Improved design of tubular wind tower foundations using steel micropiles

Abstract

The constant increase in the wind power production leads to the need of higher wind towers, which brings up some questions regarding the effectiveness of tubular towers and respective foundations. This work focuses on the comparative structural design, life cycle behaviour and costs of onshore concrete shallow foundations for tubular wind towers (WT) when steel micropiles are used to improve resistance of the soil–structure interface (hybrid foundation). Typical wind loading for Turbine Class II and moderate seismicity (.25 g peak ground acceleration) is used to design and analyse 18 WT foundation case studies. This allows the comparison between shallow and hybrid foundations designed for three different hub heights and respective turbine rated power (80 m/2 MW, 100 m/3.6 MW and 150 m/5 MW) and for three different tubular tower solutions (steel, concrete and hybrid steel–concrete). The possible benefits of the solution using steel grouted micropiles are discussed in terms of potential environmental and economic impacts using life cycle analysis. The use of micropiles reveals to be an interesting solution to improve common shallow WT foundations since it allows the reduction of the dimensions of the foundation leading to significant environmental and cost benefits.