Seismic evaluation of offshore wind turbine by geotechnical centrifuge test

As offshore wind turbines are now planned to be installed at seismic activity areas around Asia in large numbers, understanding of the seismic behavior of offshore wind turbine has become essential to evade structural hazards due to earthquake. Although the seismic behavior of the structure is largely affected by soil‐foundation‐structure interaction (SFSI), there is only a few experimental data about this subject as conventional offshore wind turbines are mostly located in the area where earthquakes are scarce. Geotechnical centrifuge experiment can provide reliable experimental data for this subject as it can reproduce field stress condition of the soil and simulate earthquake motion in a scaled model test. In this research, three case studies using centrifuge model test were performed to evaluate the seismic behavior of offshore wind turbine during the earthquake and permanent deformation after the earthquake. The results were compared with conventional seismic evaluation methods. Monopile, Monopod, and Tripod foundations were chosen for the experiment. Peak acceleration and rotational displacement of the wind turbine for three cases were evaluated under various intensities of seismic loading applied by centrifuge‐mounted shaking table. Results were compared with conventional evaluation method for design acceleration and conventional rotational displacement criteria suggested in DNV‐OS‐J101.     

Seismic soil–structure interaction analysis of wind turbines in frequency domain

In this paper, the seismic behavior of wind turbines sitting on a finite flexible soil layer is investigated in three‐dimensional space. A numerical algorithm formulated in frequency domain is proposed in order to simulate the dynamic soil–structure interaction (SSI). The wind turbine is discretized using finite element method (FEM) while, the underlying soil is represented by complex dynamic stiffness functions based on cone models. A parametric study consisting of 24 ground motions and three soil profiles is carried out, and different response quantities of the wind tower model are calculated and presented in the paper. The free‐field ground motions are estimated based on an equivalent linear approach using SHAKE2000 computer software. Transfer functions for total acceleration of the wind tower are obtained under the considered soil profiles and the modal frequencies of the coupled wind turbine–soil foundation are estimated. It is shown that the response quantities such as displacement, rotation, acceleration, base shear and moment are significantly affected by SSI, although the effect of SSI on the fundamental frequencies of the wind tower is insignificant. The moment and shear force distribution along the height of the tower is highly influenced as the soil stiffness decreases. The change in seismic demand distribution along the tower height because of SSI is not addressed by simplified design approached and should be carefully considered in seismic design of wind towers. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Centrifuge modeling to evaluate natural frequency and seismic behavior of offshore wind turbine considering SFSI

Understanding of dynamic response of offshore wind turbine is important to reduce vibration of offshore wind turbine induced by structural and environmental loadings. Although dynamic characteristics of the offshore wind turbine such as natural frequency and seismic behavior are affected by foundation and soil conditions, there are little experimental studies about the dynamic behavior of offshore wind turbine with consideration of proper soil–foundation–structure interaction (SFSI). The goal of this research is to evaluate the natural frequency and seismic behavior of offshore wind turbine with a monopod foundation considering SFSI. Scaled model of offshore wind turbine and monopod foundation is produced for this research. Geotechnical centrifuge tests in fixed‐based and SFSI condition were performed to measure natural frequency in each case. Also, a series of seismic loadings with different intensities are applied to observe seismic behaviors of the offshore wind turbine during the earthquake and permanent changes after the earthquake. Experimental results show apparent natural frequency reduction in SFSI condition compared with the fixed‐based condition, non‐linear changes in dynamic response during a series of earthquakes and permanent changes occurred in natural frequency and rotational displacement after earthquakes. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Multi‐hazard reliability assessment of offshore wind turbines

A probabilistic framework is developed to assess the structural performance of offshore wind turbines under multiple hazards. A multi‐hazard fragility surface of a given wind turbine support structure and the seismic and wind hazards at a specific site location are incorporated into the probabilistic framework to assess the structural damage due to multiple hazards. A database of virtual experiments is generated using detailed three‐dimensional finite element analyses of a set of typical wind turbine systems subject to extreme wind speeds and earthquake ground motions. The generated data are used to develop probabilistic models to predict the shear and moment demands on support structures. A Bayesian approach is used to assess the model parameters incorporating the information from virtual experiment data. The developed demand models are then used to estimate the fragility of the support structure of a given wind turbine. As an example of the proposed framework, the annual probabilities of the occurrence of different structural damage levels are calculated for two identical wind turbines, one located in the Gulf of Mexico of the Texas Coast (prone to hurricanes) and one off the California Coast (a high seismic region). Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

基于精确桩土模型的桁架式大型海上风力机地震动力学响应分析

为更精确研究桁架式大型海上风力机在地震载荷作用下的结构动力学响应,建立桩土模型,描述土体物理性质与桩-土间的相互作用,以桁架式支撑结构的美国可再生能源实验室(NREL)5 MW海上风力机为研究对象,建立有限元模型并分析在湍流风与地震联合作用下的动力学响应.结果 表明:相较于湍流风,地震作用对桁架式海上风力机动力学响应的...     

Collapse analysis of wind turbine tower under the coupled effects of wind and near‐field earthquake

In this paper, the pattern of wind turbine tower collapse as a result of the coupled effects of wind and an intense, near‐field earthquake is investigated. The constitutive relation of the tower cylinder steel is simulated via a nonlinear kinematic hardening model, and the specific value of each parameter in the constitutive model is provided. A precise model of the tower structure coupled with the blade is created using a nonlinear, finite element method. This method is compared with the results from a static pushover test of a small cylindrical tower to validate the finite element modeling method in this research. Two earthquake wave sets are selected as inputs. One contains 20 near‐field velocity pulse‐like ground motion waves with various pulse periods; the other contains 20 ordinary far‐field ground motion waves. A wind turbine tower with a hub height of 60 m is selected as an example for analysis. The dynamic response of this tower as a result of the coupled effects of the two ground motion wave sets and a transient wind load is calculated using nonlinear time‐history analysis. The calculation results shows that the average horizontal displacement of the tower top as a result of the near‐field velocity pulse‐like ground motion is 33% larger than the case with far‐field ground motion. Finally, the seismic collapse vulnerability curve of this wind turbine tower is calculated. The seismic collapse capacity of the tower is evaluated, and the seismic collapse pattern of the tower is analyzed.     

不同海况及伺服系统作用下10 MW单桩式风力机地震易损性研究

为探究不同海况及伺服系统下单桩式近海风力机的地震易损性,以DTU 10 MW风力机为研究对象,建立风浪相关的地震-湍流风-波浪多物理场模型,研究其在变速变桨伺服系统下的动力特性,基于增量动力分析方法评估其地震易损性。结果表明：变速变桨伺服系统可有效缓解风力机高风速下无地震作用时的塔顶振动;当风轮在大推力下,较小的波浪载荷一定程度上可降低风力机塔顶振动及塔底弯矩;随地震动强度增加,风力机各临界损伤状态失效概率逐渐增加;风力机地震易损性主要由地震动强度决定,波浪载荷与湍流风载荷对风力机地震易损性影响较小。     

Aerodynamic simulations of offshore floating wind turbine in platform‐induced pitching motion

Forfloating offshore wind turbines, rotors are under coupled motions of rotating and platform‐induced motions because of hydrodynamics impacts. Notably, the coupled motion of platform pitching and rotor rotating induces unsteadiness and nonlinear aerodynamics in turbine operations; thus having a strong effect on the rotor performances including thrust and power generation. The present work aims at developing a computational fluid dynamics model for simulations of rotor under floating platform induced motions. The rotor motion is realized using arbitrary mesh interface, and wind flows are modelled by incompressible Navier‐Stokes flow solver appended by the k  ? ω shear stress transport turbulence model to resolve turbulence quantities. In order to investigate the fully coupled motion of floating wind turbine, the six degree of freedom solid body motion solver is extended to couple with multiple motions, especially for the motion of rotor coupled with the prescribed surge‐heave‐pitch motion of floating platform. The detailed methodology of multiple motion coupling is also described and discussed in this work. Both steady and unsteady simulations of offshore floating wind turbine are considered in the present work. The steady aerodynamic simulation of offshore floating wind turbine is implemented by the multiple reference frames approach and for the transient simulation, the rotor motion is realized using arbitrary mesh interface. A rigorous benchmark of the present numerical model is performed by comparing to the reported literatures. The detailed elemental thrust and power comparisons of wind turbine are carried out by comparing with the results from FAST developed by National Renewable Energy Laboratory and various existing numerical data with good agreement. The proposed approach is then applied for simulations of National Renewable Energy Laboratory 5MW turbine in coupled platform motion at various wind speeds under a typical load case scenario. Transient effect of flows over turbines rotor is captured with good prediction of turbine performance as compared with existing data from FAST. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

钢-混凝土组合式风力发电塔架地震响应分析

钢-混凝土组合式风力发电塔架上部为钢塔筒,下部为混凝土塔筒,高度方向具有较大的质量和刚度突变,其在地震作用下的响应和传统单管式钢塔架显著不同.利用ABAQUS对同一风电场的2.0 MW单管式钢塔架和组合式塔架建立精细化模型,选取3种场地条件,采用振型分解反应谱法计算2种塔架的地震响应并进行对比.针对3种场地条件,选取相...     

考虑冲刷的单桩式海上风力机动力响应研究

为了研究复杂海洋环境下桩周冲刷对海上风力机动力响应的影响,以美国可再生能源实验室5 MW海上风力机为研究对象,建立风力机塔架-单桩-土体有限元模型,计入风浪和地震荷载对冲刷情况下的单桩式海上风力机进行动力响应研究。对比分析不同冲刷深度以及冲刷坡角对风力机系统固有频率和动力响应的影响。研究表明：当冲刷深度增加到二倍桩径时,风力机一阶固有频率降低至转子1P频率附近,容易引起共振;在风浪荷载以及风浪、地震联合荷载作用下,冲刷坡角不变,风力机最大位移与弯矩随着冲刷深度增加而增大,疏松土质条件下的增量大于紧密土;保持冲刷深度不变,冲刷坡角的变化对风力机动力响应影响较小。     

Simultaneous identification of wind turbine vibrations by using seismic data,elastic modeling and laser Doppler vibrometry

This work compares continuous seismic ground motion recordings over several months on top of the foundation and in the near field of a wind turbine (WT) at Pfinztal, Germany, with numerical tower vibration simulations and simultaneous optical measurements. We are able to distinguish between the excitation of eigenfrequencies of the tower‐nacelle system and the influence of the blade rotation on seismic data by analyzing different wind and turbine conditions. We can allocate most of the major spectral peaks to either different bending modes of the tower, flapwise, and edgewise bending modes of the blades or multiples of the blade‐passing frequency after comparing seismic recordings with tower simulation models. These simulations of dynamic properties of the tower are based on linear modal analysis performed with finite beam elements. To validate our interpretations of the comparison of seismic recordings and simulations, we use optical measurements of a laser Doppler vibrometer at the tower of the turbine at a height of about 20 m. The calculated power spectrum of the tower vibrations confirms our interpretation of the seismic peaks regarding the tower bending modes. This work gives a new understanding of the source mechanisms of WT‐induced ground motions and their influence on seismic data by using an interdisciplinary approach. Thus, our results may be used for structural health purposes as well as the development of structural damping methods, which can also reduce ground motion emissions from WTs. Furthermore, it demonstrates how numerical simulations of wind turbines can be validated by using seismic recordings and laser Doppler vibrometry.     

大型海上风力机地震冲击角动力学响应分析

为研究海上风力机在不同地震冲击角下的动力学响应,基于p-y曲线法构建土-构耦合模型,基于DTU 10 MW 单桩式近海风力机建立有限元模型,研究地震冲击角变化对大型海上风力机地震动力学响应的影响。结果表明：0°和90°地震冲击角下风力机结构受载荷响应最剧烈;当地震冲击角为锐角时,塔顶前后向和侧向位移幅值均下降,总应变能集聚现象显著缓解;地震冲击角为15°和30°时风力机等效应力均值相对其他角度有明显下降。因此,主动调整风力机叶轮朝向以调整地震冲击角可能成为风力机受地震冲击后降低损害的有效控制方式。     

不同海况下近海超大型风力机动力学响应及结构损伤分析

以超大型DTU 10 MW单桩式近海风力机为研究对象,通过p-y曲线和非线性弹簧建立桩-土耦合模型,选取Kaimal风谱模型建立湍流风场,基于P-M谱定义不同频率波浪分布,并利用辐射/绕射理论计算波浪载荷,采用有限元方法对不同海况下单桩式风力机进行动力学响应、疲劳及屈曲分析。结果表明：不同海况波浪载荷作用下塔顶位移响应及等效应力峰值远小于风及风浪联合作用,其中风浪联合作用下风力机塔顶位移响应及等效应力略小于风载荷;波浪载荷对风载荷引起的单桩式风力机动力学响应具有一定抑制作用,此外相较于波浪载荷,风载荷为控制载荷;风载荷与风浪联合作用下风力机等效应力峰值位于塔顶与机舱连接处,波浪载荷风力机等效应力峰值位于支撑结构与桩基连接处;仅以风载荷预估风力机塔架疲劳寿命将导致预估不足;随着波浪载荷的增大,风力机失稳风险加大,波浪载荷不可忽略;不同海况下,风浪联合作用局部屈曲区域位于塔架中下端,在风力机抗风浪设计时,应重点关注此处;变桨效应可大幅降低风力机动力学响应、疲劳损伤及发生屈曲的风险。     

Soil–structure reliability of offshore wind turbine monopile foundations

An overview of offshore wind turbine (OWT) foundations is presented, focusing primarily on the monopile foundation. The uncertainty in offshore soil conditions as well as random wind and wave loading is currently treated with a deterministic design procedure, though some standards allow engineers to use a probability‐based approach. Laterally loaded monopile foundations are typically designed using the American Petroleum Institute p‐y method, which is problematic for large OWT pile diameters. Probabilistic methods are used to examine the reliability of OWT pile foundations under serviceability limit states using Euler–Bernoulli beam elements in a two‐dimensional pile–spring model, non‐linear with respect to the soil springs. The effects of soil property variation, pile design parameters, loading and large diameters on OWT pile reliability are presented. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A CFD study into the influence of unsteady aerodynamic interference on wind turbine surge motion

To improve knowledge of the unsteady aerodynamic characteristics and interference effects of a floating offshore wind turbine (FOWT), this article focuses on the platform surge motion of a full configuration wind turbine with the rotating blades, hub, nacelle, and tower shapes. Unsteady aerodynamic analyses considering the moving motion of an entire configuration wind turbine have been conducted using an advanced computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and a conventional blade element momentum (BEM) analyses. The present CFD simulation is based on an advanced overset moving grid method to accurately consider the local and global motion of a three-dimensional wind turbine. The effects of various oscillation frequencies and amplitudes of the platform surge motion have been widely investigated herein. Three-dimensional unsteady flow fields around the moving wind turbine with rotating blades are graphically presented in detail. Complex flow interactions among blade tip vortices, tower shedding vortices, and turbulent wakes are physically observed. Comparisons of different aerodynamic analyses under the periodic surge motions are summarized to show the potential distinction among applied numerical methods. The present result indicates that the unsteady aerodynamic thrust and power tend to vary considerably depending on the oscillation frequency and amplitude of the surge motion.     

Aeroelastic analysis of a floating offshore wind turbine in platform‐induced surge motion using a fully coupled CFD‐MBD method

Modern offshore wind turbines are susceptible to blade deformation because of their increased size and the recent trend of installing these turbines on floating platforms in deep sea. In this paper, an aeroelastic analysis tool for floating offshore wind turbines is presented by coupling a high‐fidelity computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solver with a general purpose multibody dynamics code, which is capable of modelling flexible bodies based on the nonlinear beam theory. With the tool developed, we demonstrated its applications to the NREL 5 MW offshore wind turbine with aeroelastic blades. The impacts of blade flexibility and platform‐induced surge motion on wind turbine aerodynamics and structural responses are studied and illustrated by the CFD results of the flow field, force, and wake structure. Results are compared with data obtained from the engineering tool FAST v8.     

不同入射角风波流海上漂浮式风力机频域与时域动态特性

采用边界元并结合多体动力学方法分析了张力腿平台(TLP)漂浮式风力机结构,研究了平台结构在不同方向上的频域与时域运动响应变化,并比较了漂浮式平台在海洋环境条件下风波流联合作用时和波浪载荷独立作用时的运动响应,得到了平台结构在时域中的动力响应.研究结果表明:漂浮式平台在频域变化范围内,运动响应主要集中在低频部分,绕射力对漂浮式海上风力机TLP的作用力不能忽略;风波流联合作用时的运动响应标准差大于波浪载荷独立作用时的运动响应标准差,且平台偏离平衡位置的程度更加剧烈;平均运动响应及标准差在入射角分别为0°、22.5°和45°时相差微小.研究结果对海上张力腿平台结构设计与优化具有很高的参考价值.     

不同边界条件下吸力筒导管架式海上风电振动特性分析

  目的  吸力筒导管架是一种具备许多优点的新型海上风电基础,其振动特性与传统基础有着明显的不同。正确处理无限域地基的边界条件对准确分析振动问题至关重要,故对不同边界条件下吸力筒导管架式海上风电的振动特性进行分析。  方法  以某吸力筒导管架式海上风电为分析对象,在ANSYS APDL中建立结构与土体耦合的全三维有限元模型,研究边界条件对自振频率的影响并对相关参数进行敏感性分析。  结果  不同边界条件对整机固有频率影响较大,改变边界条件对结构轴向刚度和扭转刚度的影响大于对弯曲刚度的影响,整机固有频率随着粘弹性边界弹簧刚度、土体弹性模量和筒土摩擦系数的增大而增大。  结论  分析了影响整机固有频率计算精度的相关因素,可为工程计算提供参考。     

Service reliability of offshore wind turbines

A probabilistic formulation is proposed to assess the performance of the support structure of offshore wind turbines based on their probability and expected time of exceeding specified drift thresholds. To this end, novel probabilistic models are developed to predict the mean and standard deviation of the drift ratio response of wind turbine support structures operating under day-to-day loads as a function of the wind turbine geometry and material properties, and loading conditions. The proposed models are assessed using a database of virtual experiments generated using detailed three-dimensional (3D) nonlinear finite element (FE) models of a set of representative wind turbine configurations. The developed models are then used in a random vibration formulation to estimate the probability and expected time of exceeding specified drift thresholds. As an example, the probability and expected time of exceeding specified drift thresholds are estimated for a typical offshore wind turbine at different wind speeds. A comparison is made between the results obtained based on the proposed models, those obtained using simulators commonly used in practice and detailed 3D nonlinear FE analyses.     

Computationally efficient modelling of dynamic soil–structure interaction of offshore wind turbines on gravity footings

The formulation and quality of a computationally efficient model of offshore wind turbine surface foundations are examined. The aim is to establish a model, workable in the frequency and time domain, that can be applied in aeroelastic codes for fast and reliable evaluation of the dynamic structural response of wind turbines, in which the geometrical dissipation related to wave propagation into the subsoil is included. Based on the optimal order of a consistent lumped-parameter model obtained by the domain-transformation method and a weighted least-squares technique, the dynamic vibration response of a 5.0 MW offshore wind turbine is evaluated for different stratifications, environmental conditions and foundation geometries by the aeroelastic nonlinear multi-body code HAWC2. Analyses show that a consistent lumped-parameter model with three to five internal degrees of freedom per displacement or rotation of the foundation is necessary in order to obtain an accurate prediction of the foundation response in the frequency and time domain. In addition, the required static bearing capacity of surface foundations leads to fore–aft vibrations during normal operation of a wind turbine that are insensitive to wave propagating in the subsoil—even for soil stratifications with low cut-in frequencies. In this regard, utilising discrete second-order models for the physical interpretation of a rational filter puts special demands on the Newmark β-scheme, where the time integration in most cases only provides a causal response for constant acceleration within each time step.