Survivability of Floating Offshore Wind Turbines using CFD

Floating offshore wind turbines (FOWT) appear to be a logical step, as the industry moves into deeper water. However, uncertainty in the dynamic response of FOWT and mooring-coupled systems represents a high risk, particularly with the increasing frequency of storm conditions, due to climate change. 'Survivability' of FOWTs, under the combined loading from extreme wind and waves, remains a key concern and underpinning research is needed to de-risk projects and reduce the uncertainties.

Numerical modelling can provide the quantitative description required for engineering analysis at full-scale making it possible to represent both the aero- and hydro-dynamic regimes correctly. However, large wave impacts and extreme wind loading require the use of high fidelity modelling, such as Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), and considerable effort is still required to improve the confidence in these tools.