Verification and Validation of the New Dynamic Mooring Modules Available in FAST v8

The open-source, aero-hydro-servo-elastic wind turbine simulation software FAST v8 (created by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory) was recently coupled to two newly developed mooring dynamics modules: MoorDyn and FEAMooring. MoorDyn is a lumped-mass-based mooring dynamics module developed by the University of Maine, and FEAMooring is a finite-element-based mooring dynamics module developed by Texas A&M University. This paper summarizes the work performed to verify and validate these modules compared to other mooring models and measured test data to assess their reliability and accuracy. The quality of the fairlead load predictions by the open-source mooring modules MoorDyn and FEAMooring appears to be largely equivalent to that predicted by the commercial tool OrcaFlex. Both mooring dynamic model predictions agree well with the experimental data considering the given limitations in the accuracy of the platform hydrodynamic load calculation and the quality of the measurement data.