Qingsong Liu

Floating vertical-axis wind turbines (VAWTs) couple intrinsically unsteady rotor aerodynamics with the motions of their supporting platforms, producing complex temporal variations in power output, aerodynamic loads, and wake transport. A structured search of the Web of Science Core Collection and Scopus, supplemented by citation tracking, identified peer-reviewed studies published from database inception to 30 June 2026. The reviewed computational fluid dynamics (CFD) studies were classified as decoupled or fully coupled according to whether bidirectional feedback between the flow field and platform response was resolved. The evidence shows that motion-induced velocities alter blade-relative inflow and effective angle of attack, thereby modifying dynamic stall, loads, and wake evolution. Scaled testing is limited by the incompatibility between Froude and Reynolds similitude. Under identical pitch conditions, the mean power coefficient increased by 16.42% at full scale but decreased by 56.71% at 1:100 scale. Platform motion generally increases power and load fluctuations but may accelerate wake recovery; effects on mean performance remain configuration- and scale-dependent, so no universally optimal rotor-platform design has emerged. Overall, this review provides an integrated understanding of the effects of platform motion on the unsteady aerodynamics, load responses, and wake evolution of floating VAWTs, and clarifies the applicability of decoupled and fully coupled CFD methods to mechanism identification and system-level assessment.

Dedicated platforms for floating vertical-axis wind turbines (VAWTs) require an in-depth understanding of their strongly unsteady coupled dynamics, yet the effects of platform configuration on motion stability, aerodynamic loading, and wake recovery remain insufficiently clarified. This study develops a high-fidelity aero-hydro-mooring coupled framework base on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to compare Φ-type floating VAWTs supported by semi-submersible and spar platforms under identical wind–wave excitation. The results show that the semi-submersible configuration, owing to its larger structural scale near the free surface, experiences stronger wave interaction and more pronounced wave-frequency heave, surge, and pitch responses. The spar configuration reduces wave-frequency hydrodynamic excitation because of its deep-draft slender structure, but it is more prone to mean pitch offset and sway–roll–yaw coupling. Mooring responses are governed by mean surge drift, mean pitch inclination, and wave-frequency motions, with the semi-submersible system exhibiting stronger tension fluctuations and the spar system showing a more uneven load distribution among the mooring lines. Under the examined wind–wave condition, the spar configuration exhibits larger fluctuations in instantaneous power, thrust and single-blade torque than the semi-submersible configuration. Wake analysis indicates that the semi-submersible system maintains stronger wake coherence, while the spar system enhances vortex breakdown, turbulent mixing, and velocity-deficit recovery. These findings support platform selection, load control, and array layout optimization for floating VAWTs.