Offshore Code Comparison Collaboration, Continuation: Phase II Results of a Floating Semisubmersible Wind System: Preprint

Offshore wind turbines are designed and analyzed using comprehensive simulation tools that account for the coupled dynamics of the wind inflow, aerodynamics, elasticity, and controls of the turbine, along with the incident waves, sea current, hydrodynamics, and foundation dynamics of the support structure. The Offshore Code Comparison Collaboration (OC3), which operated under the International Energy Agency (IEA) Wind Task 23, was established to verify the accuracy of these simulation tools [1]. This work was then extended under the Offshore Code Comparison Collaboration, Continuation (OC4) project under IEA Wind Task 30 [2]. Both of these projects sought to verify the accuracy of offshore wind turbine dynamics simulation tools (or codes) through code-to-code comparison of simulated responses of various offshore structures. This paper describes the latest findings from Phase II of the OC4 project, which involved the analysis of a 5-MW turbine supported by a floating semisubmersible. Twenty-two different organizations from 11 different countries submitted results using 24 different simulation tools. The variety of organizations contributing to the project brought together expertise from both the offshore structure and wind energy communities. Twenty-one different load cases were examined, encompassing varying levels of model complexity and a variety of metocean conditions. Differences in the results demonstrate the importance and accuracy of the various modeling approaches used. Significant findings include the importance of mooring dynamics to the mooring loads, the role nonlinear hydrodynamic terms play in calculating drift forces for the platform motions, and the difference between global (at the platform level) and local (at the member level) modeling of viscous drag. The results from this project will help guide development and improvement efforts for these tools to ensure that they are providing the accurate information needed to support the design and analysis needs of the offshore wind community.