Studies on the Initial Stability of an Air-cushion Supported Floating Platform for Offshore Wind Turbine

摘要

The next large scale exploitation of wind energy will gradually move tornthe seas with the depth of 30-100m, in which only the semisubmersiblernand barge type foundation are suitable. Compared with thernsemi-submersible foundation, the barge type has simpler structure andrnis more adaptable to water depth, however, suffers larger seakeepingrnmotions in waves. In order to improve the seakeeping performance ofrnthe barge foundation for offshore wind turbines, the present workrnproposes a concept of Air-cushion Supported Floating Platform (ASFP),rnand integrates the air cushion into barge foundations, which can bufferrnthe wave loads acting on the foundation and reduce the motions. Thernair cushion makes the new floating foundation very different, and thisrnpaper presents a method to estimate the initial stability of the aircushionedrnfloating offshore wind turbine foundation