Master Thesis: Drivetrain Load Mitigation of a 15 MW Floating Offshore Wind Turbine (FOWT)

The Chair for Wind Power Drives researches the behavior of drive systems in modern multi-megawatt wind turbines. Research topics are increasing the availability, robustness and energy efficiency of wind turbines as well as decreasing levelized cost of electricity. A combination of software development tools and modern system test benches are used for this.

Floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs) have significant advantages such as steady winds and vast installation areas, but they suffer from harsh environmental loads, which may result in additional structural loads and reduce the fatigue life of drivetrain components.

In this thesis, firstly, a simplified dynamic model of the FOWT will be established. The target performance indicators of the model will be defined, and the model will be validated. Subsequently, in order to achieve the optimal load mitigation effect, both parameter optimization and topological structure optimization of the absorber will be carried out. Then a multibody dynamic model of the FOWT equipped with the optimized absorber will be developed. Finally, the dynamic response of the FOWT under coupled wind–wave excitation will be simulated to demonstrate the performance advantages and load mitigation effectiveness of the developed vibration absorber.

Tasks:

• Establish a simplified dynamic model of the 15MW FOWT and absorber.
• Optimize the inerter-based absorber parameter for performance improvement.
• Develop a multibody simulation (MBS) model of the 15MW FOWT with the optimized absorber in Simpack.
• Illustrate the load mitigation capability of the developed absorber under realistic wind-wave loads.

Prerequisites:

• Motivation to work autonomously and responsibly
• Previous knowledge of MBS and MBS software (Simpack) are desirable, but not required
• Programming skills (MATLAB) are advantageous

We offer:

• Professional supervision and collaboration in a dedicated team
• Immediate start and rapid progress of the thesis
• Thesis can be written in English
• Possibility of publishing papers based on the project

We look forward to your application by email:

Jinqiu Pan, M. Sc. RWTH
Chair for Wind Power Drives

Campus-Boulevard 61, 52074 Aachen
jinqiu.pan@cwd.rwth-aachen.de