CFD - OFF-SHORE WIND TURBINE: WHEN AERODYNAMICS MEETS HYDRODYNAMICS

Before building offshore structures, scaled models are created to study experimentally the hydrodynamic behavior of the system. The hydrodynamic experiments are very important to analyze the off-shore wind turbine motions These tests are very expensive, mostly if multiple designs analyzed In most cases, the blades are not represented, which can alter the results. Scale model are defined using Froude similitude and scale effects are present leading sometimes to deviation from full scale. Thanks to CFD analysis, a full scaled numerical model can regroup hydrodynamic and aerodynamic effects with time and cost saving. The wind turbine is submitted to waves, using the VOF Waves model and the DFBI model for the heave motion. A sliding mesh for blades rotation using superposing motion, The use of AMR is done for the free surface refinement in the whole domain, the overset interface and the high vorticity locations due to the blade’s rotation. In this way, we can characterize how the wind turbine behaves in regular or irregular waves and how the air flow acts behind the blades.