Procedures followed to generate and analyse models representing two-dimensional arrays of floating solar panels which have the main goal of studying the seakeeping response, and the structural stability of 5MW floating solar power plants, and create a proof-of-concept for preliminary designs. The analyses are preceded by previous aerodynamic simulations (CFD), in order to determine the wind pressure forces over the solar panels. These pressure forces will be directly applied as loading conditions in the structural FEA model. The integrated pressure forces over the panels are applied as external forces acting on each floating body in the seakeeping model. The different analyses have been undertaken by means of CAE modelling and Finite Elements (FEM) calculations.
All the analyses have been performed with the time-domain FEM seakeeping solver Tdyn SeaFEM, the FEM structural analysis software Tdyn RamSeries and with the CFD software Tdyn CFD+HT. All of them developed and commercialised by Compass.
A 3D CAE model of the corresponding domain needed for performing the seakeeping analyses has been created as base model. This base model has been used for generating the different seakeeping scenarios (different sized grids of bodies). The automatic generation of these models is achieved by means of a script which has been developed for such purpose. This script allows to automatically generate full models of different number of bodies, including their properties, connections between them, and the mooring system. It has been provided together with an automatic system for generating multibody animations, as one of the main results of the project.
