FloatMast® drives innovation with Sesam software

FloatMast is a tension leg platform (TLP) met mast designed for precise wind measurements and environmental monitoring. It features various sensors and was funded by the EU’s Horizon 2020 Research & Innovation Programme with ETME S.A. as Coordinator and Streamlined Naval Architects as partners. The project validated the FloatMast patent through certified wind measurements and demonstrated its technical feasibility during a 12-month operational campaign. 

Integrated solution for offshore wind

In 2023, ETME acquired DNV’s engineering software solution Sesam for Offshore Wind. The primary criterion for selecting a new solution was Sesam’s capability to integrate all essential aspects into a single software platform for designing offshore floating platforms. This includes functionalities for modelling, hydrodynamic and hydrostatic analysis, structural analysis and fatigue checks. 

Sofia Papadopoulou, Offshore Civil Engineer at ETME, has managed the rollout of Sesam to the project. 

“Sesam is a very popular software in our field. We complete/ran CFD simulations in-house, but we wanted to amplify our team’s capabilities and further optimise FloatMast. DNV (product team) offered us training on Sesam and we were very happy to move forward and adopt it,” Sofia highlights. 

Controlling process from start to finish

"Before using Sesam, we had to collaborate with external partners to complete the integrated analysis,” she explains. “This was time-consuming, and there was a high risk of errors. We wanted to control the whole process from start to finish. In addition, the CFD simulation was insufficient and time-consuming for holistic analysis, so we were looking for a solution that would allow us to quickly complete both the structural design and analysis."

“The main task for us is to simulate and estimate the structure’s stress and fatigue due to the loads from the sea and wind for the integrated model of the platform. We needed to further develop the design and analysis of FloatMast, our floating offshore platform, and participate in more projects. This led us to create our in-house team specialised in design and analysis of offshore platform. ETME has been using CFD software, but we required something more integrated and specialized for offshore platform design.”

Papadopoulou has been using Sesam for two years. She holds an MSc in coastal zone management from the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) and is experienced in designing coastal and offshore structures.

“One of my key responsibilities in ETME is to be the go-to person for Sesam, explore its applications for our needs and projects, investigate the research work that we can do and finally establish it across the company with training and guidance,” she says.

Simulations align with real-world data

ETME acquired Sesam after the FloatMastBlue project had been successfully completed. With actual site data and measurements to use, the team could compare the results from Sesam simulations with actual field data.

ETME is now in the FloatMast next phase, ‘FloatMastForward’. “Now, we want to commercialise our platform. We want to optimise designs for various locations across 

the world, for different wave conditions and environments. We use Sesam to simulate and to develop new designs for commercialisation.” 

“Sesam will help us in the new era for FloatMast,” she says. 

About ETME

With a history spanning more than 45 years of engineering consulting, design and project management, ETME is a company focused on water infrastructure, renewables and marine technologies for civilian, defence and security applications. Innovation is the centrepiece of ETME’s corporate strategy, as the aim is to deliver products and services based on vast experience and a disruptive innovative spirit. System engineering, from conceptual ideas to prototyping and beyond, has a focus on maritime surveillance. ETME is active in offshore with innovations such as FloatMast technology, deployed in the Aegean Sea. FloatMast is the first of its kind in the world.