Dynamics of offshore floating wind turbines—analysis of three concepts

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Abstract
This work presents a comprehensive dynamic–response analysis of three offshore floating wind turbine concepts. Models were composed of one 5 MW turbine supported on land and three 5 MW turbines located offshore on a tension leg platform, a spar buoy and a barge. A loads and stability analysis adhering to the procedures of international design standards was performed for each model using the fully coupled time domain aero‐hydro‐servo‐elastic simulation tool FAST with AeroDyn and HydroDyn. The concepts are compared based on the calculated ultimate loads, fatigue loads and instabilities. The loads in the barge‐supported turbine are the highest found for the three floating concepts. The differences in the loads between the tension leg platform–supported turbine and spar buoy–supported turbine are not significant, except for the loads in the tower, which are greater in the spar system. Instabilities in all systems also must be resolved. The results of this analysis will help resolve the fundamental design trade‐offs between the floating‐system concepts. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.