Research on the Blades and Performance of Semi-Submersible Wind Turbines with Different Capacities

• Published in: Energies (Basel) Vol. 17; no. 13; p. 3259
• Main Authors: Cui, Jiaping, Cao, Zhigang, Lyu, Pin, Peng, Huaiwu, Li, Quankun, Ma, Ruixian, Liu, Yingming
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.07.2024
• Subjects: Alternative energy sources; blade root load; flexible deformation; floating wind turbine; Load; Offshore; power output; Range of motion; Simulation; Turbines; Wind power
• DOI: 10.3390/en17133259
• ISSN: 1996-1073

With the gradual increase in the maturity of wind energy technology, floating offshore wind turbines have progressively moved from small-capacity demonstrations to large-capacity commercial applications. As a direct component of wind turbines used to capture wind energy, an increase in the blade length directly leads to an increase in blade flexibility and a decrease in aerodynamic performance. Furthermore, if the floater has an additional six degrees of freedom, the movement and load of the blade under the combined action of wind and waves are more complicated. In this work, two types of semi-submersible wind turbines with different capacities are used as the research objects, and the load and motion characteristics of the blades of these floating offshore wind turbines are studied. Through the analysis of the simulation data, the following conclusions are drawn: with the increase in the capacity of the wind turbine, the flexible deformation of the blade increases, the movement range of the blade tip becomes larger, the blade root load increases, and the power fluctuation is more obvious. Compared with the bottom-fixed wind turbine, the flexible blade deformation of the floating offshore wind turbine is smaller; however, the blade root load is more dispersed, and the power output is more unstable and lower.