• Journal of Wind Energy
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.26-41
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• 2022

Three similarities (i.e., geometrical similarity, kinematic similarity and dynamic similarity) between a prototype and model must be satisfied to perform an experiment for a floating offshore wind turbine (FOWT). For dynamic similarity, most of the model tests in ocean engineering basins are performed based on the Froude number, so the scale effect for the wind turbine of an FOWT occurs by different Reynolds numbers between the prototype and model. In this study, various model test techniques for overcoming the scale effect of the wind turbine part of the FOWT are investigated. Firstly, model test techniques using simple approaches are reviewed, and the advantages and disadvantages of the simple approaches are summarized. Secondly, the model test techniques in recent projects that apply improved approaches are introduced including advantages and disadvantages. Finally, new approaches applying digitalization are reviewed, and the characteristics of the new approaches are introduced.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.209-215
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• 2017

A large floating offshore wind-wave hybrid power generation system with an area of 150 m2 and four 3 MW class wind turbine generators was installed at each column top. In accordance with the wind turbine arrangement, the wake generated from upstream turbines can adversely affect the power performance and load characteristics of downstream turbines. Therefore, an optimal arrangement design, obtained through a detailed flow analysis focusing on wake interference, is necessary. In this study, to determine the power characteristics and annual energy production (AEP) of individual wind turbines, transient computational fluid dynamics, considering wind velocity variation (8 m/s, 11.7 m/s, 19 m/s, and 25 m/s), was conducted under different platform conditions ($0^{\circ}$, $22.5^{\circ}$, and $45^{\circ}$). The AEP was calculated using a Rayleigh distribution, depending on the wind turbine arrangement. In addition, we suggested an optimal arrangement design to minimize wake losses, based on the AEP.

• Journal of Wind Energy
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.11-20
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• 2024

As the generation capacity of floating offshore wind turbines increases, the wind load applied to each turbine increases. Due to such a high wind load, the capacity of transport equipment (such as tugboats or cranes) required in the transportation and installation phases must be much larger than that of previous small-capacity wind power generation systems. However, for such an important wind load prediction method, the simple formula proposed by the classification society is generally used, and prediction through wind tunnel tests or Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is rarely used, especially for a concept or initial design stages. In this study, the wind load of a 10 MW class floating offshore wind turbine was predicted by a simplified formula and compared with results of wind tunnel tests. In addition, the wind load coefficients at each stage of fabrication, transportation, and installation are presented so that it can be used during a concept or initial design stages for similar floating offshore wind turbines.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.46 no.5
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• pp.368-375
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• 2018

In the present study, aerodynamic load analysis for a floating off-shore wind turbine was conducted to examine the effect of periodic platform motion in the direction of 6-DOF on rotor aerodynamic performance. Blade-element momentum method(BEM) was used for a numerical simulation, the unsteady airload effects due to the flow separation and the shed wake were considered by adopting a dynamic stall model based on the indicial response method. Rotor induced downwash was estimated using the momentum theory, coupled with empirical corrections for the turbulent wake states. The periodic platform motions including the translational motion in the heave, sway and surge directions and the rotational motion in the roll, pitch and yaw directions were considered, and each platform motion was applied as a sinusoidal function. For the numerical simulation, NREL 5MW reference wind turbine was used as the target wind turbine. The results showed that among the translation modes, the surge motion has the largest influence on changing the rotor airloads, while the effect of pitch motion is predominant for the rotations.

• New & Renewable Energy
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.26-34
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• 2024

Floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs) have been developed to overcome large water depths and leverage the abundant wind resource in deep seas. However, wind-wave misalignment can occur depending on the weather conditions, and most megawatt (MW)-class turbines are horizontal-axis wind turbines subjected to yaw errors. Therefore, the power performance and dynamic response of super-large FOWTs exposed simultaneously to these external conditions must be analyzed. In this study, several scenarios combining wind-wave misalignment and yaw error were considered. The IEA 15 MW reference FOWT (v1.1.2) and OpenFAST (v3.4.1) were used to perform numerical simulations. The results show that the power performance was affected more significantly by the yaw error; therefore, the generator power reduction and variability increased significantly. However, the dynamic response was affected more significantly by the wind-wave misalignment increased; thus, the change in the platform 6-DOF and tower loads (top and base) increased significantly. These results can be facilitate improvements to the power performance and structural integrity of FOWTs during the design process.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.123-132
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• 2015

In this study, an arrangement design process for multiple wind turbines, placed on the 10MW class floating wave-offshore wind hybrid power generation system, was presented, and the aerodynamic performance was evaluated by using a computational fluid dynamics. An arrangement design, which produces a maximum power in the site wind field, was found by using a commercial program, WindPRO, based on a blade element momentum theory, then the effect of wake interference on the system between multiple wind turbines was studied and evaluated by using ANSYS CFX.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.288-293
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• 2014

The IEC standard for onshore or offshore wind turbines requires additional dummy simulations (at least 5 s) for the transient responses due to initial conditions. An increase in the dummy time causes a considerable increase in the computational cost considering multiple design spirals with several thousand design load analysis cases. A time of 30 s is typically used in practical simulations for a wind turbine design with a fixed platform. However, 30 s may be insufficient for floating offshore wind turbines (FOWT) because the platforms have lower natural frequencies, and the transient responses will last much longer. In this paper, an initial condition application algorithm is implemented for WindHydro, and the appropriate dummy simulation time is investigated based on a series of dynamic simulations of a FOWT. As a result, it is found that more than 300 s is required for the platform to have stationary motion after the initial transient responses for the FOWT under the conditions considered.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.479-487
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• 2023

Recently, the destructive power of typhoons is continuously increasing owing to global warming. In a situation where the installation of floating wind turbines is increasing worldwide, concerns about the huge loss and collapse of floating offshore wind turbines owing to strong typhoons are deepening. A new type of disconnectable mooring system must be developed for the safe operation of floating offshore wind turbines. A new submersible mooring pulley considered in this study is devised to more easily attach or detach the floating of shore wind turbine with mooring lines compared with other disconnectable mooring apparatuses. To investigate the structural safety of the initial design of submersible mooring pulley that can be applied to an 8MW-class floating type offshore wind turbine, scale-down structural models were developed using a 3-D printer and structural tests were performed on the models. For the structural tests of the scale-down models, tensile specimens of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene material that was used in the 3-D printing were prepared, and the material properties were evaluated by conducting the tensile tests. The finite element analysis (FEA) of submersible mooring pulley was performed by applying the material properties obtained from the tensile tests and the same load and boundary conditions as in the scale-down model structural tests. Through the FEA, the structural weak parts on the submersible mooring pulley were reviewed. The structural model tests were conducted considering the main load conditions of submersible mooring pulley, and the FEA and test results were compared for the locations that exceeded the maximum tensile stress of the material. The results of the FEA and structural model tests indicated that the connection structure of the body and the wheel was weak in operating conditions and that of the body and the chain stopper was weak in mooring conditions. The results of this study enabled to experimentally verify the structural safety of the initial design of submersible mooring pulley. The study results can be usefully used to improve the structural strength of submersible mooring pulley in a detailed design stage.

• Journal of Wind Energy
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.5-13
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• 2023

The commercialization has been of great importance to the clean energy research sector for investing the wind farm development, but it would be difficult to reach a social consensus on the need to expand the economic feasibility of renewable energy due to the lack of reliable and continuous information on levelized cost of Energy (LCOE). Regarding this fact, this paper presents the evaluation of LCOE, focusing on Ulsan offshore region targeting to build the first floating offshore wind farm. Energy production is estimated by the meteorology data combined with the Leanwind Project power curve of an exemplar wind turbine. This work aims to analyze the costs of the Capex depending on site-specific variables. The cost of final LCOE was estimated by using Monte-Carlo method, and it became an average range 297,090 KRW/MWh, a minimum of 251,080 KRW/MWh, and a maximum of 341,910 KRW/MWh. In the year 2021, the SMP (system marginal price) and 4.5 REC (renewable energy certificate) can be paid if 1 MWh of electricity is generated by renewable energy. Considering current SMP and REC price, the floating platform industry, which can earn around 502,000 KRW/MWh, can be finally estimated highly competitive in the Korean market.

• Journal of Wind Energy
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.26-33
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• 2023

In this study, the global response characteristics of floater and mooring for floating offshore wind turbine with a detachable mooring system are performed. Global motion and structural response result extracted from the coupled motion analysis of 10MW DTU floating offshore wind turbine with detachable mooring system modeled by high-order boundary element model and finite element mesh, were used to study the characteristics of tension on mooring lines subjected to three different types of ocean loads. Breaking limit of mooring line characterized by wind, current and wave load has a major effect on the distribution of mooring tension found in time domain analysis. Based on the numerical results of coupled motion analysis, governing equation for calculating the motion response of a floater under ocean loads, and excitation force and surge motion and tension respectively are presented using excursion curve. It is found that the response of floater is reliable and accurate for calculating the tension distributions along the mooring lines under complex loadings. This means that the minimun breaking limit of mooring system satisfied a design criteria at ultimate ocean environmental loading condtions.