Analysis and Design of Wind Turbine Towers

A special issue of Vibration (ISSN 2571-631X).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 September 2024) | Viewed by 2266

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
School of Computing, Engineering and Digital Technologies, Teesside University, Middlesbrough, Tees Valley TS1 3BX, UK
Interests: steel structures; nonlinear finite element analysis; structural robustness; seismic design and assessment of structures; resilient structural systems; earthquake engineering and structural dynamics; structural stability
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Guest Editor
Institute of Steel Structures, School of Civil Engineering, Zografou Campus, National Technical University of Athens, GR-15780 Athens, Greece
Interests: nonlinear behavior of steel structures; metal structures
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Wind energy is a major alternative energy source for clean energy production. Although the technology for exploiting this energy source dates back thousands of years, it was not until the end of 19th century that wind was exploited for the generation of electricity with the production of the first large wind energy turbines. The 1973 oil crisis was one of the most important milestones in wind energy history, triggering significant research and development in the field. Nowadays, wind energy is a mature renewable energy; that said, further efforts are needed to improve the efficiency of the technology and meet the strict goals set by governments worldwide to decarbonize their economies including electricity for a sustainable development and the protection of the environment.

To increase the productivity of wind turbines and accelerate the growth of the wind energy market, one could exploit the higher wind potential encountered at high altitudes but also in the vast available offshore areas. However, building taller wind turbines and in multi-hazard environments such as offshore can pose significant challenges to the wind energy structures, which need to be well understood. Further research at a structural analysis and design level is therefore needed to understand the nature and effect of the hazards and propose measures to address them.

This Special Issue aims to collect the latest research in the field and invites the submission of articles related (but not limited) to the following topics:

  • Steel, concrete and composite wind turbine towers;
  • Wind and seismic effects;
  • Vibrational response;
  • Structural and fatigue limit states;
  • Design codes and guidelines;
  • Analytical, numerical and experimental methods of analysis;
  • Fabrication and installation.

Dr. Christoforos Dimopoulos
Prof. Dr. Charis J. Gantes
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • Steel, concrete and composite wind turbine towers
  • Wind and seismic effects
  • Vibrational response
  • Structural and fatigue limit states
  • Design codes and guidelines
  • Analytical, numerical and experimental methods of analysis
  • Fabrication and installation

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

17 pages, 9679 KiB  
Article
Nonlinear Finite Element Analysis of Tubular Steel Wind Turbine Towers near Man Door and Ventilation Openings to Optimize Design against Buckling
by Charis J. Gantes, Stelios M. Vernardos, Konstantina G. Koulatsou and Semih Gül
Vibration 2024, 7(1), 212-228; https://doi.org/10.3390/vibration7010012 - 7 Mar 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1723
Abstract
The safe and cost-effective design of wind turbine towers is a critical and challenging aspect of the future development of the wind energy sector. This process should consider the continuous growth of towers in height and blades in length. Among potential failure modes [...] Read more.
The safe and cost-effective design of wind turbine towers is a critical and challenging aspect of the future development of the wind energy sector. This process should consider the continuous growth of towers in height and blades in length. Among potential failure modes of tubular steel towers, shell local buckling due to static axial compressive stresses from the rotor, blades, and tower weight, as well as dynamic flexural compressive stresses from wind actions on the rotating blades and the tower itself, are dominant as thickness is optimized to reduce weight. As man door and ventilation openings are necessary for the towers’ operation, the local weakening of the tower shell in those areas leads to increased buckling danger. This is compensated for by tower manufacturers by the provision of stiffening frames around the openings. However, the cold-forming and welding of these frames are among the most time-consuming aspects of tower fabrication. Working towards the optimization of this design aspect, the buckling response of tubular steel towers near such openings is investigated by means of nonlinear finite element analysis, accounting for geometrical and material nonlinearity and imperfections (GMNIA), and also considering several wind directions with respect to the openings. The alternatives of stiffened and unstiffened openings are investigated, revealing that a thicker shell section around the opening may be sufficient to restore lost stiffness and strength, while the stiffener frame may also be eliminated, offering substantial benefits in terms of manufacturing effort, time and cost. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Analysis and Design of Wind Turbine Towers)
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