Session: Structural Design-2

Paper Number: 165403

165403 - A Detailed 3d Finite Element Method for Real-Time Calculation of Floating Wind Turbine Structural Dynamics 

Abstract: 

This work presents a novel methodology based on the Finite Element Method (FEM), developed for real-time analysis of detailed, full-length 3D models of the tower and substructure of floating wind turbines (several million degrees of freedom).

To enable real-time calculations, it is necessary to reduce the significant computational effort required by such a model. For this purpose, an order reduction technique based on the modal superposition method has been applied. In this approach, the FE structural dynamics are solved on the modal basis using a modal matrix reduction approach, where a large number of modes are used to obtain a high-fidelity solution of the complete finite element model. To further accelerate computations and enable real-time simulations of the platform's response, the modal response amplitude operators (MRAOs) of the structural response are computed offline.

To obtain the MRAOs of the structure, the structural dynamics equations in the modal basis are coupled with the time-domain seakeeping hydrodynamic solver SeaFEM to obtain a tightly coupled hydro-elastic solution, while mooring and rotor dynamics are modelled using linear approaches, characterized by mass, damping, and stiffness matrices. Under white noise spectra of wind and wave loads, coupled time-domain simulations are performed to extract the system’s response across a broad frequency range. The resulting MRAOs encapsulate the structural response characteristics, enabling rapid reconstruction of the platform’s dynamic behavior under arbitrary environmental conditions.

As an example of the acceleration achieved with this methodology, a demonstration case is presented in which 1,000 load cases, each lasting three hours, have been simulated in approximately one hour on a single workstation. Additionally, the application of this technology is showcased in the development of a digital twin for the W2Power platform, developed by Enerocean, including various tests conducted on a 1/6th-scale prototype.

This work has been developed under the H2020 project Fibregy (Development, engineering, production and life-cycle management of improved FIBRE-based material solutions for structure and functional components of large offshore wind enerGY and tidal power platform; https://fibregy.eu/).

Presenting Author: Julio Garcia-Espinosa Technical University of Madrid

Presenting Author Biography: Naval Architect and Ocean Engineer from the Technical University of Madrid (1996) and Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the Technical University of Catalonia (1999).

He is currently a Full Professor of Shipbuilding at the School of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering of the Technical University of Madrid and Deputy Director for Institutional Relations. His research activity is carried out in collaboration with the Hydrodynamics Model Basin at ETSIN (CEHINAV) and the International Center for Numerical Methods in Engineering (CIMNE).

His research career has focused on the development of computational models for coupled fluid-structure analysis and their application in the design and verification of ships, platforms, and marine structures.

He is the author of 36 articles published in indexed international journals, has presented over 80 papers at international conferences, and has participated in more than 25 European and international research projects.

He is also the promoter and co-founder of Compass IS, a company specializing in engineering design, and Scipedia, the developer of the Scipedia.com and BIM TeamUp platforms.

Authors:

Julio Garcia-Espinosa Technical University of Madrid
Borja Serván Camas International Centre for Numerical Methods in Engineering
Andrés Pastor Technical University of Madrid
Irene Berdugo Centre Internacional de Mètodes Numèrics a l'Enginyeria (CIMNE)