Experimental investigation on the dynamic characteristics of connector and mooring force for a novel pontoon-type offshore floating photovoltaic array

Abstract

To meet the growing demand for renewable energy, Offshore Floating Photovoltaic (OFPV) systems have attracted increasing attention. In this paper, a novel pontoon-type platform was proposed for OFPV plant. A series of model tests at a scale of 1:14 were conducted under both regular and irregular wave conditions. Four array configurations of varying sizes were tested to investigate the effects of wavelength, wave period, wave steepness, the number of connection nodes, and array size on the mooring force and stress responses of the connection nodes. Experimental results show that wave steepness (H/L) significantly affects both mooring forces and nodal force, with exponential growth observed when H/L > 0.02 as wave period decreases. Since arrays exhibit multiple natural frequencies, resonance with wave frequencies and harmonics must be avoided to prevent excessive tension concentration on individual mooring lines. Additionally, connection nodes near the array center experience greater loads from surrounding pontoons, leading to higher stress concentrations. Increasing the number of connection nodes between pontoons can enhance array stiffness, thereby reducing both mooring forces and stress on individual connection nodes.