Experimental Study on Dynamic Responses of Floating Offshore Wind Turbines and Its Validation Against the Vector-Form Intrinsic Finite Element Method

Abstract

In this study, a novel rigid–flexible coupled computational model for floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs) is developed using the vector-form intrinsic finite element (VFIFE) method, named VFIFE-FOWT. This framework integrates multi-body dynamics and the VFIFE method to establish a comprehensive dynamic model for FOWTs, enabling high-fidelity simulations of FOWT systems. Validation of the VFIFE-FOWT model is conducted through comparisons with results from the industry-standard software OpenFAST, together with experimental data from a 1:80 scale model test of a shallow-draft stepped Spar platform equipped with a NREL 5MW wind turbine. The results demonstrate good agreement, verifying the accuracy and reliability of the proposed VFIFE-FOWT framework for predicting the dynamic behavior of FOWTs.

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