The Impact of Non-Surface Layer Wind Profiles on the Loads and Motions of Offshore Wind Turbines

Abstract

This master thesis analyzes the influence of wind speed and variation in mean wind profiles on the loads and motions of offshore wind turbine. Primarily, fully-scale measurement data from the research platform FINO3 in North Sea is collected and analyzed, to derive exponent coefficients which are then used to simulate mean wind profiles under different stability conditions. Thereinto, stability classification is classified by the Richardson number and exponent coefficients are calculated by the power law following IEC standards. The SIMA software is used to simulate the loads and motions of a 5MW spar floating wind turbine. The dependence of the fatigue load (damage equivalent load) of several turbine components and the motions of wind turbine for varying wind profile is assessed.