Stabilization of Floating Offshore Wind Turbines with a Passive Stability-Enhancing Skirted Trapezoidal Platform

In this study, an innovative passive stability-enhancing barge platform geometry is presented to improve the operational efficiency of floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs) by mitigating platform motion caused by wave action. Barge-type FOWTs, which primarily rely on surface support, have received less attention in terms of geometric optimization. The proposed design incorporates skirts and a trapezoidal cross-sectional shape for the barge platforms.To achieve effective stability given cost-effect considerations, geometrical optimization was performed while maintaining the same mass as the original design. Positioning the skirt with a height-to-diameter ratio of 0.8 reduces platform movements considerably, decreasing the heave by approximately 20% and the pitch by up to 70% relative to the original design. In addition, the analysis demonstrated that increasing the moonpool area to approximately 400 m2 (approximately 10% of the platform’s surface area) led to an additional reduction in the heave and pitch responses. A specific moonpool diameter saturation point value was identified to increase the stability of the floater. Finally, the platform configuration yielded consistently lower peak motions across different wave angles, demonstrating improved stability.