Team Members & Role: 

Leo Narbonne: Team Lead

Trent Blatz: Analysis Lead

Isabella Lambros: Design Lead

Jadyn Fletcher: Fabrication Lead

Dina Hertog-Raz: Evaluation Lead

Abstract:

The floating offshore wind turbine industry is a growing field that presents many complications related to mooring, installing, operating and power generation. The benefits of offshore wind turbines, compared to onshore wind turbine installations, include access to higher, more consistent wind speeds at sea, the ability to build larger turbines in larger available areas, and proximity to cities and other load centers by the shore. In addition, floating structures allow for deep water installations (>60m) and can reduce material costs compared to turbines placed directly into the soil in shallow waters.  However, the floating offshore wind industry is still young, and requires lots of design and manufacturing innovation before it can be a mainstream source of renewable energy. 

Team 1408’s mission is to design and fabricate a moored floating structure capable of supporting and stabilizing a Vevor 400W turbine while withstanding wind, waves, currents and wear caused by the ocean environment. To achieve this, three main factors had to be considered: buoyancy, stability, and station keeping. For our floating turbine design, customer off-the-shelf (COTS) buoys were used to maintain buoyancy, and a triangular base created out of structural tubing was implemented to maintain stability. The shape and size of the base was carefully considered to balance stability and transportability. For station keeping (preventing the structure from floating away), the floating system was connected to weighted anchors via mooring lines. These mooring lines, consisting of both rope and chain, were designed to withstand wind loads, snap loads, and tension changes due to wave oscillations.

Most importantly, this structure can be quickly assembled and disassembled using common hand tools. We created our design with an emphasis on transportability because this design will be entered to compete in the Floating Wind Competition (FWC), taking place in Marseille, France, this summer. The goal of the FWC is to help students understand relationships between power efficiency, stability and the effects of an offshore environment on wind turbines. The FWC also promotes the generation of novel ideas for the growing offshore turbine industry. Power generation, as well as transportability and ease of installation, are key aspects for generating a successful design.