An Experimental Comparative Study of Aerodynamic Thrust Modeling in Basin Testing of Floating Wind Turbines: Real-Time Hybrid Method and Thrust-Scaled Blade Model

Generating high-precision aerodynamic loads for wave basin model testing of floating wind turbines is challenging due to the Froude-Reynolds conflict. The thrust-scaled blade model (TSBM) method, which redesigns the blade shape, meets average thrust similarity at low Reynolds numbers under co-directional wind and wave conditions. However, it yields substantial errors when the floating body undergoes significant yaw motion. The real-time hybrid test (RTHT) method resolves this conflict by calculating prototype wind turbine aerodynamic forces within a numerical domain and applying loads to the physical model in the wave basin, adhering to Froude scaling laws. To obtain the uncertainty between these two methods, this study designed 1/60 scale test models of a 16MW semi-submersible floating wind turbine using both RTHT and TSBM methods and conducted comprehensive comparative experiments under multiple conditions. Pitch decay tests showed both methods effectively captured aerodynamic damping characteristics, but RTHT enabled more realistic thrust variations through numerical implementation of variable pitch strategies. Results show that under significant yaw motion, RTHT reduced the mean thrust error to 2.44% compared to 4.20% for TSBM in extreme winds, and better replicated low-frequency turbulent spectra, thereby enhancing precision and functionality in simulating aerodynamic thrust. Findings help to give insight on improvement of experiment validation of floating wind turbines.