Articles | Volume 9, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1069-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1069-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
03 May 2024
Research article |
| 03 May 2024
| 03 May 2024
Going beyond BEM with BEM: an insight into dynamic inflow effects on floating wind turbines
Department of Industrial Engineering, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Florence, 50139, Italy
Jason Jonkman
National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO, USA
Amy Robertson
National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO, USA
Alessandro Bianchini
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Department of Industrial Engineering, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Florence, 50139, Italy
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This paper studies the Instantaneous Centre of Rotation (ICR) of Floating Offshore Wind Turbines (FOWTs). We present a method for computing the ICR and examine the correlations between the external loading, design features, ICR statistics, motions, and loads. We demonstrate how to apply the new insights to successfully modify the designs of the spar and semisubmersible FOWTs to reduce the loads in the moorings, the tower, and the blades, improving the ultimate strength and fatigue properties.
Lucas Carmo, Jason Jonkman, and Regis Thedin
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As floating wind turbines progress to arrays with multiple units, it becomes important to understand how the wake of a floating turbine affects the performance of other units in the array. Due to the compliance of the floating substructure, the wake of a floating wind turbine may behave differently from that of a fixed turbine. In this work, we present an investigation of the mutual interaction between the motions of floating wind turbines and wakes.
Kenneth Brown, Pietro Bortolotti, Emmanuel Branlard, Mayank Chetan, Scott Dana, Nathaniel deVelder, Paula Doubrawa, Nicholas Hamilton, Hristo Ivanov, Jason Jonkman, Christopher Kelley, and Daniel Zalkind
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 1791–1810, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1791-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1791-2024, 2024
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This paper presents a study of the popular wind turbine design tool OpenFAST. We compare simulation results to measurements obtained from a 2.8 MW land-based wind turbine. Measured wind conditions were used to generate turbulent flow fields through several techniques. We show that successful validation of the tool is not strongly dependent on the inflow generation technique used for mean quantities of interest. The type of inflow assimilation method has a larger effect on fatigue quantities.
Kelsey Shaler, Eliot Quon, Hristo Ivanov, and Jason Jonkman
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 1451–1463, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1451-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1451-2024, 2024
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Roger Bergua, Will Wiley, Amy Robertson, Jason Jonkman, Cédric Brun, Jean-Philippe Pineau, Quan Qian, Wen Maoshi, Alec Beardsell, Joshua Cutler, Fabio Pierella, Christian Anker Hansen, Wei Shi, Jie Fu, Lehan Hu, Prokopios Vlachogiannis, Christophe Peyrard, Christopher Simon Wright, Dallán Friel, Øyvind Waage Hanssen-Bauer, Carlos Renan dos Santos, Eelco Frickel, Hafizul Islam, Arjen Koop, Zhiqiang Hu, Jihuai Yang, Tristan Quideau, Violette Harnois, Kelsey Shaler, Stefan Netzband, Daniel Alarcón, Pau Trubat, Aengus Connolly, Seán B. Leen, and Oisín Conway
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 1025–1051, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1025-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1025-2024, 2024
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This paper provides a comparison for a floating offshore wind turbine between the motion and loading estimated by numerical models and measurements. The floating support structure is a novel design that includes a counterweight to provide floating stability to the system. The comparison between numerical models and the measurements includes system motion, tower loads, mooring line loads, and loading within the floating support structure.
Francesco Papi, Giancarlo Troise, Robert Behrens de Luna, Joseph Saverin, Sebastian Perez-Becker, David Marten, Marie-Laure Ducasse, and Alessandro Bianchini
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 981–1004, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-981-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-981-2024, 2024
Short summary
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Wind turbines need to be simulated for thousands of hours to estimate design loads. Mid-fidelity numerical models are typically used for this task to strike a balance between computational cost and accuracy. The considerable displacements of floating wind turbines may be a challenge for some of these models. This paper enhances comprehension of how modeling theories affect floating wind turbine loads by comparing three codes across three turbines, simulated in a real environment.
Pier Francesco Melani, Omar Sherif Mohamed, Stefano Cioni, Francesco Balduzzi, and Alessandro Bianchini
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 601–622, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-601-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-601-2024, 2024
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Robert Behrens de Luna, Sebastian Perez-Becker, Joseph Saverin, David Marten, Francesco Papi, Marie-Laure Ducasse, Félicien Bonnefoy, Alessandro Bianchini, and Christian-Oliver Paschereit
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 623–649, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-623-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-623-2024, 2024
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A novel hydrodynamic module of QBlade is validated on three floating offshore wind turbine concepts with experiments and two widely used simulation tools. Further, a recently proposed method to enhance the prediction of slowly varying drift forces is adopted and tested in varying met-ocean conditions. The hydrodynamic capability of QBlade matches the current state of the art and demonstrates significant improvement regarding the prediction of slowly varying drift forces with the enhanced model.
Emmanuel Branlard, Jason Jonkman, Cameron Brown, and Jiatian Zhang
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 1–24, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1-2024, 2024
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In this work, we implement, verify, and validate a physics-based digital twin solution applied to a floating offshore wind turbine. The article present methods to obtain reduced-order models of floating wind turbines. The models are used to form a digital twin which combines measurements from the TetraSpar prototype (a full-scale floating offshore wind turbine) to estimate signals that are not typically measured.
Stefano Cioni, Francesco Papi, Leonardo Pagamonci, Alessandro Bianchini, Néstor Ramos-García, Georg Pirrung, Rémi Corniglion, Anaïs Lovera, Josean Galván, Ronan Boisard, Alessandro Fontanella, Paolo Schito, Alberto Zasso, Marco Belloli, Andrea Sanvito, Giacomo Persico, Lijun Zhang, Ye Li, Yarong Zhou, Simone Mancini, Koen Boorsma, Ricardo Amaral, Axelle Viré, Christian W. Schulz, Stefan Netzband, Rodrigo Soto-Valle, David Marten, Raquel Martín-San-Román, Pau Trubat, Climent Molins, Roger Bergua, Emmanuel Branlard, Jason Jonkman, and Amy Robertson
Wind Energ. Sci., 8, 1659–1691, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-1659-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-1659-2023, 2023
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Simulations of different fidelities made by the participants of the OC6 project Phase III are compared to wind tunnel wake measurements on a floating wind turbine. Results in the near wake confirm that simulations and experiments tend to diverge from the expected linearized quasi-steady behavior when the reduced frequency exceeds 0.5. In the far wake, the impact of platform motion is overestimated by simulations and even seems to be oriented to the generation of a wake less prone to dissipation.
Will Wiley, Jason Jonkman, Amy Robertson, and Kelsey Shaler
Wind Energ. Sci., 8, 1575–1595, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-1575-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-1575-2023, 2023
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A sensitivity analysis determined the modeling parameters for an operating floating offshore wind turbine with the biggest impact on the ultimate and fatigue loads. The loads were the most sensitive to the standard deviation of the wind speed. Ultimate and fatigue mooring loads were highly sensitive to the current speed; only the fatigue mooring loads were sensitive to wave parameters. The largest platform rotation was the most sensitive to the platform horizontal center of gravity.
Paula Doubrawa, Kelsey Shaler, and Jason Jonkman
Wind Energ. Sci., 8, 1475–1493, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-1475-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-1475-2023, 2023
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Wind turbines are designed to withstand any wind conditions they might encounter. This includes high-turbulence flow fields found within wind farms due to the presence of the wind turbines themselves. The international standard allows for two ways to account for wind farm turbulence in the design process. We compared both ways and found large differences between them. To avoid overdesign and enable a site-specific design, we suggest moving towards validated, higher-fidelity simulation tools.
Paul Veers, Carlo L. Bottasso, Lance Manuel, Jonathan Naughton, Lucy Pao, Joshua Paquette, Amy Robertson, Michael Robinson, Shreyas Ananthan, Thanasis Barlas, Alessandro Bianchini, Henrik Bredmose, Sergio González Horcas, Jonathan Keller, Helge Aagaard Madsen, James Manwell, Patrick Moriarty, Stephen Nolet, and Jennifer Rinker
Wind Energ. Sci., 8, 1071–1131, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-1071-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-1071-2023, 2023
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Critical unknowns in the design, manufacturing, and operation of future wind turbine and wind plant systems are articulated, and key research activities are recommended.
Roger Bergua, Amy Robertson, Jason Jonkman, Emmanuel Branlard, Alessandro Fontanella, Marco Belloli, Paolo Schito, Alberto Zasso, Giacomo Persico, Andrea Sanvito, Ervin Amet, Cédric Brun, Guillén Campaña-Alonso, Raquel Martín-San-Román, Ruolin Cai, Jifeng Cai, Quan Qian, Wen Maoshi, Alec Beardsell, Georg Pirrung, Néstor Ramos-García, Wei Shi, Jie Fu, Rémi Corniglion, Anaïs Lovera, Josean Galván, Tor Anders Nygaard, Carlos Renan dos Santos, Philippe Gilbert, Pierre-Antoine Joulin, Frédéric Blondel, Eelco Frickel, Peng Chen, Zhiqiang Hu, Ronan Boisard, Kutay Yilmazlar, Alessandro Croce, Violette Harnois, Lijun Zhang, Ye Li, Ander Aristondo, Iñigo Mendikoa Alonso, Simone Mancini, Koen Boorsma, Feike Savenije, David Marten, Rodrigo Soto-Valle, Christian W. Schulz, Stefan Netzband, Alessandro Bianchini, Francesco Papi, Stefano Cioni, Pau Trubat, Daniel Alarcon, Climent Molins, Marion Cormier, Konstantin Brüker, Thorsten Lutz, Qing Xiao, Zhongsheng Deng, Florence Haudin, and Akhilesh Goveas
Wind Energ. Sci., 8, 465–485, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-465-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-465-2023, 2023
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This work examines if the motion experienced by an offshore floating wind turbine can significantly affect the rotor performance. It was observed that the system motion results in variations in the load, but these variations are not critical, and the current simulation tools capture the physics properly. Interestingly, variations in the rotor speed or the blade pitch angle can have a larger impact than the system motion itself.
Koen Boorsma, Gerard Schepers, Helge Aagard Madsen, Georg Pirrung, Niels Sørensen, Galih Bangga, Manfred Imiela, Christian Grinderslev, Alexander Meyer Forsting, Wen Zhong Shen, Alessandro Croce, Stefano Cacciola, Alois Peter Schaffarczyk, Brandon Lobo, Frederic Blondel, Philippe Gilbert, Ronan Boisard, Leo Höning, Luca Greco, Claudio Testa, Emmanuel Branlard, Jason Jonkman, and Ganesh Vijayakumar
Wind Energ. Sci., 8, 211–230, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-211-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-211-2023, 2023
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Within the framework of the fourth phase of the International Energy Agency's (IEA) Wind Task 29, a large comparison exercise between measurements and aeroelastic simulations has been carried out. Results were obtained from more than 19 simulation tools of various fidelity, originating from 12 institutes and compared to state-of-the-art field measurements. The result is a unique insight into the current status and accuracy of rotor aerodynamic modeling.
Kelsey Shaler, Amy N. Robertson, and Jason Jonkman
Wind Energ. Sci., 8, 25–40, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-25-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-25-2023, 2023
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This work evaluates which wind-inflow- and wake-related parameters have the greatest influence on fatigue and ultimate loads for turbines in a small wind farm. Twenty-eight parameters were screened using an elementary effects approach to identify the parameters that lead to the largest variation in these loads of each turbine. The findings show the increased importance of non-streamwise wind components and wake parameters in fatigue and ultimate load sensitivity of downstream turbines.
Paul Veers, Katherine Dykes, Sukanta Basu, Alessandro Bianchini, Andrew Clifton, Peter Green, Hannele Holttinen, Lena Kitzing, Branko Kosovic, Julie K. Lundquist, Johan Meyers, Mark O'Malley, William J. Shaw, and Bethany Straw
Wind Energ. Sci., 7, 2491–2496, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-2491-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-2491-2022, 2022
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Wind energy will play a central role in the transition of our energy system to a carbon-free future. However, many underlying scientific issues remain to be resolved before wind can be deployed in the locations and applications needed for such large-scale ambitions. The Grand Challenges are the gaps in the science left behind during the rapid growth of wind energy. This article explains the breadth of the unfinished business and introduces 10 articles that detail the research needs.
Alessandro Bianchini, Galih Bangga, Ian Baring-Gould, Alessandro Croce, José Ignacio Cruz, Rick Damiani, Gareth Erfort, Carlos Simao Ferreira, David Infield, Christian Navid Nayeri, George Pechlivanoglou, Mark Runacres, Gerard Schepers, Brent Summerville, David Wood, and Alice Orrell
Wind Energ. Sci., 7, 2003–2037, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-2003-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-2003-2022, 2022
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The paper is part of the Grand Challenges Papers for Wind Energy. It provides a status of small wind turbine technology in terms of technical maturity, diffusion, and cost. Then, five grand challenges that are thought to be key to fostering the development of the technology are proposed. To tackle these challenges, a series of unknowns and gaps are first identified and discussed. Improvement areas are highlighted, within which 10 key enabling actions are finally proposed to the wind community.
Jörg Alber, Marinos Manolesos, Guido Weinzierl-Dlugosch, Johannes Fischer, Alexander Schönmeier, Christian Navid Nayeri, Christian Oliver Paschereit, Joachim Twele, Jens Fortmann, Pier Francesco Melani, and Alessandro Bianchini
Wind Energ. Sci., 7, 943–965, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-943-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-943-2022, 2022
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This paper investigates the potentials and the limitations of mini Gurney flaps and their combination with vortex generators for improved rotor blade performance of wind turbines. These small passive add-ons are installed in order to increase the annual energy production by mitigating the effects of both early separation toward the root region and surface erosion toward the tip region of the blade. As such, this study contributes to the reliable and long-term generation of renewable energy.
Rodrigo Soto-Valle, Stefano Cioni, Sirko Bartholomay, Marinos Manolesos, Christian Navid Nayeri, Alessandro Bianchini, and Christian Oliver Paschereit
Wind Energ. Sci., 7, 585–602, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-585-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-585-2022, 2022
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This paper compares different vortex identification methods to evaluate their suitability to study the tip vortices of a wind turbine. The assessment is done through experimental data from the wake of a wind turbine model. Results show comparability in some aspects as well as significant differences, providing evidence to justify further comparisons. Therefore, this study proves that the selection of the most suitable postprocessing methods of tip vortex data is pivotal to ensure robust results.
Jason M. Jonkman, Emmanuel S. P. Branlard, and John P. Jasa
Wind Energ. Sci., 7, 559–571, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-559-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-559-2022, 2022
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This paper summarizes efforts done to understand the impact of design parameter variations in the physical system (e.g., mass, stiffness, geometry, aerodynamic, and hydrodynamic coefficients) on the linearized system using OpenFAST in support of the development of the WEIS toolset to enable controls co-design of floating offshore wind turbines.
Emmanuel Branlard, Ian Brownstein, Benjamin Strom, Jason Jonkman, Scott Dana, and Edward Ian Baring-Gould
Wind Energ. Sci., 7, 455–467, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-455-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-455-2022, 2022
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In this work, we present an aerodynamic tool that can model an arbitrary collections of wings, blades, rotors, and towers. With these functionalities, the tool can be used to study and design advanced wind energy concepts, such as horizontal-axis wind turbines, vertical-axis wind turbines, kites, or multi-rotors. This article describes the key features of the tool and presents multiple applications. Field measurements of horizontal- and vertical-axis wind turbines are used for comparison.
Matthias Kretschmer, Jason Jonkman, Vasilis Pettas, and Po Wen Cheng
Wind Energ. Sci., 6, 1247–1262, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-6-1247-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-6-1247-2021, 2021
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We perform a validation of the new simulation tool FAST.Farm for the prediction of power output and structural loads in single wake conditions with respect to measurement data from the offshore wind farm alpha ventus. With a new wake-added turbulence functionality added to FAST.Farm, good agreement between simulations and measurements is achieved for the considered quantities. We hereby give insights into load characteristics of an offshore wind turbine subjected to single wake conditions.
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Short summary
Blade element momentum (BEM) theory is the backbone of many industry-standard aerodynamic models. However, the analysis of floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs) introduces new challenges, which could put BEM models to the test. This study systematically compares four aerodynamic models, ranging from BEM to computational fluid dynamics, in an attempt to shed light on the unsteady aerodynamic phenomena that are at stake in FOWTs and whether BEM is able to model them appropriately.
Blade element momentum (BEM) theory is the backbone of many industry-standard aerodynamic...
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