IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v18y2025i19p5228-d1763069.html

Experimental and Numerical Study of a Towing Test for a Barge-Type Floating Offshore Wind Turbine

Author

Listed:
  • Samuel Davis

    (Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Maine, 75 Long Road, Orono, ME 04469, USA
    Advanced Structures and Composites Center, University of Maine, 35 Flagstaff Road, Orono, ME 04469, USA)

  • Anthony Viselli

    (Advanced Structures and Composites Center, University of Maine, 35 Flagstaff Road, Orono, ME 04469, USA)

  • Amrit Verma

    (Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Maine, 75 Long Road, Orono, ME 04469, USA
    Advanced Structures and Composites Center, University of Maine, 35 Flagstaff Road, Orono, ME 04469, USA)

Abstract

Several experimental and numerical studies have been conducted on the towing behavior of floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs); however, these studies mainly focus on tension-leg platform (TLP) and semi-submersible designs with cylindrical features. The University of Maine’s VolturnUS+ concept is a cruciform-shaped barge-type FOWT with distinctive hydrodynamic properties that have not been characterized in previous research. This study presents basin-scale experiments that characterize the hydrodynamic drag properties of the VolturnUS+ platform, as well as observing the motion behavior of the platform and added resistance during towing in calm water and waves. The towing experiments are conducted in two towing configurations, with differing platform orientations and towline designs. The basin experiments are supplemented with a numerical study using computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations to explore flow-induced motion (FIM) on the platform during towing. In both the experiments and the CFD simulations, it was determined that the towing configuration significantly impacted the drag and motion characteristics of the platform, with the cruciform shape producing FIM phenomena. Observations from the towing tests confirmed the feasibility of towing the VolturnUS+ platform in the two orientations. The results and observations developed from the experimental and numerical towing studies will be used to inform numerical models for planning towing operations, as well as develop informed recommendations for towing similar cruciform-shaped structures in the future.

Suggested Citation

  • Samuel Davis & Anthony Viselli & Amrit Verma, 2025. "Experimental and Numerical Study of a Towing Test for a Barge-Type Floating Offshore Wind Turbine," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-26, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:18:y:2025:i:19:p:5228-:d:1763069
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/19/5228/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/19/5228/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mas-Soler, Jordi & Uzunoglu, Emre & Bulian, Gabriele & Guedes Soares, C. & Souto-Iglesias, Antonio, 2021. "An experimental study on transporting a free-float capable tension leg platform for a 10 MW wind turbine in waves," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 2158-2173.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kamarlouei, M. & Gaspar, J.F. & Calvario, M. & Hallak, T.S. & Mendes, M.J.G.C. & Thiebaut, F. & Guedes Soares, C., 2022. "Experimental study of wave energy converter arrays adapted to a semi-submersible wind platform," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 188(C), pages 145-163.
    2. Chen, Jianbing & Liu, Zenghui & Song, Yupeng & Peng, Yongbo & Li, Jie, 2022. "Experimental study on dynamic responses of a spar-type floating offshore wind turbine," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 560-578.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:18:y:2025:i:19:p:5228-:d:1763069. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager The email address of this maintainer does not seem to be valid anymore. Please ask MDPI Indexing Manager to update the entry or send us the correct address (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.