The platform motions of floating wind turbines can elicit large-scale unsteady responses in the downstream wake behaviour. This has consequences for farm-scale power production and fatigue loading on turbines. As such, optimal design for future floating offshore wind farms requires an improved understanding of the complex mechanisms that drive these unsteady flows. This challenge is further complicated by the turbulent sheared inflow typical of offshore environments. In this study, we investigate the relationship between floating turbine motion-induced wake dynamics and offshore wind conditions using high-fidelity numerical simulations. A precursor simulation is used to develop a representative sheared turbulent flow. Subsequently, the flow is injected into a successor simulation wherein an actuator line model provides a virtual representation of the turbine. This methodology enables a high-resolution view of the unsteady fluid mechanics, such as discrete blade effects and the subsequent wake dynamics, while maintaining computational feasibility. Addressing this multi-scale problem demands significant computational resources and highlights the role of high-performance computing in advancing technologies critical to net-zero energy goals.
Green et al. (Thu,) studied this question.