A comparison of two dynamic power cable configurations for a floating offshore wind turbine in shallow water

For the study of the double wave configuration for the dynamic power cable of a Floating Offshore Wind Turbine (FOWT) in shallow water, this paper presented a comparison of the hydrostatic and hydrodynamic performance between a lazy wave and a double wave configuration. The double wave shape’s parametric presentation was first developed based on an extension of a previous parametric lazy wave shape. An aero-hydro-servo-elastic integrated model fully coupling the FOWT and the dynamic power cable was then proposed in the SIMO/RIFLEX code for numerical simulation. Subsequently, the strain-cycle curve and the rain flow counting method were employed to estimate the copper conductor’s fatigue damage. The bending moment was proved to provide the major fatigue contribution. The results showed that the double wave offered superior performance than the lazy wave. The second arc of the double wave configuration was proved critical for suffering high curvature, tension, and fatigue damage. A lower position and less hogged wave arc were suggested for the determination of the double wave shape.