![Two floating windmills being transported to a floating offshore wind farm](https://www.mmu.ac.uk/sites/default/files/styles/page_header_half/public/2021-07/Floating-wind-turbine.jpg?h=bb941b98&itok=sfpej7mk)
Research: Extreme loading on floating wind turbines
Informing the design, manufacturing and testing of floating offshore wind turbines under harsh marine environments.
Research summary
Research summary
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October 2019 to October 2022
This project aims to inform the design, manufacturing and testing of floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs).
Most offshore wind turbines are located in relatively shallow water, mounted on fixed bottom support structures.
Suitable shallow water sites with high wind resources are limited. And to reduce the environmental and visual impact of turbines, FOWT systems can be used to extend wind turbines to deeper water.
We are characterising extreme loading on FOWTs under complex and harsh marine environments using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling and physical wave tank tests.
These environments are usually represented by the complex interplay between storm conditions including:
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strong wind
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extreme waves
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significant currents
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rising sea level
This work has direct relevance to the current and planned activities in the UK to develop new technology in offshore wind.
We are also creating a suite of hierarchical numerical models that can be routinely applied for fast and detailed analysis of the specific flow problem of environmental (wind, wave and current) loading, and dynamic responses of FOWTs under realistic storm conditions.
To improve understanding of the underlying physics that validate the numerical models, we are conducting a new experimental programme in the COAST laboratory at the University of Plymouth.
Towards the end of our project, we will release the fully documented CFD software and experimental data sets.
They will be available in the public domain for relevant industrial users to aid the design of future FOWT support structures, and to ensure safe operation at maximum power output.
Research outputs
Academic papers
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Lin, Z, Qian, L, Bai, W and Ma, Z (2021) Simulation of Steep Focused Wave Impact on a Fixed Cylinder Using Fully Nonlinear Potential Flow and Navier–Stokes Solvers International Journal of Offshore and Polar Engineering, 31(1), pp 78-86
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Lin, Z, Chen, H, Qian, L, Ma, Z, Causon, D and Mingham, C (2021) Simulating focused wave impacts on point absorber wave energy converters Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Engineering and Computational Mechanics, 174(1), pp 19-34
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Lin, Z, Qian, L and Bai, W (2021) Numerical Simulation of Liquid Sloshing Using a Fully nonlinear Potential Flow Model in the Non-inertial Coordinate System Proceedings of the 31st International Offshore and Polar Engineering Conference
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Lin, Z, Qian, L and Bai, W (2021) A Coupled Overset CFD and Mooring Line Model for Floating Wind Turbine Hydrodynamics Proceedings of the 31st International Offshore and Polar Engineering Conference
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Lin, Z, Qian, L, Bai, W, Ma, Z, Chen, H, Zhou, JG and Gu, H (2020) A Finite Volume Based Fully Nonlinear Potential Flow Model for Water Wave Problems Applied Ocean Research, 106, pp 102445-102445
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Lin, Z, Qian, L, Bai, W and Ma, Z (2020) Simulation of steep focused wave interaction with a fixed cylinder using fully nonlinear potential flow and Navier-Stokes solvers Proceedings of the 30th International Offshore and Polar Engineering Conference, pp 2278-2285
Research team
Research team
Lead researcher
Co-researchers
Collaborating with:
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Arap Group Ltd
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City University of London
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DNV GL (UK)
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Floating Power Plant
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Lancaster University
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Lloyd’s Registry Group
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Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult
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SINTEF Energi AS
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Science and Technology Facilities Council
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Tetrafloat Ltd
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University of Plymouth
Funding
With funding from
![Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council logo](/sites/default/files/styles/logo_scalable/public/2021-07/Engineering%20and%20Physical%20Sciences%20Research%20Council%20logo.png?itok=pXfsX5FG)
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
Contact
Contact us
For general enquiries about this project and our Mathematical Modelling and Flow Analysis research theme, you can contact Prof Ling Qian.