Novel Approaches for Physical Model Testing of Floating Wind Turbine Platforms

The project

The “standard” approach to modelling wind loads on a floating offshore wind turbine in a hydrodynamic test is via direct physical simulation, using a correctly-scaled working model of the turbine operating in a scaled wind field above the test tank. This poses a number of challenges. Generating a wind field of high controllability and large volume over the tank is difficult and expensive, and scaled model testing can led to manufacturing challenges. An alternative possibility is to utilize “software-in-the-loop” (SIL) in which an active control system drives an actuator in real time to generate system excitation forces in a model test. While it offers a number of benefits, a significant number of challenges remain for this type of testing. This project aims to address the challenges of existing SIL approaches by developing and validating novel approaches to, and practices for, SIL modelling of floating wind turbines in physical model tests.

Professor Sandy Day - Principal Investigator

Sandy Day is Professor of Marine Hydrodynamics in the Naval Architecture Ocean and Marine Engineering Dept. at Strathclyde University, and is the Director of the University’s Kelvin Hydrodynamics Laboratory. His research interests lie in computational and experimental hydrodynamics; he is actively engaged in fundamental and industry-focussed research on energy efficiency of ships, motions and loads on ships and offshore oil and gas structures, and performance of offshore renewable energy devices, as well as sports hydrodynamics applied to sailing rowing and kayaking.

He is highly active in the International Towing Tank Conference (ITTC), which sets best-practice standards for large-scale hydrodynamics facilities worldwide; he has recently chaired the ITTC committee on Hydrodynamic Testing of Marine Renewable Energy Devices, and was responsible for writing new best-practice standards for tank testing of offshore wind, wave and tidal energy devices.