Abstract
Tubular steel towers are the most common design solution for supporting medium-to-high-rise wind turbines. Notwithstanding, historical failure incidence records reveal buckling modes as a common type of failure of shell structures. It is thus necessary to revisit the towers’ performance against bending-compression interactions that could unchain buckling modes. The present investigation scrutinises buckling performances of a cylindrical steel shell under combined load, by means of the energy method. Within the proposed framework, the differential equations to obtain dimensionless expressions showed the energy-displacement relations taking place along the shell surface. Furthermore, shell models integrated with initial imperfection have been embedded into finite element algorithms based on the Riks method. The results show buckling evolution paths largely affected by bending moments lead to section distortions (oval-shaped) that in turn change the strain energy dissipation routine and section curvature. The shell geometrical parameters also show a strong influence on buckling effects seemingly linked to a noticeable reduction of the shell bearing capacity during the combined loading scenarios.
Highlights
Tubular steel shell structures are the most practical configuration for wind turbine tower design, that, are experiencing increasing challenges largely due to the scale development of the wind industry [1,2]
Historical data reveal that tower collapse is a significant factor threatening wind energy harvesting, especially in extreme wind events, whereas most of the published research on wind turbine failures were focused on blade failures and power generation system malfunctions
Buckling types seem controlled by specific parameters such as tower diameter, shell thickness, tubular shell section length, stiffening rings, door-opening area, type and size of connection components, and welding [1,2,5,6,11,12,13,14]. Those parameters could normalize for running parametrical analyses and further clarify the nature of buckling-related collapse cases of wind turbines recorded in the past
Summary
Tubular steel shell structures are the most practical configuration for wind turbine tower design, that, are experiencing increasing challenges largely due to the scale development of the wind industry [1,2]. Buckling types seem controlled by specific parameters such as tower diameter, shell thickness, tubular shell section length, stiffening rings (type and location), door-opening area, type and size of connection components, and welding [1,2,5,6,11,12,13,14]. Those parameters could normalize for running parametrical analyses and further clarify the nature of buckling-related collapse cases of wind turbines recorded in the past. Of an unstiffened cylindrical steel shell subject to compression and bending with a particular focus on the progression of buckling that leads to the collapse of structural towers
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