• Journal of Wind Energy
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.31-41
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• 2022

The rated power and rotor diameters of wind turbines are significantly increasing for maximized energy production and minimized LCoE, especially for offshore wind turbines. Along with this, the loads and weight of rotor blades are inevitably increasing. Therefore, designers are striving to develop light structures by reducing unnecessary materials for the blades. However, designers have to develop a novel design concept to increase the critical buckling load since lightweight designs compromise the critical buckling load, which is frequently the critical design point for ultra-large wind turbine blades. In this paper, the concept of local reinforcement is introduced as a new structural design concept to increase the buckling load. Moreover, its verification procedure and modeling methodology were studied and verified by application to a 3 MW wind turbine blade.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.153-164
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• 2020

In the design of buildings, lateral loading is one of the most important factors considered by structural designers. The concept of performance-based design (PBD) is well developed for seismic load. Whereas, wind design is mainly based on elastic analysis for both serviceability and strength. For tall buildings subject to extreme wind load, inelastic behavior and application of the concept of PBD bear consideration. For seismic design, current practice primarily presumes inelastic behavior of the structure and that energy is dissipated by plastic deformation. However, due to analysis complexity and computational cost, calculations used to predict inelastic behavior are often performed using elastic analysis and a response modification factor (R). Inelastic analysis is optionally performed to check the accuracy of the design. In this paper, a framework for application of an R factor for wind design is proposed. Theoretical background on the application and implementation is provided. Moreover, seismic and wind fatigue issues are explained for the purpose of quantifying the modification factor R for wind design.

• Journal of Wind Energy
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.11-20
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• 2024

As the generation capacity of floating offshore wind turbines increases, the wind load applied to each turbine increases. Due to such a high wind load, the capacity of transport equipment (such as tugboats or cranes) required in the transportation and installation phases must be much larger than that of previous small-capacity wind power generation systems. However, for such an important wind load prediction method, the simple formula proposed by the classification society is generally used, and prediction through wind tunnel tests or Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is rarely used, especially for a concept or initial design stages. In this study, the wind load of a 10 MW class floating offshore wind turbine was predicted by a simplified formula and compared with results of wind tunnel tests. In addition, the wind load coefficients at each stage of fabrication, transportation, and installation are presented so that it can be used during a concept or initial design stages for similar floating offshore wind turbines.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2006.06a
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• pp.241-244
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• 2006

Recently wind turbines become large, constructed as farms and going out to offshore. Different design approach from onshore is needed for offshore wind turbine. At this paper concept and preliminary design of an offshore wind turbine of 3MW rated power are performed. The concept design started from modelling of the generator and gearbox. With these modelling the optimum specifications was acquired. Integrated type of drive train is designed with all parts are mounted on the tower top as the offshore maintenance strategy. At the preliminary stage control system, power production algorithm and safety system are designed. Load calculation is also performed. The 3MW offshore wind turbine concept/preliminary design and the process of design are obtained as results.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.439-452
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• 2021

The concept of Performance objective assessment is extended to wind engineering. This approach applies using the Database-Assisted Design technique, relying on the aerodynamic database provided by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). A structural model of a low-rise building is analyzed to obtain influence coefficients for internal forces and displacements. Combining these coefficients with time histories of pressure coefficients on the envelope produces time histories of load effects on the structure, for example knee and ridge bending moments, and eave lateral drift. The peak values of such effects are represented by an extreme-value Type I Distribution, which allows the estimation of the gust wind speed leading to the mean hourly extreme loading that cause specific performance objective compromises. Firstly a fully correlated wind field over large tributary areas is assumed and then relaxed to utilize the denser pressure tap data available but with considerably more computational effort. The performance objectives are determined in accordance with the limit state load combinations given in the ASCE 7-16 provisions, particularly the Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) method. The procedure is then repeated for several wind directions and different dominant opening scenarios to determine the cases that produce performance objective criteria. Comparisons with two approaches in ASCE 7 are made.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.145-160
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• 1998

In recent years, the effects of a possible climate change have been discussed in regard to wind loading on buildings and structures. Simple scenarios based on the assumption of global warming suggest an increase of storm intensities and storm frequencies and a possible re-distribution of storm tracks. Among recent publications, some papers seem to verify these scenarios while others deny the influence of climatic change. In an introductory step, the paper tries to re-examine these statements. Based on meteorological observations of a weather station in Germany, the existence of long-term trends and their statistical significance is investigated. The analysis itself is based on a refined model for the wind climate introducing a number of new basic variables. Thus, the numerical values of the design wind loads used in modern codes become more justified from the probabilistic point of view.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.177-191
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• 2000

This paper presents an approach for evaluating directionality effects for both wind speeds and wind loads in hurricane-prone regions. The focus of this study is on directional wind loads on low-rise structures. Using event-based simulation, hurricane directionality effects are determined for an open-terrain condition at various locations in the southeastern United States. The wind speed (or wind load) directionality factor, defined as the ratio of the N-year mean recurrence interval (MRI) wind speed (or wind load) in each direction to the non-directional N-year MRI wind speed (or wind load), is less than one but increases toward unity with increasing MRI. Thus, the degree of conservatism that results from neglecting directionality effects decreases with increasing MRI. It may be desirable to account for local exposure effects (siting effects such as shielding, orientation, etc.) in design. To account for these effects in a directionality adjustment, the factor described above for open terrain would need to be transformed to other terrains/exposures. A "local" directionality factor, therefore, must effectively combine these two adjustments (event directionality and siting or local exposure directionality). By also considering the direction-specific aerodynamic coefficient, a direction-dependent wind load can be evaluated. While the data necessary to make predictions of directional wind loads may not routinely be available in the case of low-rise structures, the concept is discussed and illustrated in this paper.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.479-496
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• 2008

In this paper, computer simulation of wind flow around a single cooling tower with louver support at the base in the KAZERUN power station in south part of IRAN is presented as a case study. ANSYS FLOTRAN, an unstructured finite element incompressible flow solver, is used for numerical investigation of wind induced pressure load on a single cooling tower. Since the effects of the wind ribs on external surface of the cooling tower shell which plays important role in formation of turbulent flow field, an innovative relation is introduced for modeling the effects of wind ribs on computation of wind pressure on cooling tower's shell. The introduced relation which follows the concept of equivalent sand roughness for the wall function is used in conjunction with two equations ${\kappa}-{\varepsilon}$ turbulent model. In this work, the effects of variation in the height/spacing ratio of external wind ribs are numerically investigated. Conclusions are made by comparison between computed pressure loads on external surface of cooling tower and the VGB (German guideline for cooling tower design) suggestions.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.143-152
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• 2020

The wind design of buildings is typically based on strength provisions under ultimate loads. This is unlike the ductility-based approach used in seismic design, which allows inelastic actions to take place in the structure under extreme seismic events. This research investigates the application of a similar concept in wind engineering. In seismic design, the elastic forces resulting from an extreme event of high return period are reduced by a load reduction factor chosen by the designer and accordingly a certain ductility capacity needs to be achieved by the structure. Two reasons have triggered the investigation of this ductility-based concept under wind loads. Firstly, there is a trend in the design codes to increase the return period used in wind design approaching the large return period used in seismic design. Secondly, the structure always possesses a certain level of ductility that the wind design does not benefit from. Many technical issues arise when applying a ductility-based approach under wind loads. The use of reduced design loads will lead to the design of a more flexible structure with larger natural periods. While this might be beneficial for seismic response, it is not necessarily the case for the wind response, where increasing the flexibility is expected to increase the fluctuating response. This particular issue is examined by considering a case study of a sixty-five-story high-rise building previously tested at the Boundary Layer Wind Tunnel Laboratory at the University of Western Ontario using a pressure model. A three-dimensional finite element model is developed for the building. The wind pressures from the tested rigid model are applied to the finite element model and a time history dynamic analysis is conducted. The time history variation of the straining actions on various structure elements of the building are evaluated and decomposed into mean, background and fluctuating components. A reduction factor is applied to the fluctuating components and a modified time history response of the straining actions is calculated. The building components are redesigned under this set of reduced straining actions and its fundamental period is then evaluated. A new set of loads is calculated based on the modified period and is compared to the set of loads associated with the original structure. This is followed by non-linear static pushover analysis conducted individually on each shear wall module after redesigning these walls. The ductility demand of shear walls with reduced cross sections is assessed to justify the application of the load reduction factor "R".

• Wind and Structures
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.419-440
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• 2006

This article synthesizes the literature on the meteorology, experimental simulation, and wind engineering ramifications of intense downburst outflows. A novel design of a large-scale test facility and experimental evidence of its validity are presented. A two-dimensional slot jet is used to simulate only the outflow region of a downburst. Profiles of mean velocity and turbulence quantities are acquired using hot-wire anemometry. Comparison with the literature provides empirical evidence that supports the current approach. A geometric analysis considers the validity of applying a two-dimensional approximation for downburst wind loading of structures. This analysis is applicable to power transmission lines in particular. The slot jet concept can be implemented in a large boundary layer wind tunnel to enable large-scale laboratory experiments of thunderstorm wind loads on structures.