Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Hydrodynamic Response of Spar with Wind Turbine under Random Waves

Abstract

In this paper, experimental and numerical investigation on the motion response of Spar with wind turbine subjected to random waves are presented and discussed. The studies were carried out for three different cases: (a) Spar with wind turbine subjected to waves when the turbine blades are in stationary condition; (b) Spar with wind turbine in operating condition under calm sea state; (c) Spar with wind turbine subjected to waves when the turbine blades are in operating condition. The numerical investigation was carried out using hydrodynamic software Ansys AQWA. The influence of the turbine blade rotation on the motion response of the Spar was investigated and the responses of the system under random waves were presented in terms of statistical values. The experimental results and the results obtained from numerical investigation matches reasonably well. The motion response of the system has increased by about 30%, 20% and 25% for surge, heave and pitch respectively, for turbine blades in rotating condition when compared with Spar with wind turbine in stationary condition.