DOOR OPENING ANALYSIS OF WIND TURBINE STEEL TUBULAR TOWER

Abstract

The main objective is to investigate the stresses around the door opening for the load cases that creates highest stresses. The influence of different material thicknesses at the tower lower parts. It investigates the lower tower section which includes the door opening which is used for service and maintenance inside the tower. The loading of the tower generates the stresses around the door opening and these stresses will analyze for static analysis using the FEM software ANSYS 14.5. As there is more probability of having crack near the door opening. To investigate the influence on the stress level and ultimate load of the tower, the tower shell thickness around the door opening varied in simulation .There are total six models prepared in the paper among which two models are prepared with uniform thickness of 38 mm, two models are prepared with 38 mm thickness at the base and 15 mm at the top and two models are prepared with 70 mm thickness at the base and 15 mm at the top. For every condition there are two wind cases considered in first direction of wind is considered on the side of door opening and in second case wind direction is considered on the opposite side of the door opening. After got the values for the stresses fracture analysis and fatigue analysis of the section near the door opening have carried out. We uses steel of grade 355 (S355) and wind data has calculated according to the IS 875 part 3.