Characteristic Aerodynamic Loads and Load Effects on the Dynamics of a Floating Vertical Axis Wind Turbine

The development of offshore wind farms in deep water favors floating wind turbine designs, but floating horizontal axis wind turbines are facing the challenge of high cost of energy (CoE). The development of innovative designs to reduce the CoE is thus desirable, such as floating vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTs). This study demonstrates the characteristics of aerodynamic loads and load effects of a two-bladed floating VAWT supported by a semi-submersible platform. Fully coupled simulations are performed using the time-domain aero-hydro-servo-elastic code SIMO-RIFLEX-AC. It is found that thrust, lateral force, and aerodynamic torque vary considerably and periodically with the rotor azimuth angle. However, the variation in the generator torque can be alleviated to some extent by the control strategy applied. Moreover, the variations of platform motions and tensions in the mooring lines are strongly influenced by turbulent winds, whereas those of tower-base bending moments are not. The towerbase bending moments exhibit notable two-per-revolution (2P) response characteristics.