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Expertise

Design and Verification of Offshore Wind Turbines

SINTEF has an important role in the development of concepts for offshore wind turbines. Since 2005, when the first model of Hywind Demo was tested in SINTEF Ocean's Ocean Basin, we have had offshore wind as a prioritized research area and constantly developed numerical and experimental methods for design and verification of offshore wind turbines

Contact person

SINTEF offers several services related to offshore wind turbines.

1. Global analysis, conceptual evaluation and design optimization:

  • Experimental and theoretical studies
  • Assessment of foundations and floater configurations including mooring system
  • Optimization of concepts
  • Model tests for system verification
  • Hydrodynamic loads
  • Structural responses (ULS/ALS/FLS)
  • Analysis of motions and loads of marine structures
  • Mooring analysis

2. Component analysis/testing

  • Hydrodynamic model tests for components
  • Specialist studies (CFD)
  • Assessment of wave loads on bottom fixed and floating wind turbines

3. Development and application of numerical methods and simulations tools

4. Development of experimental methods

  • ReaTHM for aerodynamic loads
  • Slamming loads, extreme events

Projects

Software

The industry is predicting a bright future for floating offshore wind farms. An entirely new concept has recently been tested in Trondheim.

Explore research areas

Laboratories

Ocean Laboratory

Ocean Laboratory

The Ocean Basin Laboratory is used for basic as well as applied research on marine structures and operations. A total environmental simulation including wind, waves and current offers a unique possibility for testing of models in realistic conditions...

Towing Tank

Towing Tank

The main activity of the towing tanks is related to investigation of hydrodynamic performance of ships. This includes resistance, propulsion, seakeeping in head and following seas, and directional stability tests with free running models. The tanks...