Thesis

Dynamic response of spar-type offshore floating wind turbines

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Awarding institution
  • University of Strathclyde
Date of award
  • 2015
Thesis identifier
  • T14172
Person Identifier (Local)
  • 201060924
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Qualification Name
Department, School or Faculty
Abstract
  • In recent years there has been a significant increase in the interest in floating offshore wind turbines from the wind energy industry, governments and academia. Partially driven by the recent nuclear disaster in Japan, but also by the lack or complete absence of shallow waters in various countries around the globe (making fixed offshore wind turbines infeasible), multiple different topology floating offshore wind turbines have been proposed and, in some cases, prototypes built and installed offshore. The most well-known of these is Hywind by Statoil, which has been operational off the coast of Norway since the end of 2009. While small scale prototypes had been installed even before Hywind, for example Blue-H in 2007, no guidelines have yet emerged that would give recommendations and guiding principles in designing new floating offshore wind turbines. The aim of this thesis is to provide some knowledge base for future design of floating offshore wind turbines by looking at what simplifications could be made and what effect these would have on the preliminary designs of new floating offshore wind turbines. This thesis starts by comparing different topology floating offshore wind turbines and choosing one, deemed the most promising, as the base case scenario for use in the subsequent analysis and calculations. This thesis also looks at the importance of unsteady representations of the aerodynamics compared with quasi-steady when designing a new floating offshore wind turbine, by comparing quasi-steady aerodynamic loads first with fully-attached unsteady loads and later with fully-unsteady (fully-attached, separated and dynamic stall). A chapter is allocated to identifying which degree-of-freedom of loading is the most damaging to the system, as floating offshore wind turbines operate in very harsh and unstable environments. Once identified, this knowledge can be used to further improve floating offshore wind turbines, hence making them even more feasible. Finally, the wind turbine previously chosen as a base case has its floating support shortened and four different draft designs proposed that would allow it to be deployed in medium-to-deep waters, in which fixed supports for wind turbines are not economical.
Resource Type
DOI
Date Created
  • 2015
Former identifier
  • 1239100

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