Validation of a hybrid modeling approach to floating wind turbine basin testing

Hybrid modeling combining physical tests and numerical simulations in real time opens new opportunities in floating wind turbine research. Wave basin testing is an important validation step for floating support structure design, but current methods are limited by scaling problems in the aerodynamic loadings. Applying wind turbine loads with an actuation system controlled by a simulation that responds to the basin test offers a way to avoid scaling problems and reduce cost barriers for floating wind turbine design validation in realistic coupled conditions. In this work, a cable‐based hybrid coupling approach is developed and implemented for 1:50‐scale wave basin tests with the DeepCwind semisubmersible floating wind turbine. Tests are run with thrust loads provided by a numerical wind turbine model. Matching tests are run with physical wind loads using an above‐basin wind maker. When the numerical submodel is set to match the aerodynamic performance of the physical scaled wind turbine, the results show good agreement with purely physical wind‐wave tests, validating the hybrid model approach. Further hybrid model tests with simulated true‐to‐scale dynamic thrust loads and wind turbulence show noticeable differences and demonstrate the value of a hybrid model approach for improving the true‐to‐scale realism of floating wind turbine basin tests.