• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.615-621
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• 2007

Wind power generation is one of the promising gateways that will solve the energy crisis in the future. The wind power generator studied so far is limited to static interpretation in the areas related to tower. This study broadly sets the form of tower as tubular and jacket, identifies the characteristics of each and aims to find and apply their trend to in actual design and manufacturing process. This paper identified the resonance frequency of tower at each mode and studied their features. Furthermore, this study identified the characteristics of the load that occurs in operation and the effect of additional mass incurring when installed in sea, and it compared the two types of tower and was able to predict their trend.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.205-215
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• 2017

This study presents an example of conceptual design for hollow circular section multi-column tower system subjected to 10MW level wind load by introducing a method based on member utilization that examine both structural stability and economical efficiency. The basic assumptions for the proto type of a multi-column tower that can replace a single-cylinder tower were suggested and structural models were constructed following the assumptions and analyzed for identifying member forces. Based on the calculated member strengths and acting loads, the member utilization of the proposed multi-column tower structures were calculated for axial force, shear, bending and torsion and evaluaed for suitability as a wind tower. Design parameters such as steel tube dimensions, slenderness ratio, and number of floors for braces was proposed in the acceptable range of member utilization for conceptual design of multi-column wind towers.

• Composites Research
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.54-61
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• 2012

In this study, a specific structural design procedure for 2 MW class glass/epoxy composite wind turbine system towers is newly proposed through load case study, trade-off study, optimal structural design and structural analysis. Optimal tower design is very important because its cost is about 20% of the wind turbine system's cost. In the structural design of the tower, three kinds of loads such as wind load, blades, nacelle and tower weight and blade aerodynamic drag load should be considered. Initial structural design is carried out using the netting rule and the rule of mixture. Then the structural safety and stability are confirmed using a commercial finite element code, MSC NASTRAN/PATRAN. The finally proposed tower configuration meets the tower design requirements.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.87 no.2
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• pp.137-149
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• 2023

In this study, to explore the working performance of the CFST split spherical node wind power tower, two groups of CFST split spherical joint plane towers with different web wall thicknesses and a set of space systems were analyzed. The tower was subjected to a low-cycle repeated load test, and the hysteresis and skeleton curves were analyzed. ABAQUS finite element simulation was used for verification and comparison, and on this basis parameter expansion analysis was carried out. The results show that the failure mode of the wind power tower was divided into weld tear damage between belly bar, high strength bolt thread damage and belly rod flexion damage. In addition, increasing the wall thickness of the web member could render the hysteresis curve fuller. Finally, the bearing capacity of the separated spherical node wind power tower was high, but its plastic deformation ability was poor. The ultimate bearing capacity and ductility coefficient of the simulated specimens are positively correlated with web diameter ratio and web column stiffness ratio. When the diameter ratio of the web member was greater than 0.13, or the stiffness ratio γ of the web member to the column was greater than 0.022, the increase of the ultimate bearing capacity and ductility coefficient decreased significantly. In order to maximize the overall mechanical performance of the tower and improve its economy, it was suggested that the diameter ratio of the ventral rod be 0.11-0.13, while the stiffness ratio γ should be 0.02-0.022.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.231-257
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• 2022

Transmission lines systems are important components of the electrical power infrastructure. However, these systems are vulnerable to damage from high wind events such as hurricanes. This study presents the results from a 1:50 scale aeroelastic model of a multi-span transmission lines system subjected to simulated hurricane winds. The transmission lines system considered in this study consists of three lattice towers, four spans of conductors and two end-frames. The aeroelastic tests were conducted at the NSF NHERI Wall of Wind Experimental Facility (WOW EF) at the Florida International University (FIU). A horizontal distortion scaling technique was used in order to fit the entire model on the WOW turntable. The system was tested at various wind speeds ranging from 35 m/s to 78 m/s (equivalent full-scale speeds) for varying wind directions. A system identification (SID) technique was used to evaluate experimental-based along-wind aerodynamic damping coefficients and compare with their theoretical counterparts. Comparisons were done for two aeroelastic models: (i) a self-supported lattice tower, and (ii) a multi-span transmission lines system. A buffeting analysis was conducted to estimate the response of the conductors and compare it to measured experimental values. The responses of the single lattice tower and the multi-span transmission lines system were compared. The coupling effects seem to drastically change the aerodynamic damping of the system, compared to the single lattice tower case. The estimation of the drag forces on the conductors are in good agreement with their experimental counterparts. The incorporation of the change in turbulence intensity along the height of the towers appears to better estimate the response of the transmission tower, in comparison with previous methods which assumed constant turbulence intensity. Dynamic amplification factors and gust effect factors were computed, and comparisons were made with code specific values. The resonance contribution is shown to reach a maximum of 18% and 30% of the peak response of the stand-alone tower and entire system, respectively.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.199-213
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• 2022

The current study investigates the dynamic effects in the tornado-structure response of an aeroelastic self-supported lattice transmission tower model tested under laboratory simulated tornado-like vortices. The aeroelastic model is designed for a geometric scale of 1:65 and tested under scaled down tornadoes in the Wind Engineering, Energy and Environment (WindEEE) Research Institute. The simulated tornadoes have a similar length scale of 1:65 compared to the full-scale. An extensive experimental parametric study is conducted by offsetting the stationary tornado center with respect to the aeroelastic model. Such aeroelastic testing of a transmission tower under laboratory tornadoes is not reported in the literature. A multiaxial load cell is mounted underneath the base plate to measure the base shear forces and overturning moments applied to the model in three perpendicular directions. A three-axis accelerometer is mounted at the level of the second cross-arm to measure response accelerations to evaluate the natural frequencies through a free-vibration test. Radial, tangential, and axial velocity components of the tornado wind field are measured using cobra probes. Sensitivity analyses are conducted to assess the variation of the structural dynamic response associated with the location of the tornado relative to the lattice transmission tower. Three different layouts representing the change in the orientation of the tower model relative to the components of the tornado-induced loads are considered. The structural responses of the aeroelastic model in terms of base shear forces, overturning moments, and lateral accelerations are measured. The results are utilized to understand the dynamic response of self-supported transmission towers to the tornado-induced loads.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.45-60
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• 2007

Transmission tower is a vital component in electrical system. In order to accurately compute the dynamic response and reliability of transmission tower under the excitation of wind loading, a new method termed as probability density evolution method (PDEM) is introduced in the paper. The PDEM had been proved to be of high accuracy and efficiency in most kinds of stochastic structural analysis. Consequently, it is very hopeful for the above needs to apply the PDEM in dynamic response of wind-excited transmission towers. Meanwhile, this paper explores the wind stochastic field from stochastic Fourier spectrum. Based on this new viewpoint, the basic random parameters of the wind stochastic field, the roughness length $z_0$ and the mean wind velocity at 10 m heigh $U_{10}$, as well as their probability density functions, are investigated. A latticed steel transmission tower subject to wind loading is studied in detail. It is shown that not only the statistic quantities of the dynamic response, but also the instantaneous PDF of the response and the time varying reliability can be worked out by the proposed method. The results demonstrate that the PDEM is feasible and efficient in the dynamic response and reliability analysis of wind-excited transmission towers.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.445-459
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• 2024

To model the aeroelasticity in vortex-induced vibrations (VIV) of slender tubular towers, this paper presents an approach where the aerodynamic damping distribution along the height of the structure is calculated not only as a function of the normalized lateral oscillation but also considering the local incoming wind velocity ratio to the critical velocity (velocity ratio). The three-dimensionality of aerodynamic damping depending on the tower's displacement and the velocity ratio has been observed in recent studies. A contour map model of aerodynamic damping is generated based on the forced vibration tests. A sectional calculation procedure based on the spectral method is developed by defining the aerodynamic damping locally at each increment of height. The proposed contour map model of aerodynamic damping and the sectional calculation procedure are validated with full-scale measurement data sets of a rotorless wind turbine tower, where good agreement between the prediction and measured values is obtained. The prediction of cross-wind response of the wind turbine tower is performed over a range of wind speeds which allows the estimation of resulting fatigue damage. The proposed model gives more realistic prediction in comparison to the approach included in current standards.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.101-108
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• 2012

The purpose of this study is to establish a design method of tower service lift for offshore wind power system, as well as to conduct structure analysis of the service lift system. The service lift system will be built in the internal area of tower of the offshore wind power system. Design and structure analysis for the tower service lift system are conducted to clarify the stability and reliability of the system. Main objective of the design is to secure sufficient capability of transportation of workers and equipment with satisfactory performance within the designed tolerance limit. Total deformation and equivalent stress of the lift system by external load are examined using the results of structure analysis.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.193-208
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• 2008

This paper focuses on assessing the failure of one of the transmission towers that collapsed in Winnipeg, Canada, as a result of a microburst event. The study is conducted using a fluid-structure numerical model that was developed in-house. A major challenge in microburst-related problems is that the forces acting on a structure vary with the microburst parameters including the descending jet velocity, the diameter of the event and the relative location between the structure and the jet. The numerical model, which combines wind field data for microbursts together with a non-linear finite element formulation, is capable of predicting the progressive failure of a tower that initiates after one of its member reaches its capacity. The model is employed first to determine the microburst parameters that are likely to initiate failure of a number of critical members of the tower. Progressive failure analysis of the tower is then conducted by applying the loads associated with those critical configurations. The analysis predicts a collapse of the conductors cross-arm under a microburst reference velocity that is almost equal to the corresponding value for normal wind load that was used in the design of the structure. A similarity between the predicted modes of failure and the post event field observations was shown.