MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY

AEE 361
APPLIED ELASTICITY

PROJECT REPORT

Wind Turbine Tower Design

GROUP 8:
Bar Can - 1743491
Baak Okumu - 1747021
Vit Vodicka - 1945211

Submission Date : 21.01.2013

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Abstract
For AE361, the term project is about designing wind turbine towers, with respect to structural
and fatigue design criterions. First, an appropriate literature research was done about small scale
horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWT) and suitable airfoil and tower height were selected in terms of
their material and structural properties. The blade length is 5m, and the tower height is 15m chosen.
After that, the aerodynamic forces acting on the blade are found for three blade systems, and the
gravitational forces are found for the system. The loads acting on the tower were based from the
previously found forces and moments on the blades. In the second part of the project, design analysis
was made. Finally, the necessary factors of safety are calculated and comments are stated.

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Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................................4
Material Selection .......................................................................................................................5
Analysis of the Blade ...................................................................................................................6
1) Aerodynamic Loads .............................................................................................................7
2) Gravitational Loads ...........................................................................................................11
Forces on the Tower .................................................................................................................12
Ultimate Load Design ................................................................................................................13
Fatique Load Design ..................................................................................................................16
Patran/Nastran Simulation .......................................................................................................18
Comparing the results .............................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
Conclusion .................................................................................................................................19
References ................................................................................................................................20
Code ..........................................................................................................................................21
Nastran output file ....................................................................................................................23

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Introduction
The purpose of this project is to determine the loads acting on the tower of the wind turbine.
The wind turbine we are considering is a small scale horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT). Horizontal-
axis wind turbines (HAWT) have the main rotor shaft and electrical generator at the top of a tower,
and may be pointed into or out of the wind. These types of turbines consist of three parts that are
blades, tower, and nacelle which is not being considered for this project. The blades have the shape of
an airfoil which generates lift and drag force. The tower is either a steel lattice tower similar to
electrical towers or a steel tubular tower with an inside ladder to the nacelle.

For the design of the tower, the following steps were taken into consideration:

o The suitable material is chosen for different parts of the wind turbine.
o The airfoil data is taken from a data sheet prepared from a blade manufacturer.
o Some assumptions on tower design are made in order to simplify the design process.
o The loadings on blades are calculated by considering aerodynamic and gravitational
forces.
o Tower design is prepared by the loadings found for blades with respect to the airfoil
selected.
o Factor of safety for structural and fatigue design is calculated for the critical loads.
o The tower is checked whether it will yield first or will fail due to fatigue loads.

The project is about designing and understanding how wind turbines are prone to failure in
maximum loading cases.

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Material Selection
Wind turbines come in many sizes and configurations and are built from wide range of
materials. In simple terms, a wind turbine consists of a rotor that has wing shaped blades attached to a
hub; a nacelle that houses a drive train consisting of a gearbox, connecting shafts, support bearings,
the generator; a tower; and ground-mounted electrical equipment. The wing shaped blades on the
rotor actually harvest the energy in the wind stream. The rotor converts the kinetic energy in the wind
to rotational energy transmitted through the drive train to the generator. Generated electricity can be
connected directly to the load or feed to the utility grid.

A wide range of materials are used in wind turbines. There are substantial differences between
small and large machines and there are projected changes in designs that will accommodate the
introduction of new material technologies and manufacturing methods. The estimated materials usage
in small and large turbines is shown in several tables. To arrive at a total, the material usage is
weighted by the estimated market share of the various manufacturers and machines types.

The trends in design and manufacturing differ between small and large turbines. Small
machines tend to use lighter weight castings in an effort to reduce costs. Many parts are die cast
aluminum in small turbines, while in large machines steel castings or forgings are needed to meet
strength and structural fatigue requirements. The size of steel castings for large turbines, especially
the blade hub units, is one of the manufacturing challenges.

Material fatigue properties are an important consideration in wind turbine design and
materials selection. During the expected 30 year life of a wind turbine, many of the components will
need to be able to endure 4 x 108 fatigue stress cycles. This high cycle fatigue resistance is even more
severe than aircraft, automotive engines, bridges and most other man-made structures.

For towers, low cost materials are especially important, since towers can represent as much as
65% of the weight of the turbine. Pre-stressed concrete is a material that is starting to be used in
greater amounts in European turbines, especially in off-shore or near-shore applications. Concrete in
towers has the potential to lower cost, but may involve nearly as much steel in the reinforcing bars as
a conventional steel tower.

Here in this project, the tower chosen is HISTWIN - High Strength Steel Tower for Wind
Turbines, which is a specific type of tower designed for extreme loadings with no failure consideration.
The connection between towers segments is the bolted L-flange connection where pairs of rather thick
steel flanges are welded on the inside of the tubes and bolted together with pre-tensioned high
strength bolts. The bolts are the reason this tower can endure high loads. Stress analysis of bolts is not
considered in the project.

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Analysis of the Blade
For this project, Ris-B1-15 airfoil has been chosen for the blades of the wind turbine. The
geometric design parameters and target ow design parameters at Re=6x10 6 are taken from the
following table.

o Lift coefficient, CL = 1.21

1.98
o Drag coefficient, CD = 157 = 3.47102
o Length of the chord line = 0.6 m
o Airfoil section span = 5 m
o Area of the wing = (5 m) x (0.6 m) = 3 m2
o Angle of attack () = 6

The tip speed ratio of 3-blades wind turbine is taken as 5.5, which will be used in the
aerodynamic loads section. Assuming the tower will be built in Ankara, the properties of air should be
taken as the following;

o Density () = 1.234 kg/m3

o Critical Velocity of Air (v) = 25 m/s

There are 5 types of loading on the blade of the turbine.

1. Aerodynamic Loads
2. Gravitational Loads
3. Centrifugal Loads
4. Gyroscopic Loads
5. Operational Loads

Type 4 and 5 are neglected, and centrifugal force is too small than the other forces, so it will be
omitted also. The loads that will be considered are aerodynamic and gravitational.

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 1) Aerodynamic Loads
Aerodynamic load is generated by lift and drag of the blades aerofoil section as shown in the
figure below, which is dependent on wind velocity (VW), blade velocity (U), surface finish, angle of
attack () and yaw. The angle of attack is dependent on blade twist and pitch. The aerodynamic lift
and drag produced are resolved into useful thrust (T) in the direction of rotation absorbed by the
generator and reaction forces (R). It can be seen that the reaction forces are substantial acting in the
flat wise bending plane, and must be tolerated by the blade with limited deformation.

Drag force and pitching moment coefficient can be neglected due to its small value. It was also
assumed that the angle of attack is constant throughout the length of the blade.

As can be seen in the picture, air speed is not only function of wind speed but its main
component is speed created by rotating blade. This speed can be defined from tip speed ratio.

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 Then, velocity over rectangular blade will have following distribution:

Vt = Tip speed velocity

Blade

Tip Speed Ratio Number of Blades

~6-7 2
~5-6 3
~2-3 5

These are values for working wind speeds, but it is needed to determine critical load at high
wind speeds. It means in our case real tip speed will not be as high as in the table above. Considering
these assumptions, TSR = 4 is chosen;

= 4 = 100 /

In real design it would be necessary to use piece-wise solution called Blade element
momentum theory. To make it simple, velocity distribution drawn above is approximated to be
concentrated at the centroid of the velocity distribution triangle.

V = Tip speed velocity

2/3L 1/3L

Approximated blade velocity is then: 67 m/s

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Velocity triangle:

67
= = = 63
25

Then, the lift force is calculated as;

1
= 2 = 23 050
2
The lift force is divided into its components in the x and y axis.

= cos(90 ) = 20 540
= sin(90 ) = 10 640

Drag was neglected due to its value being

very small compared to the other forces.

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 R is the loading on one blade, the wind turbine in the project consists of 3 blades; and then,
tower loading will be 3R.

Loads on the tower:

= 3R = 61 620 N

= = 10 640
2 2
= +2 sin(60) = 96 900
3 3

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 2) Gravitational Loads
The gravitational force is defined simply as mass multiplied by the gravitational constant,
although its direction remains constant acting towards the center of the earth which causes an
alternating cyclic load case.

From the literature research, it is found that an approximate weight can be computed from its
dimensions, assuming it is made of 3 rectangular blades with material selected as solid fiber-glass.
Density of fiber-glass is equal to 2600 kg/m3 as taken from blade manufacturer material tables. The blade is
shaped as a shell, and then the area is 3 m2 for the blade, with thickness 5mm.

= 3 = 122.31

= = 1200

Considering this value, the gravitational loading will have no significant effect on final stress. The
gravitational load modeled as a cantilever beam is like the following figure.

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The loads on the Tower:
Load acting on the turbine has been briefly derived with respect to the aerodynamic and
gravitational forces. First, some simplifying assumptions are made. Geometry of blade is rectangular
with the same angle of attack over length; centrifugal, gyroscopic and operational loading and also
drag and pitching moment effect are neglected. The dominant force is found to be the lift of the blade,
which is divided into 2 components Thrust and Reaction force. The values of these forces are found
and their effects into center of turbine are calculated. At the end, gravitational loading is calculated,
which seems to be insignificant, hence it is omitted.

Fx
y
My
Fy x

Fz= Fg = 1200 N
WIND Fz
Fy = 61 620 N

Fx = 10 640

My = 96 900

Mz = 0

Mx = 0

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Ultimate Load Design

From literature it is found out that for dimension of 5m blade tower is usually 12-18 m, so 15m
is chosen. Using load obtained in previous section, tower stresses are calculated by using MATLAB
code. First, previous obtained data is inputted and load distribution over tower is calculated. Then,
wind force over the tower is found with the following equation, where is the air density, ()2 is the
wind speed, is the gust factor, () is outer tower diameter and () is the form factor:

1
() = ()2 ()()
2

This force will create a moment about x axis and it is the following equation:

1
() = ( )()2 ()()
2

For the project conditions: =1.234 kg/m3, V=25 m/s, =0.85 (for rigid bodies), c(z)=0.6 (for
high strength steel towers). Tower can be considered as tapered beam with variable wall shell
thickness. Essence design parameter is how outer and inner diameter of tower changes along tower
high D(h), d(h).
D Outer diameter

D d Inner diameter
D d

To optimize, tower is divided into 10 cm regions and stress for each of every of them is
calculated. D(h) and d(h) function is iterated until acceptable values of stress are achieved.

D=0.3+0.01.*h; d=0.25+0.005.*h;

Fx=10640; Fy=61620; My=96900; Fz=1200; %loading values

Myc(i)=Fx*h(i)+ My;
Mxc(i)=Fy*h(i)+ Mw(i);

Mc(i)=(Myc(i)^2+Mxc(i)^2)^.5;

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 With the equation stated above, MATLAB can calculate and plot the maximum loading on the
tower. The maximum moment is found as

, = 9.5923105 .

The critical load is on the bottom of the tower, as can be seen from the plot of load
distribution. However, when the stress distribution is calculated and analyzed, the following plot is
generated:

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 Maximum stress is not desired to be at the bottom surface, so the diameters are optimized as
the previously stated equations by iteration methods. As with the final diameters, the stress
distribution has become satisfying with the desired conditions. Therefore, the critical point on the
tower is at 4m above the ground with;

16 () (() ())
=
(()4 ()4 )

, = 1.5142108
= 11

To obtain safety factor, properties of wind turbine material are found from tables. Wind
turbines of our dimensions are usually made of so called HISTWIN - High Strength Steel Tower for
Wind Turbines. For this material, yield strength is the following value:

= 355

To find factor of safety, there are two different theories can be used. One of the failure
theories is Maximum Distortion Stress Theory, and the other one is called Maximum Shear Stress
Theory. For the calculations, Maximum Distortion Theory is preferred to be used:

Substituting the values into the equation, factor of safety is found as the following;

355
=
151.4

= 2.3445

Under these loadings, the strength of the tower is high enough against yielding with safety of
factor of 2.3445. It is necessary to check for the fatigue design to see whether it will fail under cyclic
loads.

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Fatigue Load Design
Continuing with the same code, it is necessary to try to determine fatigue life of our structure.
Our goal is to make such a structure which can stand more than 10 6 cycles, which is infinite life. First
step is to determine dynamic loading. From references found, it is determined that 25% of ultimate
load can be used. Minimum loading can be taken as 0 for fatigue design due to combined maximum
moments and neglecting inertia.

So then we determine mean and amplitude values of loading.

Fxmax=.25*Fx; Fxmin=0;
Fymax=.25*Fy; Fymin=0;
Mymax=.25*My; Mymin=0;

Fxm=(Fxmax+Fxmin)/2;
Fxa=(Fxmax-Fxmin)/2;

Fym=(Fymax+Fymin)/2;
Fya=(Fymax-Fymin)/2;

Mym=(Mymax+Mymin)/2;
Mya=(Mymax-Mymin)/2;

And again we computed mean and oscillating loading for every part of tower.

To make the tower have infinite life [Se (Endurance Limit) for 106 cycles], it is necessary to
determine fatigue strength. Reduction factor, K = 0.75 is taken from the textbook and endurance
strength is obtained according to Soderberg criterion.

= 0.5

= 0.5 (0.75) 355 = 133

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 Using endurance strength, the factor of safety for fatigue is calculated for the critical part of
tower.

1
+ =

As previously stated that stress due to cyclic loads will be one-fourth of the ultimate stress
case, and the alternating stress is equal to the difference of maximum and minimum stress values
divided by two:

= , (0.25)

151.4 0
= = = 75.7
2 2

+ 151.4 + 0
= = = 75.7
2 2

After the substitution, the factor of safety can be found as the following:

75.7 75.7 1
+ =
133 355

= 5.1153

The critical section is the same as the one found in the ultimate load design analysis, which is h = 11m.

To compare and validate the results found by analytical solution, numerical solution is also
found by simulating the tower with finite elements method (FEM). This solution is presented in the
following section.

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Patran/Nastran Simulation
FEM simulation is done by Patran/Nastran software. First, geometry is created with respect to
applied boundary conditions and loadings. Then, material with same properties is chosen. Next, the
beam elements are created with the selected material properties and the dimensions found in the
previous stages of design analysis. The tower created in the program is the following figure:

Then, the simulation is made and resulting data are assessed. The color bar in the right of the
figure shows the stress values, and the simulated tower is colored according to the found stress
distribution by the program itself.

From the created report from the program, which is shown below, stress of every single beam
element can be determined.

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Comparing the Results:

Analytically FEM

Max stress [MPa] 151.42 165.65

Position [m] 11 11.25

The table above shows that, the results found by analytic and numeric calculations are
approximately the same. It can be concluded that the calculations we have done are suitable for the
real life situations.

Conclusion
To summarize the steps, the airfoil and tower type with respect to their materials are selected.
By engineering intuition, some serious assumptions are made. Drag force, pitching moment, the real
shape of the blades and their twisting angle is assumed to be negligible for simplifying the calculation
process, since this project is about the tower, not the blade. Even though using Blade Element
Momentum Theory would be more accurate, for the easiness of calculation, the loading is taken on
the pressure center. Therefore, the loads are found in the first stage of the project.

For the second stage, the stress analysis is done by looking for structural and fatigue design
criterion. For every criterion, a factor of safety is found and checked whether they are above 1, which
means the maximum stress is in the safe region. From the measured factors, fatigue design gives a
safety factor higher than the ultimate stress case which is pseudo-static analysis. Hence, if the tower
fails, it will fail in yielding, with infinite life in fatigue.

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 After loading calculation is computed, for the remaining most time-consuming part is to
determine the shape function of the tower, especially the outer and inner diameter function.
Optimizing these functions, we obtained stress distribution we desired with its maximum value off the
areas of possible stress concentration factor makers in one fourth of tower height, not the bottom
surface of the tower.

Since the diameter of the tower changes with its height differs, manufacturing of this tower will
be harder than the constant cross-section towers. Due to its geometrical definition, it will be necessary
to produce tower with CNC machinery. Considering its dimensions, it is hardly doable but
manufacturing technology was not the main focus of the project.

Because some of the loading cases are neglected, factor of safety is kept higher than 2 to avoid
accidental structure failure by properly chosen materials and dimensions. Fatigue life analysis is based
on assumption that dynamic load is 25% of the ultimate one. Using Soderberg criterion, structure is
determined that it can stand 106 cycles with high factor of safety.

For a better visualization, Patran/Nastran Simulation is performed for the tower with the found
forces and moments conditions. As can be seen from the results found by strength of materials and
numerical analysis with finite elements, the data found in the project are in harmony with each other.
To the report, MATLAB code is annexed and the output file of Nastran simulation.

References
http://asmedl.org/getpdf/servlet/GetPDFServlet?filetype=pdf&id=JSEEDO000126000004001002000001
&idtype=cvips&prog=normal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tip-speed_ratio
http://www.windynation.com/articles/wind/tip-speed-ratio-how-calculate-and-apply-tsr-blade-selection
Wind Turbine Blade Design by Peter J. Schubel and Richard J. Crossley,
www.mdpi.com/journal/energies
Aerodynamic Design And Optimization Of Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines By Using Beam Theory And
Genetic Algorithm by zlem Ceyhan
http://www.greenenergynet.com/businesses/articles/small-wind-turbines-what-are-your-options
www.elforsk.se/Rapporter/?download=report&rid=09_11_
http://www.perihq.com/documents/windturbine-materialsandmanufacturing_factsheet.pdf

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MATLAB Code
clear all
%Ultimate load
Fx=10640; Fy=61620; My=96900; Fz=1200; %loading values
h=0:0.1:15;

Sy=355*10^6; %steel prop

D=0.3+0.01.*h; d=0.25+0.005.*h;

Sc=1;hc=1;
for i=1:length(h);

I(i)=pi*(D(i)^4-d(i)^4)/64;

Myc(i)=Fx*h(i)+My;
Mxc(i)=Fy*h(i)+Mw(i);

Mc(i)=(Myc(i)^2+Mxc(i)^2)^.5;

S(i)=(Mc(i)*D(i)/2)/I(i);

if S(i)>Sc;
Sc=S(i);
hc=h(i);
end

end
%plot(Mc,-h) %loading visualization
plot(S,-h) %stress visualization
n=Sy/Sc
Sc %critical ultimate stress
hc %critical cross-section

%Fatigue
%for fatigue using 25% of ultimate load

K=0.75; %fatique strenght reduction factor

Se=.5*K*Sy; %endurance strength

Fxmax=.25*Fx; Fxmin=0;
Fymax=.25*Fy; Fymin=0;
Mymax=.25*My; Mymin=0;

Fxm=(Fxmax+Fxmin)/2;
Fxa=(Fxmax-Fxmin)/2;

Fym=(Fymax+Fymin)/2;
Fya=(Fymax-Fymin)/2;

Mym=(Mymax+Mymin)/2;

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Mya=(Mymax-Mymin)/2;

nfmin=10^6; hfc=1; %
for i=1:length(h)
%amplitude
Myca(i)=Fxa*h(i)+Mya;
Mxca(i)=Fya*h(i);

Mca(i)=(Myca(i)^2+Mxca(i)^2)^.5;

Sa(i)=(Mca(i)*D(i)/2)/I(i);

%mean
Mycm(i)=Fxm*h(i)+Mym;
Mxcm(i)=Fym*h(i);

Mcm(i)=(Mycm(i)^2+Mxcm(i)^2)^.5;

Sm(i)=(Mcm(i)*D(i)/2)/I(i);

%Soderberg
nf(i)=(Sa(i)./Se+Sm(i)./Sy)^-1;
if nf(i)<nfmin;
nfmin=nf(i);
hfc=h(i);
end
end
nfmin %minimum fatigue safety factor
hfc %critical fatigue cross-section

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Nastran Output File

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