Study on Motion Performance and Mooring Tension Response of 16 MW Tension Leg Platform Floating Wind Turbine Under Extreme Environmental Conditions

This paper presents a 16 MW typhoon-resistant Tension Leg Platform floating offshore wind turbine (TLP FOWT) designed for the South China Sea. The survivability of the TLP FOWT under extreme environmental conditions is investigated through an integrated time-domain coupled analysis numerical model. The accuracy of the numerical model is calibrated by comparing its results with experimental data. In comparisons of mooring system static stiffness tests and white noise tests, the results from the calibrated numerical model show good agreement with the experimental data. Regarding the free decay tests and the statistical time-domain response results, the most significant discrepancies are only 1.17% and 6.91%, respectively. Subsequently, the time-domain response of the numerical model was investigated under extreme South China Sea conditions, configured according to the IEC 61400-3-2 design load conditions. The safety of the design was then evaluated against ABS specifications. The analysis yielded maximum platform motion amplitudes and inclinations of 34.99 m (less than 30% of water depth) and below 1°, respectively. Under both 50-year and 500-year return period conditions, the platform maintained stable TLP motion characteristics with no tendon slackness, evidenced by a minimum tendon tension of 107.23 kN. All motion responses and tendon tensions complied with the ABS safety factors, confirming the design’s capability to ensure safe operation throughout its service life. The present work provides valuable insights for the design and risk assessment of future large-scale TLP FOWTs.