Numerical Investigation on the Influence of Support Structure Modeling Strategies on the Loads of a Generic 5-MW Turbine on a Jacket Support Structure

Load simulations play an important role in the design, certification and optimization procedures for the development of reliable and cost efficient offshore wind turbines (OWTs). For load simulations of OWTs, aero-hydro-servo-elastic tools are used. However, the joint flexibilities of the support structures are generally not modeled in detail in these tools, which may lead to lower accuracy of the resulting loads. In this study, a generic 5 MW OWT in 50m water depth is investigated. The jacket support structure of the OWT is modeled by using different modeling strategies in which the joints are modeled in different levels of detail, so that the influence of these flexibilities on the loading of the OWT is inspected.Aerospace EngineeringWind EnergySustainable Energy Technolog