Influence of Vortex-Induced Loads on the Motion of SPAR-Type Wind Turbine: A Coupled Aero-Hydro-Vortex-Mooring Investigation

Abstract

The nonlinear coupling effect between degree-of-freedom (DOFs) and the influence of vortex-induced loads on the motion of SPAR-type floating offshore wind turbine (FOWT) are studied based on an aero-hydro-vortex-mooring coupled model. Both the first- and second-order wave loads are calculated based on the three-dimensional (3D) potential theory. The aerodynamic loads on the rotor are acquired with the blade element momentum (BEM) theory. The vortex-induced loads are simulated with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) approach. The mooring forces are solved by the catenary theory and the nonlinear stiffness provided by the SPAR buoy is also considered. The coupled model is set up and a numerical code is developed for calculating the dynamic response of a Hywind SPAR-type FOWT under the combined sea states of wind, wave, and current. It shows that the amplitudes of sway and roll are dominated by lift loads induced by vortex shedding, and the oscillations in roll reach the same level of pitch in some scenarios. The mean value of surge is changed under the drag loads, but the mean position in pitch, as well as the oscillations in surge and pitch, is little affected by the current. Due to the coupling effects, the heave motion is also influenced by vortex-induced forces. When vortex-shedding frequency is close to the natural frequency in roll, the motions are increased. Due to nonlinear stiffness, super-harmonic response occurs in heave, which may lead to internal resonance.