On July 25th, KR unveiled the 「SeaTrust Floating Offshore Wind Turbine (FOWT) solution」 a new addition to the SeaTrust series—a suite of KR technical software designed to enable direct structural analysis evaluation of floating offshore wind platforms and related guidelines.     

The KR SeaTrust software series has been released in various versions focusing on detailed functions, such as ship structural analysis and safety inspection based on direct analysis. The solution has gained a wide range of users in the shipbuilding and shipping industries internationally and is highly valued by maritime stakeholders.

The newly released KR SeaTrust-FOWT has been developed to meet the technical requirements of KR customers. With the expansion of the floating offshore wind power market and the promotion of large-scale offshore wind power projects in Korea, the structural analysis requirements for floating offshore wind power platform design and structural safety verification are expected to rise.

Due to the nature of the offshore environment, it is essential to perform integrated load analysis and simulation to verify the structural safety of FOWT platform structures, as wind loads caused by time-varying wind speed, direction, and type are transferred to the lower portion of the wind turbine blades and towers.

In order to evaluate the safety and performance of this platform, it is necessary to comply with the international IEC 61400 standard.Major classification societies, including KR, have formulated their own rules and guidelines for FOWT evaluation based on this standard, assuring safety. 

Nonetheless, challenges arise in conducting these evaluations within tight timelines, notably in meeting the integrated load analysis criteria dictated by IEC. Addressing this, KR collaborated with FrontEnergies in the United States, harnessing open-source tool OpenFAST to overcome these difficulties.

This effectively improved the analysis time and H/W resource issues found in the existing engineering tool. In addition, procedures and systems have been established that can efficiently evaluate structural stability according to the requirements set by IEC and various classification societies.

KR has also developed "Guidelines for Direct Structural Analysis of FOWT Platform." This comprehensive resource not only contains detailed technical insights but also showcases FOWT integrated load analysis scenarios, optimizing user accessibility and convenience.

Preceding the formal launch, on July 18, KR organized a technical conference in Seoul, Korea, to introduce the solution and highlight the technological merits underpinning SeaTrust-FOWT.

This conference served as an opportunity for KR to present the outcomes of software verification for the FOWT platform from the user's perspective. It delved into the practical application of each module, showcasing the strong potential for real-world utilization.

With the significant interest and positive response from shipbuilding, shipping, and academic stakeholders, KR is committed to further improving and expanding our customer-focused technical services.

SeaTrust-FOWT