1:50 Scale Floating Offshore Wind Turbine Model Testing at MARIN in 2011

In 2011, researchers at the University of Maine traveled to the Maritime Research Institute in the Netherlands (MARIN) to test three different 1:50 scale designs for floating offshore wind turbines (a tension-leg platform, a semi-submersible, and a spar design). During the 6 week testing program, the floating platforms were tested 16 hours a day and were being subjected to different wind and wave intensity levels that mimicked conditions in the Gulf of Maine in side-by-side comparison tests. Data collected during this test program informed the design of UMaine's VolturnUS.