Dynamic response analysis of floating offshore wind turbine with different types of heave plates and mooring systems by using a fully nonlinear model

A finite element model is developed for dynamic response prediction of floating offshore wind turbine systems considering coupling of wind turbine, floater and mooring system. The model employs Morison\'s equation with Srinivasan\'s model for hydrodynamic force and a non-hydrostatic model for restoring force. It is observed that for estimation of restoring force of a small floater, simple hydrostatic model underestimates the heave response after the resonance peak, while non-hydrostatic model shows good agreement with experiment. The developed model is used to discuss influence of heave plates and modeling of mooring system on floater response. Heave plates are found to influence heave response by shifting the resonance peak to longer period, while response after resonance is unaffected. The applicability of simplified linear modeling of mooring system is investigated using nonlinear model for Catenary and Tension Legged mooring. The linear model is found to provide good agreement with nonlinear model for Tension Leg mooring while it overestimates the surge response for Catenary mooring system. Floater response characteristics under different wave directions for the two types of mooring system are similar in all six modes but heave, pitch and roll amplitudes is negligible in tension leg due to high restraint. The reduced amplitude shall lead to reduction in wind turbine loads.