Fast Frequency-Domain Based Tool for FOWT Platforms Preliminary Design

An efficient frequency-domain numerical tool for the preliminary design of the floating offshore wind substructures is developed and validated against a time-domain state-of-the-art method. The tool is based on an existing simplified frequency-domain response model that has been improved through the coupling of two developed modules that perform an efficient hydrodynamic analysis compared to the radiation-diffraction analysis. The first module estimates the linear hydrodynamic coefficients by means of interpolation functions and the second module calculates the second-order hydrodynamic loads based on the Morison and Rainey force models. Both modules have been validated with radiation-diffraction analysis. The proposed tool enables a fast comparative analysis between many floater designs for a given wind turbine and identifies 1000 times faster than the state-of-the-art methods those that meet the predefined requirements.