• Ocean Systems Engineering
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.191-218
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• 2019

The tower-platform interface and mooring system of floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs) are some of the most critical components with significant influences on overall project costs. In addition to satisfying strength requirements, it is typical and vital to meet fatigue criteria for a service life of 25 years or more. Wind spectra characteristics considered in analysis can penalize fatigue designs, leading to unnecessary costs. The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC, 2009) recommends the use of site-specific wind data (spectrum, turbulence intensity, etc.) in design of FOWTs, but for offshore sites it is often the case that such data is unavailable and land-based data are used as surrogates in design. For such scenarios, it is worth investigating whether such alternative approach is suitable and accurate, and understanding the consequence of the selection of wind spectral characteristics on fatigue design. This paper addresses the impact of the subsequent selection on fatigue responses of towerbase and mooring system in a FOWT, as a sequel to the paper by Udoh and Zou (2018) which focused on impacts on strength design. The 5 MW semi-submersible FOWT platform with six mooring lines implemented in the preceding study is applied in analysis. Results indicate significant variations in resulting fatigue life with considered wind parameters. Thus, it is critical to apply proper wind spectra characteristics for analysis and design of FOWTs to avoid unnecessary conservatism and costs. Based on the findings of this study, more explicit guidance on the application of turbulence intensities for IEC-recommended models in offshore sites could lead to more accurate load estimates in design of FOWTs.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.43-52
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• 2024

This paper presents an anomaly detection system that uses an LSTM-Autoencoder model to identify early-stage anomalies in the blade pitch system of floating wind turbines. The sensor data used in power plant monitoring systems is primarily composed of multivariate time-series data for each component. Comprising two unidirectional LSTM networks, the system skillfully uncovers long-term dependencies hidden within sequential time-series data. The autoencoder mechanism, learning solely from normal state data, effectively classifies abnormal states. Thus, by integrating these two networks, the system can proficiently detect anomalies. To confirm the effectiveness of the proposed framework, a real multivariate time-series dataset collected from a wind turbine model was employed. The LSTM-autoencoder model showed robust performance, achieving high classification accuracy.

• International Journal of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.750-769
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• 2015

The geometry of engineering systems affects their performances. For this reason, the shape of engineering systems needs to be optimized in the initial design stage. However, engineering system design problems consist of multi-objective optimization and the performance analysis using commercial code or numerical analysis is generally time-consuming. To solve these problems, many engineers perform the optimization using the approximation model (response surface). The Response Surface Method (RSM) is generally used to predict the system performance in engineering research field, but RSM presents some prediction errors for highly nonlinear systems. The major objective of this research is to establish an optimal design method for multi-objective problems and confirm its applicability. The proposed process is composed of three parts: definition of geometry, generation of response surface, and optimization process. To reduce the time for performance analysis and minimize the prediction errors, the approximation model is generated using the Backpropagation Artificial Neural Network (BPANN) which is considered as Neuro-Response Surface Method (NRSM). The optimization is done for the generated response surface by non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm-II (NSGA-II). Through case studies of marine system and ship structure (substructure of floating offshore wind turbine considering hydrodynamics performances and bulk carrier bottom stiffened panels considering structure performance), we have confirmed the applicability of the proposed method for multi-objective side constraint optimization problems.

• International Journal of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.9-20
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• 2018

Due to integrated stochastic wind and wave loads, the supporting platform of a Floating Offshore Wind Turbine (FOWT) has to bear six Degrees of Freedom (DOF) motion, which makes the random cyclic loads acting on the structural components, for instance the tower base, more complicated than those on bottom-fixed or land-based wind turbines. These cyclic loads may cause unexpected fatigue damages on a FOWT. This paper presents a study on short-term fatigue damage at the tower base of a 5 MW FOWT with a spar-type platform. Fully coupled time-domain simulations code FAST is used and realistic environment conditions are considered to obtain the loads and structural stresses at the tower base. Then the cumulative fatigue damage is calculated based on rainflow counting method and Miner's rule. Moreover, the effects of the simulation length, the wind-wave misalignment, the wind-only condition and the wave-only condition on the fatigue damage are investigated. It is found that the wind and wave induced loads affect the tower base's axial stress separately and in a decoupled way, and the wave-induced fatigue damage is greater than that induced by the wind loads. Under the environment conditions with rated wind speed, the tower base experiences the highest fatigue damage when the joint probability of the wind and wave is included in the calculation. Moreover, it is also found that 1 h simulation length is sufficient to give an appropriate fatigue damage estimated life for FOWT.

• International Journal of Fluid Machinery and Systems
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.23-35
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• 2015

This paper presents the rotordynamic performance measurement of oil-free turbocharger (TC) supported on gas foil bearings (GFBs) for 2 liter class diesel vehicles and comparison to floating ring bearings (FRBs). Oil-free TC was designed and developed via the rotordynamic analyses using dynamic force coefficients from GFB analyses. The rotordynamics and performance of the oil-free TC was measured up to 85 krpm while being driven by a diesel vehicle engine, and compared to a commercial oil-lubricated TC supported on FRBs. The test results showed that the GFBs increased the rotor speed by ~ 20% at engine speeds of 1,500 rpm and 1,750 rpm, yielding the reduction of turbine input energy by more than 400 W. Incidentally, an external shock test on the oil-free TC casing was conducted at the rotor speed of 60 krpm, and showed a good capability of vibration damping due to the well-known dry friction mechanism of the GFBs.

• New & Renewable Energy
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.17-25
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• 2024

In this study, the effect of the time step specified in a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation on load response is analyzed and the drag coefficients of the floating body of floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs) are estimated. By evaluating the error in the FOWT load response and the change in the drag-coefficient values based on the density of the time intervals, this study aims to establish a time-interval setting that minimizes the time and cost of CFD simulations for selecting drag-coefficient values. Practical CFD utilization strategies necessary for the calibration of medium-to high-fidelity analysis tools are presented. Based on a comparative analysis of CFD simulations conducted at various time intervals, the results confirmed that under a certain time interval that sufficiently considers various factors, the accuracy of the FOWT response with respect to density shows minimal differences, thereby providing an efficient utilization method for CFD simulations in FOWT design and analysis.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.84-90
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• 2016

In this study, a six degree-of-freedom motion analysis of a wind-wave hybrid platform equipped with numerous wave energy converters (WECs) was carried out. To examine the effect of the WECs on the platform, an analysis of one-way coupling was carried out, which only considered the power take-off (PTO) damping of the static WECs on the platform. The equation of motion of a floating platform with mooring lines in the time domain was established, and the responses of the one-way coupled platform were then compared with the case of a platform without any coupling effects from the WECs. The hydrodynamic coefficients and wave exciting forces were obtained from the 3D diffraction/radiation pre-processor code WAMIT based on the boundary element method. Then, an analysis of the dynamic responses of the floating platform with or without the WEC effect in the time domain was carried out. All of the dynamics of a floating platform with multiple wind turbines were obtained by coupling FAST and CHARM3D in the time domain, which was further extended to include additional coupled dynamics for multiple turbines. The analysis showed that the PTO damping effect on platform motions was negligible, but coupled effects between multiple WECs and the platform may differentiate the heave, roll, and pitch platform motions from the one without any effects induced by WECs.

• 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.

• Ocean Systems Engineering
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.173-193
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• 2023

Reliable prediction of the motion of FOWT (floating offshore wind turbine) and associated mooring line tension is important in both design and operation/monitoring processes. In the present study, a 5MW OC4 semisubmersible wind turbine is numerically modeled, simulated, and analyzed by the open-source numerical tool, OpenFAST and in-house numerical tool, Charm3D-FAST. Another commercial-level program FASTv8-OrcaFlex is also introduced for comparison for selected cases. The three simulation programs solve the same turbine-floater-mooring coupled dynamics in time domain while there exist minor differences in the details of the program. Both the motions and mooring-line tensions are calculated and compared with the DeepCWind 1/50 scale model-testing results. The system identification between the numerical and physical models is checked through the static-offset test and free-decay test. Then the system motions and mooring tensions are systematically compared among the simulated results and measured values. Reasonably good agreements between the simulation and measurement are demonstrated for (i) white-noise random waves, (ii) typical random waves, and (iii) typical random waves with steady wind. Based on the comparison between numerical results and experimental data, the relative importance and role of the differences in the numerical methodologies of those three programs can be observed and interpreted. These comparative-study results may provide a certain confidence level and some insight of potential variability in motion and tension predictions for future FOWT designs and applications.

• Ocean Systems Engineering
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.87-110
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• 2020

Catamaran has recently been a choice to support a typical vertical axis turbine in floating tidal current energy conversion system. However, motion responses associated with the catamaran can reduce the turbines efficiency. The possibility to overcome this problem isto change the catamaran parameter by varying and simulating the demi-hull separations to have lower motion responses. This simulation was undertaken by Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) using potential flow analysis. Cases of demi-hull separation were considered, with ratios of demi-hull separation (S) to the breadth of demi-hull (B), ^S/_B of 3.45, 4.95, 6.45, 7.2 and 7.95. In order to compare to the previous works in the literature, the regular wave was set with wave height of 0.8 m. Furthermore, the analysis was carried out by irregular waves with significant wave height, H_s, of about 0.09 to 1.5 m and the wave period, T, of about 1.5 to 6 s or corresponding to the wave frequency, ω, of about 1.1 to 4.2 rad/s. The wave spectrum was derived from the equation of the International Towing Tank Conference (ITTC). For the case of turbines-loaded catamaran under consideration, the new finding is that the least significant amplitude response can be satisfied at the ratio ^S/_B of 7.2. This study indicates that selecting a right choice of demi-hull separation ratio could contribute in reducing motion responses of the tidal current turbines-loaded catamaran.