EngD Project Title: Physical Model Testing Approaches for the Assessment of FOWT’s in Extreme Sea States

Industrial Partner: FloWave

Abstract: The project aims to explore how tank testing outcomes can be applied to associated design problems, for example, evaluate the impacts of dynamic motion of FOWTs – induced by combined wind, wave, and current loading - on the drivetrains of these devices.
While there are many parameters of interest for FOWT platforms, the current research is exploring the peak accelerations at the nacelle in extreme sea states, which is a quantity related to the loads and can indicate survival limits. This is also a useful metric for scaled tank testing experiments as it scales 1:1 with full-scale models, reducing uncertainty.
Initial tests carried out at the Curved Tank facility at the University of Edinburgh, with a 1:100 scaled model, will aim to establish the feasibility of quantifying nacelle loading through laboratory-scale physical hydrodynamic modelling.