Validation |
 
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Validation |
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Flexcom's numerical modelling capabilities have been validated via several studies, including:
Flexcom was officially represented for the first time in the OCx research series in OC6 (Offshore Code Comparison Collaboration, Continued with Correlation and unCertainty). OC6 Phase IV (Bergua et al.,2023) focused on a novel floating offshore wind system, the Stiesdal TetraSpar. With a floating hull and suspended keel, spar type stability, and relatively slender components, the TetraSpar is unique compared to platforms studied in earlier phases of OCx projects, and it offered an opportunity to evaluate the applicability of modeling tools to a novel design, especially hydrodynamic modeling approaches. Wood and the University of Galway were active participants, using Flexcom as their modelling software. Example L5 section presents a brief summary of a code-to-code comparison of simulation models built using OpenFAST and Flexcom, benchmarked against experimental data obtained from the University of Maine (Borg et. al, 2019). Full details of the numerical models and the benchmarking exercise may be found in the technical paper (Conway et al., 2024).
OC4 (Offshore Code Comparison Collaboration Continuation) was one of the early code-to-code verification projects in the OCx research series. In OC4 Phase II, participants used an assortment of simulation codes to model the coupled dynamic response of a 5 MW wind turbine installed on a floating semi-submersible and a jacket structure. Although Flexcom was not officially represented in OC4, the software has been retrospectively benchmarked against OC4 results. Example L1 presents the semi-sub version, while Example L3 considers the jacket. Full details are available in the respective technical papers, by Connolly & O'Mahony, 2021 (semi-sub) and Connolly & O'Mahony, 2021 (jacket).
Example L4 examines the IEA 15 MW reference turbine (Gaertner et al. 2020) hosted by the University of Maine reference semi-submersible. A sub-section of this example (Turbine Performance Test) considers the turbine and supporting tower only, without the floating platform and mooring system, and examines fundamental turbine performance characteristics as a function of wind speed, such as rotor thrust, rotor speed, generator torque, blade pitch and generator power. This section also serves to validate Flexcom's numerical models - both rigid and flexible blades - via comparisons with OpenFAST.
Example L6 considers the IEA 22 MW reference wind turbine (Zahle et al., 2024). It presents a summary of a code-to-code comparison of simulation models built using OpenFAST, OrcaFlex and Flexcom. As the study is focused on the aeroelastic response, the turbine is fixed at its base, and no hydrodynamic effects are considered. Full details of the numerical models and the benchmarking exercise may be found in the technical paper (Britton et. al., 2025).
Eolink FWT Concept
Flexcom was used by Eolink to simulate their innovative floating wind turbine concept. Results from the numerical simulations were validated with empirical data derived from model-scale tank tests (Connolly et al., 2018) and sea trials (Guyot et al., 2019).