New Lattice-Tubular Tower for Onshore WEC – Part 1: Structural Optimization

Abstract

Currently, onshore wind turbines are economical for 2.5 mega-watt inland installation [1]. One of the alternatives to achieve the higher power capacity in onshore wind turbines is to go to higher altitude, which increases the wind speed and has more uniform wind pressure, leading to higher possible annual energy production and relatively lower maintenance costs due to wind shear induced vibrations. This paper deals with a predesign of a new type of tower that should overcome known disadvantages of steel tubular towers for heights over 150 meters. This first part of the paper addresses the viability of a hybrid support structure in respect of ultimate limit states and structural dynamics as part of the requirements in exploring the feasibility of the hybrid tower concept. The hybrid wind turbine tower concept consists of a lattice (lower) structure and a tubular tower for the higher tower segment. The study cases found in literature were designed with maximum height of 160m and the 2.5MW wind turbine. Moreover, they used commercial "L" sections which leads to high number of connections and bolts. The project that supports the present paper aims at using optimally design hollow cross sections, to reduce the number of connections, and low maintenance type bolts. The developed study case is made for 220m tower height and using 5MW wind turbine.