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Numerical Analysis, Field Testing and Experimental Assessment of Offshore Wind Turbines 2023

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "A3: Wind, Wave and Tidal Energy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 August 2023) | Viewed by 23021

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
School of Natural and Built Environment, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, UK
Interests: marine structures; offshore mechanics; floating wind turbines; offshore renewable energy; stochastic dynamics; experimental and numerical assessment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 15013 Denver W Pkwy, Golden, CO 80401, USA
Interests: offshore wind system dynamics; structural dynamics modelling; verification and validation; data analysis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Although offshore wind turbines (OWTs) have seen rapid growth in the past decade, the further development of these structures to reduce the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) needs proper experimental and numerical analysis. Therefore, research-driven developments to explore new concepts/structures, testing methodologies, numerical modelling tools and simulation methods are required.

Offshore wind turbines are subject to complicated loads and load effects, which demand a comprehensive numerical modelling representation of the physics. Important factors affecting the design, functionality, structural integrity and performance of offshore wind turbines include-but are not limited to-fluid-structure interaction, controller actions, intense dynamic effects, non-linear loadings, extreme and harsh weather conditions, and impact pressure loads. The interdependence between loads, load effects and structural strength requires more advanced numerical tools, nonlinear modelling and innovative testing procedures.

We invite researchers and scientists to contribute original research articles that will stimulate the continuing progress of the OWTs field, with a focus on state-of-the-art numerical modelling and the experimental assessment of offshore wind engineering. We are particularly interested in articles describing new methodologies, analytical and numerical tools, as well as theoretical methods dealing with engineering problems. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

  • Innovative experimental methods
  • Scaling and scale effects
  • Statistical methods and environmental resource assessment
  • Wind, wave and current interactions
  • Comprehensive handling of engineering problems, in particular, design aspects
  • Numerical methods for structural and fluid dynamics
  • Computational fluid dynamics (CFD)
  • Finite element methods (FEM)
  • Fluid–structure interaction (FSI)
  • Aero-hydro-servo-geo-elastic models for fixed and floating offshore wind turbines
  • Automatic control methods applied for OWTs engineering problems
  • Robust nonlinear models for fast simulation
  • Comprehensive numerical methods for high-fidelity simulation of behaviour and functionality
  • Verification and validation, code-to-code comparison, as well as experiments
  • Insight into the philosophy and power of numerical simulations
  • Nonlinearities in physical systems and numerical models
  • Coupled effects between floater and mooring system
  • Soil–structure interaction
  • Higher order wave loads and responses
  • Field and laboratory testing and experimental procedures

Dr. Madjid Karimirad
Dr. Amy Robertson
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • nonlinear modeling
  • numerical simulations
  • offshore wind turbines
  • floating wind turbines
  • experimental assessment
  • field and laboratory testing
  • dynamic analysis

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Related Special Issues

Published Papers (8 papers)

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Research

Jump to: Review

23 pages, 5513 KiB  
Article
Generation of Synthetic CPTs with Access to Limited Geotechnical Data for Offshore Sites
by Gohar Shoukat, Guillaume Michel, Mark Coughlan, Abdollah Malekjafarian, Indrasenan Thusyanthan, Cian Desmond and Vikram Pakrashi
Energies 2023, 16(9), 3817; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16093817 - 28 Apr 2023
Viewed by 2871
Abstract
The initial design phase for offshore wind farms does not require complete geotechnical mapping and individual cone penetration testing (CPT) for each expected turbine location. Instead, background information from open source studies and previous historic records for geology and seismic data are typically [...] Read more.
The initial design phase for offshore wind farms does not require complete geotechnical mapping and individual cone penetration testing (CPT) for each expected turbine location. Instead, background information from open source studies and previous historic records for geology and seismic data are typically used at this early stage to develop a preliminary ground model. This study focuses specifically on the interpolation and extrapolation of cone penetration test (CPT) data. A detailed methodology is presented for the process of using a limited number of CPTs to characterise the geotechnical behavior of an offshore site using artificial neural networks. In the presented study, the optimised neural network achieved a predictive error of 0.067. Accuracy is greatest at depths of less than 10 m. The pitfalls of using machine learning for geospatial interpolation are explained and discussed. Full article
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22 pages, 3399 KiB  
Article
Enabling Floating Offshore VAWT Design by Coupling OWENS and OpenFAST
by Michael C. Devin, Nicole R. Mendoza, Andrew Platt, Kevin Moore, Jason Jonkman and Brandon L. Ennis
Energies 2023, 16(5), 2462; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16052462 - 4 Mar 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2916
Abstract
Vertical-axis wind turbines (VAWTs) have a long history, with a wide variety of turbine archetypes that have been designed and tested since the 1970s. While few utility-scale VAWTs currently exist, the placement of the generator near the turbine base could make VAWTs advantageous [...] Read more.
Vertical-axis wind turbines (VAWTs) have a long history, with a wide variety of turbine archetypes that have been designed and tested since the 1970s. While few utility-scale VAWTs currently exist, the placement of the generator near the turbine base could make VAWTs advantageous over tradition horizontal-axis wind turbines for floating offshore wind applications via reduced platform costs and improved scaling potential. However, there are currently few numerical design and analysis tools available for VAWTs. One existing engineering toolset for aero-hydro-servo-elastic simulation of VAWTs is the Offshore Wind ENergy Simulator (OWENS), but its current modeling capability for floating systems is non-standard and not ideal. This article describes how OWENS has been coupled to several OpenFAST modules to update and improve modeling of floating offshore VAWTs and discusses the verification of these new capabilities and features. The results of the coupled OWENS verification test agree well with a parallel OpenFAST simulation, validating the new modeling and simulation capabilities in OWENS for floating VAWT applications. These developments will enable the design and optimization of floating offshore VAWTs in the future. Full article
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13 pages, 3115 KiB  
Article
Risk Assessment of Offshore Wind Turbines Suction Bucket Foundation Subject to Multi-Hazard Events
by Duc-Vu Ngo, Young-Jin Kim and Dong-Hyawn Kim
Energies 2023, 16(5), 2184; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16052184 - 24 Feb 2023
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3096
Abstract
For the offshore wind turbines (OWTs) located in a seismically active region, the occurrence of earthquakes combined with scour is a highly possible multi-hazard event. This study developed an alternative fragility analysis framework to assess the seismic performance of suction bucket-supported OWTs under [...] Read more.
For the offshore wind turbines (OWTs) located in a seismically active region, the occurrence of earthquakes combined with scour is a highly possible multi-hazard event. This study developed an alternative fragility analysis framework to assess the seismic performance of suction bucket-supported OWTs under the action of scour. First, the probabilistic approach was applied to calculate the occurrence probability of scour depth (SD) and earthquake events. Then, the possible combinations of these two events were considered in the analysis model to establish the fragility surface of the suction bucket foundation. Finally, by integrating the product of scour and earthquake hazard, as well as fragility curves, the suction bucket foundation failure probability was obtained. The developed framework provides a reliable approach to risk assessment for OWT-supporting structures in extreme event situations and can be applied to other complex natural hazards. Full article
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15 pages, 5616 KiB  
Article
Advanced Methods for Wind Turbine Performance Analysis Based on SCADA Data and CFD Simulations
by Francesco Castellani, Ravi Pandit, Francesco Natili, Francesca Belcastro and Davide Astolfi
Energies 2023, 16(3), 1081; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16031081 - 18 Jan 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2154
Abstract
Deep comprehension of wind farm performance is a complicated task due to the multivariate dependence of wind turbine power on environmental variables and working parameters and to the intrinsic limitations in the quality of SCADA-collected measurements. Given this, the objective of this study [...] Read more.
Deep comprehension of wind farm performance is a complicated task due to the multivariate dependence of wind turbine power on environmental variables and working parameters and to the intrinsic limitations in the quality of SCADA-collected measurements. Given this, the objective of this study is to propose an integrated approach based on SCADA data and Computational Fluid Dynamics simulations, which is aimed at wind farm performance analysis. The selected test case is a wind farm situated in southern Italy, where two wind turbines had an apparent underperformance. The concept of a space–time comparison at the wind farm level is leveraged by analyzing the operation curves of the wind turbines and by comparing the simulated average wind field against the measured one, where each wind turbine is treated like a virtual meteorological mast. The employed formulation for the CFD simulations is Reynolds-Average Navier–Stokes (RANS). In this work, it is shown that, based on the above approach, it has been possible to identify an anemometer bias at a wind turbine, which has subsequently been fixed. The results of this work affirm that a deep comprehension of wind farm performance requires a non-trivial space–time comparison, of which CFD simulations can be a fundamental part. Full article
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25 pages, 5365 KiB  
Article
Verification and Validation of Model-Scale Turbine Performance and Control Strategies for the IEA Wind 15 MW Reference Wind Turbine
by Nicole Mendoza, Amy Robertson, Alan Wright, Jason Jonkman, Lu Wang, Roger Bergua, Tri Ngo, Tuhin Das, Mohammad Odeh, Kazi Mohsin, Francesc Fabregas Flavia, Benjamin Child, Galih Bangga, Matthew Fowler, Andrew Goupee, Richard Kimball, Eben Lenfest and Anthony Viselli
Energies 2022, 15(20), 7649; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15207649 - 17 Oct 2022
Cited by 21 | Viewed by 3893
Abstract
To enable the fast growth of the floating offshore wind industry, simulation models must be validated with experimental data. Floating wind model-scale experiments in wind–wave facilities have been performed over the last two decades with varying levels of fidelity and limitations. However, the [...] Read more.
To enable the fast growth of the floating offshore wind industry, simulation models must be validated with experimental data. Floating wind model-scale experiments in wind–wave facilities have been performed over the last two decades with varying levels of fidelity and limitations. However, the turbine controls in these experiments have considered only limited control strategies and implementations. To allow for control co-design, this research focuses on implementing and experimentally validating more advanced turbine control actions and strategies in a wind–wave basin for a 1:70-scale model of the International Energy Agency’s wind 15 MW reference wind turbine. The control strategies analyzed include torque control, collective pitch control, and transition region control (setpoint smoothing). Our experimental and numerical results include the effects of varying rotor speeds, blade pitches, and wind environments on the turbine thrust and torque. Numerical models from three different software tools are presented and compared to the experimental results. Their ability to effectively represent the aero-dynamic response of the wind turbine to the control actions is successfully validated. Finally, turbine controller tuning parameters based on the derivatives of thrust and torque are derived to allow for improved offshore wind turbine dynamics and to validate the ability of modeling tools to model the dynamics of floating offshore wind turbines with control co-design. Full article
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22 pages, 4358 KiB  
Article
Effect of Heave Plates on the Wave Motion of a Flexible Multicolumn FOWT
by Taisuke Takata, Mayuko Takaoka, Hidetaka Houtani, Kentaro Hara, Sho Oh, Edgard B. Malta, Kazuhiro Iijima, Hideyuki Suzuki and Rodolfo T. Gonçalves
Energies 2022, 15(20), 7605; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15207605 - 14 Oct 2022
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 1877
Abstract
Three models with different footing types were used to clarify the effect of heave plates on the hydrodynamic behavior of the elastic response of a flexible multicolumn floating offshore wind turbine (FOWT). The models were tested under regular waves, whose added mass, damping, [...] Read more.
Three models with different footing types were used to clarify the effect of heave plates on the hydrodynamic behavior of the elastic response of a flexible multicolumn floating offshore wind turbine (FOWT). The models were tested under regular waves, whose added mass, damping, and motion response results were compared with numerical simulations by NK-UTWind and WAMIT codes. As a whole, the attachment of heave plates was responsible for increasing the added mass and damping levels, consequently modifying the RAO of the models. Regarding the response in a sea condition, a decrease of 33% and 66% of the significant motion height (heave and pitch) was observed. Thus, the heave plate can be a good feature for the future design of FOWT. Full article
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16 pages, 1283 KiB  
Article
Organization and Reliability Testing of a Wind Farm Device in Its Operational Process
by Stanisław Duer, Krzysztof Rokosz, Dariusz Bernatowicz, Arkadiusz Ostrowski, Marek Woźniak, Konrad Zajkowski and Atif Iqbal
Energies 2022, 15(17), 6255; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15176255 - 27 Aug 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1237
Abstract
This article deals with the importance of simulation studies for the reliability of wind farm (WF) equipment during the operation process. Improvements, upgrades, and the introduction of new solutions that change the reliability, quality, and conditions of use and operation of wind farm [...] Read more.
This article deals with the importance of simulation studies for the reliability of wind farm (WF) equipment during the operation process. Improvements, upgrades, and the introduction of new solutions that change the reliability, quality, and conditions of use and operation of wind farm equipment present a research problem during study. Based on this research, it is possible to continuously evaluate the reliability of WF equipment. The topic of reliability testing of complex technical facilities is constantly being developed in the literature. The article assumes that the operation of wind farm equipment is described and modeled based on Markov processes. This assumption justified the use of Kolmogorov–Chapman equations to describe the developed research model. Based on these equations, an analytical model of the wind farm operation process was created and described. As a result of the simulation analysis, the reliability of the wind farm was determined in the form of a probability function (R0(t)) for the WPPs system. Full article
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Review

Jump to: Research

27 pages, 13631 KiB  
Review
A Review of Recent Aerodynamic Power Extraction Challenges in Coordinated Pitch, Yaw, and Torque Control of Large-Scale Wind Turbine Systems
by Kumarasamy Palanimuthu, Ganesh Mayilsamy, Ameerkhan Abdul Basheer, Seong-Ryong Lee, Dongran Song and Young Hoon Joo
Energies 2022, 15(21), 8161; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15218161 - 1 Nov 2022
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3693
Abstract
As the impacts of environmental change become more severe, reliable and sustainable power generation and efficient aerodynamic power collection of onshore and offshore wind turbine systems present some of the associated key issues to address. Therefore, this review article aims to present current [...] Read more.
As the impacts of environmental change become more severe, reliable and sustainable power generation and efficient aerodynamic power collection of onshore and offshore wind turbine systems present some of the associated key issues to address. Therefore, this review article aims to present current advances and challenges in the aerodynamic power extraction of wind turbines, associated supporting technologies in pitch, yaw, and torque control systems, and their advantages and implications in the renewable energy industry under environmental challenges. To do this, first, mathematical modeling of the environmental characteristics of the wind turbine system is presented. Next, the latest technological advances consider the environmental challenges presented in the literature, and merits and drawbacks are discussed. In addition, pioneering research works and state-of-the-art methodologies are categorized and evaluated according to pitch, yaw, and torque control objectives. Finally, simulation results are presented to demonstrate the impact of environmental issues, improvement claims, findings, and trade-offs of techniques found in the literature on super-large wind turbine systems. Thus, this study is expected to lay the groundwork for future intensive efforts to better understand the performance of large-scale wind turbine systems in addressing environmental issues. Full article
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