STUDY ON MOTION ANALYSIS OF SPAR TYPE FLOATING TOWING

Abstract

 In the construction process of a spar-type floating wind turbine, it is necessary to understand the motion characteristics during towing of a spar-type floating towing structure from the floating structure fabrication site to the wind farm area in the open sea, and to establish workability criteria. In this study, we performed an OpenFOAM analysis based on the results of hydraulic model tests on towing a spar type floating buoy under lateral wave action, and confirmed the reproducibility of the analysis by OpenFOAM. Pitching and heaving motions that follow wave height and wave period were also reproduced well. The tension force acting on the towing cable was found to be accurate enough to be used in design calculations when the safety factor was taken into account. These results suggest the usefulness of OpenFOAM for towing analysis.