Scale model and ship simulator towing of the IEA 15 MW wind turbine on the UMaine VolturnUS-S platform
Adam Roberts, Frédéric Le Pivert, Saied Kazemi, Tom Tosdevin, Adán López-Santander, Matthew J. Craven, Lars Johanning
Abstract
Floating offshore wind turbines are expected to be deployed in significant numbers across the globe in the coming decades, with wet towing of these structures between ports and farms a key operation in their installation, maintenance, and decommissioning. Platforms are likely to be towed across large distances, and accurate understanding of tow dynamics will be crucial to optimising these journeys to minimise costs, timescales, emissions, and risk. This paper presents experimental and ship simulator modelling of the oceanic towing of the IEA 15 MW turbine on the UMaine VolturnUS-S platform. The work provides indicative data for floating offshore wind turbines under tow, investigates the effect of added wave resistance in head seas, and discusses some of the challenges with traditional modelling and the effectiveness of using a ship simulator to model study offshore wind turbine towing operations.