The dynamic responses of a spar, tension leg platform (TLP), and two semisubmersible floating wind turbines (FWTs) in selected misaligned wind and wave conditions are investigated using numerical simulation with an aero-hydro-servo-elastic computational tool. For a range of representative operational conditions, the platform motions and short-term fatigue damage in the tower base and tower top are examined. Although some misalignment conditions result in increased motions both parallel and perpendicular to the wave direction, aligned wind and waves cause the largest short-term tower base fatigue damage for the studied platforms and conditions. Several factors which lead to larger fatigue damage for certain platforms in particular conditions are identified, such as tower resonance due to the 3p blade passing frequency in low wind speeds; surge and pitch motions, particularly in the wave frequency range; and the variations in first-order hydrodynamic loads due to wave direction. A semisubmersible platform with large displacement suffers the least damage at the base of the tower.

Semi-submersible floating structures might be an attractive system to support wind turbines and wave energy converters (WECs) in areas with abundant wind and wave energy resources. The combination of wind turbines and WECs may increase the total power production and reduce the cost of the power. A concept of a semi-submersible with a 5 MW horizontal axis wind turbine combined with three flap-type WECs is presented in this paper. The concept is named as Semi-submersible Flap Combination (SFC). The WECs of the SFC are inspired by an optimized bottom-fixed rotating flap-type wave energy absorber. Each WEC of SFC includes an elliptical cylinder, two supporting arms, a rotational axis and a power take off (PTO) system. A time domain numerical modeling method for the SFC is presented. The numerical model is using the state-of-the-art code Simo/Riflex/Aerodyn. Linear rotational damping is introduced to model the effects of the PTO system. The choice of a PTO damping coefficient and of the mass of the elliptical cylinders has a significant effect on the power generated by the WECs. Such effects have been addressed and discussed in the paper through a sensitivity study.

Fatigue limit state design check for offshore wind turbines is based on SN curves and the Palmgren–Miner rule approach and focuses normally on stationary processes for which startup and/or shutdown operations induced transient load processes are normally not accounted for. However, large databases of real-time measurements show that the shutdown and startup operations may appear in any operational conditions and the frequency of such operations could be considerable. Although design standards require fatigue design checks for the transient load processes induced by startup and shutdown operations, relevant publications addressing this issue are very limited in particular for floating wind turbines. This paper focuses on analyzing the importance of startup and shutdown induced transient load processes on fatigue damage in the tower of two MW-level horizontal axis semi-submersible wind turbines. The analysis is carried on by comparing short-term fatigue damage in several environmental conditions with and without the startup and shutdown induced transient load processes. It is found that, in many environmental conditions, startup and/or shutdown operations may make an increase in short-term fatigue damage by 10% to 100%, while in some situations, the fatigue damage may be increased by up to 200%. The importance of the transient load processes on long-term fatigue damage is related to the occurrence frequency of startup and shutdown events. Publicly available data indicate that the average time between two consecutive shutdown events might be less than 39 h. However, more data and analysis are needed regarding these issues.