DYNAMIC RESPONSE CHARACTERISTICS OF A FLOATING WIND TURBINE TOWER AT LOW RESPONSE FREQUENCY

This paper presents experimental and numerical hydrodynamic load and damping results on a surface piercing pivoted circular cylinder, representing a monopile of a floating Marine Renewable installation (Spar-Buoy concept). The resulting load and damping characteristics are applied to predict the response characteristic of the pile and compared with experimental results. The main consideration is given to the characteristic of the cylinder due to steep wave action in the pitching mode. The experiments were conducted in the wave tank at the University of Glasgow using a cylinder model with a diameter of D = 0.21m that was constructed at the Imperial College London, to provide a structural to wave frequency ratio of 2 and 3. The outcome from the investigation supports the importance of the dynamic response to the successful operation of a deep water wind turbine installation.