Modelling a 4 masts tower

Wind & Water Computer-Aided Engineering Software Tools
1

Hello everyone,

I am wondering how to modify the geometry of the tower to a 4 masts pyramidal-like tower like with the Eolink floating offshore wind turbine project for example? Is there a way to do this with FAST?

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Thank you for your help,
Regards,
Bertrand

2

Dear Bertrand,

The SubDyn module of FAST / OpenFAST can handle multi-member support structures, however, SubDyn is currently limited to modeling fixed-bottom systems. We are currently working on improvements to OpenFAST that will allow SubDyn to be enabled for floating offshore wind turbines under a broader project to add floating platform flexibility and member-level load calculations to OpenFAST. We presented an overview of this new functionality recently at the IOWTC 2019 conference–see the paper here: nrel.gov/docs/fy20osti/74380.pdf. While the functionality is not yet available, I think it will be useful for modeling the Eolink or similar floating wind systems.

Best regards,

3

Dear Jason,

Thank you for your answer. I did not know this recent paper. I find it very interesting and I am eager to see this new functionality being available in OpenFAST! This is good news to model all the panels of offshore structures.

Thank you again and have a nice day,

Bertrand