OpenFOAM modelling the equilibrium and free-decay tests of a semi-submersible FOWT model

Zhou, Yang, Qian, Ling ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9716-2342 and Li, Qian (2023) OpenFOAM modelling the equilibrium and free-decay tests of a semi-submersible FOWT model. In: The 33rd International Ocean and Polar Engineering Conference, 18 June 2023 - 23 June 2023, Ottawa, Canada.

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Abstract

This work forms a part of the contribution to the ”1st FOWT comparative study” for modelling floating offshore wind turbine (FOWT) hydrodynamics based on the wave tank tests of a 1:70 scaled moored VolturnUS semi-submersible floater model. Two sets of test cases have been simulated-one is a static equilibrium test and the other is the heave decay test to determine the natural frequencies of the coupled floater mooring system. The numerical modelling is carried out in a numerical wave tank using high-fidelity computational fluid dynamics based on the OpenFOAM toolbox and the results are generally in good agreement with the experimental measurements. In addition, it was found that the mooring lines have a significant influence on the pitch natural frequencies of the coupled system but their impact on the heave natural frequencies was minimal.