Hardware-in-the-loop wind-tunnel testing of wake interactions between two floating wind turbines

TL;DR

This paper introduces a hardware-in-the-loop wind-tunnel testing method to study wake interactions between floating wind turbines, capturing the coupled effects of aerodynamics and platform motion for improved modeling and control.

Contribution

It presents a novel HIL wind-tunnel approach that fully couples aerodynamic loads with platform dynamics, enabling more realistic experiments on floating wind farm wake interactions.

Findings

Downstream turbines experience reduced thrust and platform deflections.

Wake turbulence increases low-frequency platform motions.

Method supports validation of floating wind farm models and controls.

Abstract

Wake interactions in floating wind farms are inherently coupled to platform motion, yet most experimental studies to date neglect this two-way coupling by prescribing platform movements. This work presents a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) wind-tunnel methodology to investigate wake interactions between two floating wind turbines with fully coupled aerodynamic loading and platform dynamics. The approach integrates physical wind-tunnel testing of two scaled rotors with a real-time numerical model that accounts for platform motion, mooring restoring forces, and hydrodynamic loads. Experiments conducted under low-turbulence inflow conditions show that a downstream turbine operating in the wake of an upstream turbine experiences reduced mean thrust and platform deflections due to the decreased inflow velocity, alongside enhanced low-frequency platform motions driven by increased turbulent energy in the wake. The proposed HIL framework provides a controlled experimental basis for studying wake-induced excitation mechanisms and supports the validation of floating wind farm models and control strategies.