Conceptual design of floating wind turbines

The need for different numerical models with varying degrees of simplification for the conceptual design of a floating offshore wind turbine is the focus of this paper. While parts on the component level can be designed apart from the others the overall dynamics on the system level have to be assessed from the beginning. Starting with very simple models and identifying the significant contributions to the system behavior while going step by step to more detailed ones makes a successful dimensioning possible. The significant effect of the blade pitch controller on the system dynamics is analysed and preliminarily designed with a simple 1-degree of freedom (dof) model. Further on the section forces at tower base and the distributed platform loads are calculated with a 9-dof multibody system with simplified aerodynamics and Morison equation allowing a pre-dimensioning of the structure