Experimental study on dynamic response of barge-type floating offshore wind turbine integrated with aquaculture cage

This study presents an experimental study of a scaled physical model of a novel integrated 10 MW barge-type floating offshore wind turbine with aquaculture cage system (BWACS). The work was conducted in a wave basin equipped with edge-mounted fans to simulate wave, current, and wind actions (all acting in the same direction) on the model. The hydrodynamic characteristics of the BWACS were compared with those of a barge-type floating offshore wind turbine system (BWS) without the aquaculture cage, to investigate the influence of the cage on the floating wind turbine's dynamic performance. The findings show that the motion responses of the BWACS under both normal and extreme environmental conditions remain within the allowable limits specified by DNVGL-ST-0119 for offshore operations at a water depth of 60 m, demonstrating its operational suitability under typical limit states. Additionally, the presence of the aquaculture cage increases the natural periods and damping of surge, heave, and pitch motions of BWACS. This study underscores the benefit of integrating an aquaculture cage with a floating wind turbine, as the cage structure enhances hydrodynamic damping of the system, thereby reducing motion responses, particularly surge motion, under regular wave conditions, while also providing additional income through fish production.