scholarly journals A Novel Tripod Concept for Onshore Wind Turbine Towers

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (18) ◽  
pp. 5772
Author(s):  
Charis J. Gantes ◽  
Maria Villi Billi ◽  
Mahmut Güldogan ◽  
Semih Gül
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Cross Sections ◽  
Structural Features ◽  
Performance Criteria ◽  
Wind Turbine Tower ◽  
Wind Potential ◽  
Pile Cap ◽  
Tripod Concept ◽  
Wind Turbine Towers ◽  
Maintenance Requirements

A wind turbine tower assembly is presented, consisting of a lower “tripod section” and an upper tubular steel section, aiming at enabling very tall hub heights for optimum exploitation of the wind potential. The foundation consists of sets of piles connected at their top by a common pile cap below each tripod leg. The concept can be applied for the realization of new or the upgrade of existing wind turbine towers. It is adjustable to both onshore and offshore towers, but emphasis is directed towards overcoming the stricter onshore transportability constraints. For that purpose, pre-welded individual tripod parts are transported and are then bolted together during erection, contrary to fully pre-welded tripods that have been used in offshore towers. Alternative constructional details of the tripod joints are therefore proposed that address the fabrication, transportability, on-site erection and maintenance requirements and can meet structural performance criteria. The main structural features are demonstrated by means of a typical case study comprising a 180-m-tall tower, consisting of a 120-m-tall tubular superstructure on top of a 60-m-tall tripod substructure. Realistic cross-sections are calculated, leading to weight and cost estimations, thus demonstrating the feasibility and competitiveness of the concept.

Methodology for seismic risk assessment for tubular steel wind turbine towers: application to Canadian seismic environment

2011 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 293-304 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Nuta ◽  
Constantin Christopoulos ◽  
Jeffrey A. Packer
Keyword(s):  
Seismic Hazard ◽  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Seismic Loading ◽  
Element Analysis ◽  
Design Spectrum ◽  
Wind Turbine Tower ◽  
Damage States ◽  
Wind Turbine Towers ◽  
Hazard Level ◽  
Hazard Levels

The seismic response of tubular steel wind turbine towers is of significant concern as they are increasingly being installed in seismic areas and design codes do not clearly address this aspect of design. The seismic hazard is hence assessed for the Canadian seismic environment using implicit finite element analysis and incremental dynamic analysis of a 1.65 MW wind turbine tower. Its behaviour under seismic excitation is evaluated, damage states are defined, and a framework is developed for determining the probability of damage of the tower at varying seismic hazard levels. Results of the implementation of this framework in two Canadian locations are presented herein, where the risk was found to be low for the seismic hazard level prescribed for buildings. However, the design of wind turbine towers is subject to change, and the design spectrum is highly uncertain. Thus, a methodology is outlined to thoroughly investigate the probability of reaching predetermined damage states under any seismic loading conditions for future considerations.

scholarly journals Repowering Steel Tubular Wind Turbine Towers Enhancing them by Internal Stiffening Rings

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 1538 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu Hu ◽  
Jian Yang ◽  
Charalampos Baniotopoulos
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Wind Farm ◽  
Structural Response ◽  
Critical Design ◽  
Element Size ◽  
Wind Turbine System ◽  
Design Variables ◽  
Wind Turbine Tower ◽  
Mesh Density ◽  
Wind Turbine Towers

This paper presents a robust repowering approach to the structural response of tubular steel wind turbine towers enhanced by internal stiffening rings. First, a structural response simulation model was validated by comparison with the existing experimental data. This was then followed with a mesh density sensitivity analysis to obtain the optimum element size. When the outdated wind turbine system needs to be upgraded, the wall thickness, the mid-section width-to-thickness ratio and the spacing of the stiffening rings of wind turbine tower were considered as the critical design variables for repowering. The efficiency repowering range of these design variables of wind turbine towers of various heights between 50 and 250 m can be provided through the numerical analysis. Finally, the results of efficiency repowering range of design variables can be used to propose a new optimum design of the wind turbine system when repowering a wind farm.

Vibration Characteristics Analysis of Wind Turbine Towers under Foundation Conditions

2013 ◽  
Vol 446-447 ◽  
pp. 721-727
Author(s):  
Xi Song ◽  
Yin Guang Wu ◽  
Jie Yu Li ◽  
Rong Zhen Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Dynamic Analysis ◽  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Natural Frequency ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine ◽  
Static And Dynamic Analysis ◽  
Wind Turbine Tower ◽  
Characteristics Analysis ◽  
Wind Turbine Towers ◽  
Tower Foundation

Based on a kind of 1.5MW large-scale horizontal axis wind turbine tower, the mechanical modeling of a wind turbine tower-foundation is established, the static and dynamic analysis of the model is carried out by ANSYS software. The top displacement of the system is calculated by the static analysis to meet the design requirements in engineering. In dynamic analysis, each pile foundation is equivalent to a group of springs for the simulation of horizontal and vertical rigidity of the pile. The influence of top mass and foundation elasticity on wind turbine tower modes is analyzed, and calculated the natural frequency of the tower within a certain scope of rigidity in different directions about the piles foundation. The results show that the natural frequency of the wind turbine tower is influenced significantly by the mass on the tower top and foundation rigidity. The study provides a theoretical basis for optimal design of the wind turbine.

scholarly journals Influence of external loads to wind turbine tower

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 112-120
Author(s):  
Marin Petrovic ◽  
Nejra Isic
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Wind Velocity ◽  
Turbine Blades ◽  
Wind Turbine Blades ◽  
Steel Pipes ◽  
Wind Turbine Tower ◽  
Wind Turbine Towers ◽  
Lattice Towers ◽  
The Moment ◽  
External Loads

One of the most important parts of a wind turbine is a tower. There are various designs of the wind turbine towers, and they are most often made of steel pipes, lattice towers or concrete towers. In order to increase energy density to meet the growing electricity needs, larger wind turbine projects have been developed. Larger wind turbine towers can generate more electricity, but such large sizes also create higher costs in terms of development and maintenance. This research sets up a model of a wind turbine tower, where the load to the tower is calculated by its relation to the wind velocity. Analytical approach coupled with a finite element method (FEM) is used to analyse the distribution of tower stresses under these loads. The fatigue analysis of the column is performed using the load from its own weight, the weight of the housing and the distribution of the wind velocity. The effects of different loads are also compared. The results show that the main loads of the tower are the wind force acting on the area of ??rotation of the wind turbine blades and the moment caused by the uneven wind velocity. Construction is modelled using SolidWorks modelling package, where the analysis was performed using FEM in ANSYS software. As a result of the analysis, the stress distribution in the support was determined and compared with analytical calculations.

scholarly journals Structural optimisation of wind turbine towers based on finite element analysis and genetic algorithm

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lin Wang ◽  
Athanasios Kolios ◽  
Maria Martinez Luengo ◽  
Xiongwei Liu
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Algorithm ◽  
Finite Element Analysis ◽  
Finite Element ◽  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Structural Design ◽  
Structural Optimisation ◽  
Element Analysis ◽  
Wind Turbine Tower ◽  
Wind Turbine Towers ◽  
Optimisation Model

Abstract. A wind turbine tower supports the main components of the wind turbine (e.g. rotor, nacelle, drive train components, etc.). The structural properties of the tower (such as stiffness and natural frequency) can significantly affect the performance of the wind turbine, and the cost of the tower is a considerable portion of the overall wind turbine cost. Therefore, an optimal structural design of the tower, which has a minimum cost and meets all design criteria (such as stiffness and strength requirements), is crucial to ensure efficient, safe and economic design of the whole wind turbine system. In this work, a structural optimisation model for wind turbine towers has been developed based on a combined parametric FEA (finite element analysis) and GA (genetic algorithm) model. The top diameter, bottom diameter and thickness distributions of the tower are taken as design variables. The optimisation model minimises the tower mass with six constraint conditions, i.e. deformation, ultimate stress, fatigue, buckling, vibration and design variable constraints. After validation, the model has been applied to the structural optimisation of a 5MW wind turbine tower. The results demonstrate that the proposed structural optimisation model is capable of accurately and effectively achieving an optimal structural design of wind turbine towers, which significantly improves the efficiency of structural optimisation of wind turbine towers. The developed framework is generic in nature and can be employed for a series of related problems, when advanced numerical models are required to predict structural responses and to optimise the structure.

scholarly journals Hybrid Wind Turbine Towers Optimization with a Parallel Updated Particle Swarm Algorithm

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (18) ◽  
pp. 8683
Author(s):  
Zeyu Li ◽  
Hongbing Chen ◽  
Bin Xu ◽  
Hanbin Ge
Keyword(s):  
Particle Swarm Optimization ◽  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Prestressed Concrete ◽  
Particle Swarm ◽  
Particle Swarm Algorithm ◽  
Labor Costs ◽  
Swarm Optimization ◽  
Computation Efficiency ◽  
Wind Turbine Tower ◽  
Wind Turbine Towers

The prestressed concrete–steel hybrid (PCSH) wind turbine tower, characterized by replacing the lower part of the traditional full-height steel tube wind turbine tower with a prestressed concrete (PC) segment, provides a potential alterative solution to transport difficulties and risks associated with traditional steel towers in mountainous areas. This paper proposes an optimization approach with a parallel updated particle swarm optimization (PUPSO) algorithm which aims at minimizing the objective function of the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) of the PCSH wind turbine towers in a life cycle perspective which represents the direct investments, labor costs, machinery costs, and the maintenance costs. Based on the constraints required by relevant specifications and industry standards, the geometry of a PCSH wind turbine tower for a 2 MW wind turbine is optimized using the proposed approach. The dimensions of the PCSH wind turbine tower are treated as optimization variables in the PUPSO algorithm. Results show that the optimized PCSH wind turbine tower can be an economic alternative for wind farms with lower LCOE requirements. In addition, compared with the traditional particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm and UPSO algorithm, the proposed PUPSO algorithm can enhance the optimization computation efficiency by about 60–110%.

Design of Microalloyed Steel for Wind Turbine Towers and Influence of Chemical Composition on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties

2017 ◽  
Vol 1143 ◽  
pp. 32-37
Author(s):  
Liviu Gurau ◽  
Carmela Gurau ◽  
Gheorghe Gurau
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Properties ◽  
Chemical Composition ◽  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Microalloyed Steel ◽  
Experimental Tests ◽  
Steel Plates ◽  
Wind Turbine Tower ◽  
Wind Turbine Towers ◽  
Thick Steel ◽  
Set Up

The contribution of this paper is to provide the effect of chemical composition on both cost and mechanical properties for steel used to wind turbine tower. Each chemical element has been chosen to contribute to the desired final properties. After establishing the chemical composition has been set up metallurgical route. To determine the influence of chemical composition and thermomechanical treatments a series of experimental tests were conducted to evaluate the structure and mechanical properties. A detail analysis involving macroscopic feature and microstructure analysis of the microalloyed steel was also performed by optical microscopy (OM).The mechanical properties were evaluated by tensile test and Charpy V-Notch test. The experimental tests and analysis results show that there are significant improved in the material properties of thick steel plates when comparing it with the Standard, EN10025/3-2004.

Influence of Simplified Models on Seismic Response Analysis of Wind Turbine Towers

2011 ◽  
Vol 94-96 ◽  
pp. 369-374 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lai Wang ◽  
Ying Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Finite Element ◽  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Dominant Factor ◽  
Response Analysis ◽  
Fe Model ◽  
Seismic Action ◽  
Wind Turbine Tower ◽  
Mass Eccentricity ◽  
Wind Turbine Towers ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. The dynamic response of wind turbine tower under earthquake is analyzed by aid of the ANSYS program in this paper. To investigate the effects of simplification calculation models of blades and engines on calculation results, a blades-tower integrated finite element (FE) model and a mass-tower finite element (FE) model are established respectively. Then model analysis is discussed and the time history analysis of the system under the input of mean value earthquake record is carried out. The results show that seismic responses of a wind turbine tower are remarkable and seismic action may be the dominant factor in the design of wind turbine towers that located at a seismically active zone. Torsion effect of a tower is evident as a result of the impact of mass eccentricity. Bottom stress at the direction perpendicular to seismic waves is much bigger than that along it. It is also found that the blades-tower integrated finite element model can reflect more accurately the dynamic responses of the tower in the whole process of the earthquake and the “time-lag” effect by comparison, and these provide reliable reference to design and further research of towers.

A Circuit Model for Lightning Surge of Wind Turbine Tower with an Internal Conductor

2015 ◽  
Vol 135 (3) ◽  
pp. 200-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoki Ikeda ◽  
Naoto Nagaoka ◽  
Yoshihiro Baba
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Circuit Model ◽  
Wind Turbine Tower

Seismic response analysis of steel–concrete hybrid wind turbine tower

2021 ◽  
pp. 107754632110075
Author(s):  
Junling Chen ◽  
Jinwei Li ◽  
Dawei Wang ◽  
Youquan Feng
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Response Spectrum ◽  
Ground Motions ◽  
Time History ◽  
Seismic Action ◽  
Response Spectrum Method ◽  
Spectrum Method ◽  
Wind Turbine Tower ◽  
Ground Types ◽  
Nonlinear Time History

The steel–concrete hybrid wind turbine tower is characterized by the concrete tubular segment at the lower part and the traditional steel tubular segment at the upper part. Because of the great change of mass and stiffness along the height of the tower at the connection of steel segment and concrete segment, its dynamic responses under seismic ground motions are significantly different from those of the traditional steel tubular wind turbine tower. Two detailed finite element models of a full steel tubular tower and a steel–concrete hybrid tower for 2.0 MW wind turbine built in the same wind farm are, respectively, developed by using the finite element software ABAQUS. The response spectrum method is applied to analyze the seismic action effects of these two towers under three different ground types. Three groups of ground motions corresponding to three ground types are used to analyze the dynamic response of the steel–concrete hybrid tower by the nonlinear time history method. The numerical results show that the seismic action effect by the response spectrum method is lower than those by the nonlinear time history method. And then it can be concluded that the response spectrum method is not suitable for calculating the seismic action effects of the steel–concrete hybrid tower directly and the time history analyses should be a necessary supplement for its seismic design. The first three modes have obvious contributions on the dynamic response of the steel–concrete hybrid tower.

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