrated using results from 1/50th-scale floating wind turbine testing performed at the Maritime Research Institute Netherlands (MARIN) Offshore Basin. The model test campaign investigated the response of the 126 -m rotor diameter National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) horizontal axis wind turbine atop three floating platforms: a tension-leg platform, a spar-buoy, and a semisubmersible. The results highlight the methodology's strengths and weaknesses for simulating full-scale global response of floating wind turbine systems.

This study aims at development of a cost-effective, floating offshore wind turbine. The prototype model considered herein is composed of (1) 2-MW horizontal-axis wind turbine (HAWT) of downwind type, (2) steel monotower with 55-m hub height above sea level, (3) steel-prestressed concrete (PC) hybrid SPAR-type foundation with 70-m draft, and (4) catenary mooring system using anchor chains. In order to demonstrate the feasibility of the concept, an at-sea experiment using a 1/10-scale model of the prototype has been made. The demonstrative experiment includes (1) construction of the hybrid SPAR foundation using PC and steel, the same as the prototype; (2) dry-towing and installation to the at-sea site at 30-m distance from the quay of the Sasebo shipbuilding yard; (3) generating electric power using a 1 kW HAWT; and (4) removal from the site. During the at-sea experiment, wind speed, wind direction, tidal height, wave height, motion of the SPAR, tension in a mooring chain, and strains in the tower and the SPAR foundation have been measured. Motion of the SPAR has been numerically simulated and compared with the measured values, where basically good agreement is observed.