Session: 09-04-02: Floating Solar Energy 2

Paper Number: 126201

126201 - Analysis of the Linear Hydroelastic Response of Flexible Floating Solar Devices. 

Floating offshore solar energy is a rapidly evolving field, witnessing the development of various concepts, some currently undergoing sea trials. Among these concepts are very large, flexible platforms inherited from the floating fish farm sector, posing hydrodynamic challenges, particularly in calculating wave-induced loads and hydroelastic responses. Previous efforts utilized conventional methods, employing beam elements and Morison elements for load and global motion calculations. While effective, this approach incurred significant computational costs and convergence issues.

This paper introduces an new numerical model based on generalized modes and linear deformation modes superposition. Deformation modes, derived from a Finite Element Method solver, are used as inputs for a linear potential flow solver, enabling the calculation of diffraction and radiation coefficients. These coefficients are then incorporated into a time-domain model, considering deflection modes as additional degrees of freedom.

The paper presents preliminary verification and validation results. Initial verification involves a generic flexible barge [1], followed by application to a real floating solar platform concept. The methodology for deriving deformation modes and structural stiffness from ANSYS [2] is explained, including a mooring stiffness sensitivity analysis. The implementation of deformation modes into the potential flow solvers Capytain [3] and Nemoh [4] is outlined, with subsequent frequency and time domain response analyses. Finally, preliminary validation work is showcased, including comparisons with wave tank tests.

References

[1] J. N. Newman, "Wave effects on deformable bodies,” Applied Ocean Research, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 47–59, 1994, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/0141-1187(94)90013-2.

[2] Ansys Workbench | Simulation Integration Platform. https://www.ansys.com/

[3] M. Ancellin and F. Dias, “Capytaine: a Python-based linear potential flow solver,” Journal of Open Source Software, vol. 4, no. 36, p. 1341, 2019.

[4] A. Babarit and G. Delhommeau, “Theoretical and numerical aspects of the open source BEM solver NEMOH,” in 11th European wave and tidal energy conference (EWTEC2015), 2015

 

 

Presenting Author: Jean-Christophe Gilloteaux INNOSEA

Presenting Author Biography: With a background in Hydrodynamics and Ocean Engineering, Jean-Christophe worked as Senior Marine Renewables Research Engineer at IFPEN, and more recently at the Ecole Centrale of Nantes in the LHEEA Hydrodynamics & Offshore Engineering Lab. During his 15 years of experience as Research Engineer, he contributed to several collaborative research projects on Floating Wind Energy, both at a national and international scales.

As Innosea’s Head of Research and Development, Jean-Christophe leads the R&D team management and projects portfolio to coordinate their activities.

Authors:

Louis Douteau INNOSEA
Florian Castillo INNOSEA
Salabh Gupta INNOSEA
Maria Ikhennicheu INNOSEA
Jean-Christophe Gilloteaux INNOSEA