CFD Simulation of Floating Body Motion with Mooring Dynamics: Coupling MoorDyn with OpenFOAM

Journal Article · Fri Jun 03 04:00:00 EDT 2022 · Applied Ocean Research

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apor.2022.103210· OSTI ID:1873882

Chen, Haifei; Hall, Matthew

It is increasingly popular to use Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) models to study floating structures subjected to ocean waves, especially when it comes to applications of floating offshore wind turbines and Wave Energy Converters (WECs). Mooring dynamics are currently lacking in most of these applications. This paper presents a coupled simulation study of moored floating body motion by coupling two open-source libraries: a finite volume CFD toolbox, OpenFOAM, and a lumped-mass mooring model, MoorDyn. The instantaneous floating body position and velocity are passed from the body motion solver in the CFD model to the mooring model to calculate the fairlead kinematics. The mooring reaction forces, which are calculated by MoorDyn after updating the mooring system states, are then returned to the body motion solver to update the floating body motion. Both mesh deformation and overset mesh methods are used as the mesh motion solver in the CFD model to account for the floating body motion. The coupled model was validated against experimental measurements for a floating box moored with four catenary lines under the action of regular waves, which came from a preliminary test campaign for WECs. Apart from the lumped-mass mooring model, the present work also coupled a quasi-static mooring model and a finite element model with the floating body motion solver in OpenFOAM. The mooring line tensions predicted by these models were compared. The coupled model equipped with three mooring line codes may be further used to carry out survivability studies of FOWTs and WECs subject to severe sea states.

• Research Organization: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
• DOE Contract Number: AC36-08GO28308
• OSTI ID: 1873882
• Report Number(s): NREL/JA-5000-83269; MainId:84042; UUID:3293cf1e-c21a-48ec-b436-dce047c999f4; MainAdminID:64741
• Journal Information: Applied Ocean Research, Journal Name: Applied Ocean Research Vol. 124
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

MoorDyn
OpenFOAM
TIDAL AND WAVE POWER
floating body
fluid-structure interaction
mooring dynamics
overset
waves