Virtual Prototyping of a floating wind farm anchor during underwater towing operations

The aim of this paper is to present the initial results of feasibility studies aimed at optimising the towing configuration of a novel, complex shape (pyramid based) and thereby untested design of floating wind farm anchor during underwater towing. The study was carried out in the real physics Marine Simulator, at the National Decommissioning Centre. This enables us to study in detail, the drag/lift forces acting on the towed anchor/s, determine the optimal anchor installation arrangement (orientation, depth, position of towing cables, number of anchors towed together in an array) and establish the effects of the operational (towing velocity, drag) and environmental conditions (sea states, significant wave height, peak wave period) on the anchor’s trajectory. The model developed is validated with computational fluid dynamics analysis to obtain representative drag and lift coefficients for the anchor during towing. Thus, this paper focuses on the calibration process to ensure robustness and relevance of the developed model in the simulator. Consistent results for the drag and lift coefficient were obtained for a range of towing speeds (0,25–3 m/s). The towing dynamics, forces acting on the anchor and the final configuration (e.g. water depth, offset angle) were obtained which in turn will allow the optimal conditions and requirements (e.g. equipment, vessel type etc.) to be recommend-ed in future studies.