Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Design Load Analysis Of Two Floating Offshore Wind Turbine Concepts, Gordon M. Stewart

Doctoral Dissertations

Much of the United States' wind resource is located over deep water where fixed-bottom offshore wind turbines are cost-prohibitive. To capture this energy, floating offshore wind turbines are being developed. However, current design standards do not explicitly cover issues relating to floating offshore wind turbines, which leads to risk and uncertainty in the design process. Two important issues that this dissertation investigates are the effect of simulation length and wind and wave misalignment on fatigue and ultimate loads. Experience in the offshore floating oil and gas industry has recommended simulation lengths of 3-6 hours, but the wind industry typically simulates …