Dynamic analysis of wind turbine tower structures in complex ocean environment

Abstract

Studying and analyzing the dynamic behavior of offshore wind turbines are of great importance to ensure the safety and improve the efficiency of such expensive equipments. In this work, a tapered beam model is proposed to investigate the dynamic response of an offshore wind turbine tower on the monopile foundation assembled with rotating blades in the complex ocean environment. Several environment factors like wind, wave, current, and soil resistance are taken into account. The proposed model is analytically solved with the Galerkin method. Based on the numerical results, the effects of various structure parameters including the taper angle, the height and thickness of the tower, the depth, and the diameter and the cement filler of the monopile on the fundamental natural frequency of the wind turbine tower system are investigated in detail. It is found that the fundamental natural frequency decreases with the increase in the taper angle and the height and thickness of the tower, and increases with the increase in the diameter of the monopile. Moreover, filling cement into the monopile can effectively improve the fundamental natural frequency of the wind turbine tower system, but there is a critical value of the amount of cement maximizing the property of the monopile. This research may be helpful in the design and safety evaluation of offshore wind turbines.