Rational Simplification of High Fidelity Wind Turbine Models Used for Mooring Analysis

Abstract

Abstract This study investigates the use of simplified turbine modelling in analysis of a soft mooring system (horizontal plane periods > 250 s). Two simplified turbine models are developed, tested and compared to a high fidelity turbine model in a case study of the INO WINDMOOR 12 MW FOWT with a soft mooring system. The chosen simplified modelling strategies are a drag disc model, a de-coupled approach where the aerodynamic loads are pre-calculated in a fixed turbine simulation and a model with reduced degrees-of-freedom. Corrections to the pre-calculated force model is also developed and compared. The results show that the pre-calculated force approach gives better comparisons to the full model than the drag disc model, and that applying a controller correction to account for the wind turbine controller’s response to floater motions improves the predicted response.