Multibody Dynamics of a Floating Wind Turbine Considering the Flexibility Between Nacelle and Tower

Stability and dynamic modeling of the floating wind turbine (FWT) is a crucial challenge in designing of the type of structures. In this paper, the tension leg platform (TLP) type FWT is modeled as a multibody system considering the flexibility between the nacelle and tower. The flexibility of the FWT is modeled as a torsional spring and damper. It has 6 degrees of freedom (DOFs) related to the large-amplitude translation and rotation of the tower and 4 DOFs related to the relative rotation between the rotor-nacelle assembly and the tower. First, the nonlinear equations of motion are derived by the theory of momentum cloud based on the conservation of momentum. Then, the equations of motion are solved and the system is simulated in MATLAB. Moreover, the effect of flexibility between the nacelle and tower is investigated via the dynamic response. The stability of the system in three different environmental conditions is studied. Finally, the spring and damping coefficients for the system response to get near to instability are determined, by which the critical region is defined. The simulation results demonstrate the importance of the flexibility between the nacelle and tower on the overall behavior of the system and its stability.