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The Full-height Lattice Tower Concept

Article  in  Energy Procedia · December 2012

DOI: 10.1016/j.egypro.2012.06.120

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Energy Procedia 24 (2012) 371 – 377

DeepWind, 19-20 January 2012, Trondheim, Norway

The full-height lattice tower concept

Michael Muskulus∗
Department of Civil and Transport Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Høgskoleringen 7a,
7491 Trondheim, Norway

Abstract
An alternative support structure for offshore wind turbines is presented that removes the need for an expensive transition
piece and allows for significant savings in steel weight. The concept is based on replacing both the traditional wind
turbine tower and the usual support structure with a single lattice tower that extends from the sea bottom to the rotor-
nacelle-assembly. An overview is given of studies performed and results obtained for this design so far, of its advantages
and disadvantages, and of future plans for improved automatic optimization of the design.
Although it is difficult to show the economic viability of the full-height lattice tower concept, due to the general
problem of reliably quantifying fabrication and installation costs, the major reduction in steel weight makes this an
attractive concept that should be given further consideration, especially for future offshore projects in deep waters.


c 2012
© 2011 Published
Publishedby
byElsevier
ElsevierLtd.
Ltd. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of SINTEF Energi AS.
Keywords: offshore wind energy, lattice tower, cost reduction, alternative concepts, engineering, optimization
PACS: 88.50.-k, 89.20.Kk
2000 MSC: 74Hxx, 90Cxx

1. An alternative support structure for offshore wind turbines

The full-height lattice tower is an alternative support structure for bottom-fixed wind turbines. Especially
for offshore wind turbines, the support structure contributes a significant amount to the total capital cost, and
one of the key challenges for offshore wind energy in the coming years is to reduce this cost as much as
possible [1]. With regard to future large-scale developments, e.g., the UK Round 3 projects, this need has
been recognized and the Offshore Wind Accelerator (OWA) initiative has aimed for reducing the cost of
energy by at least 10 percent. A global competition was run in 2009 to identify possible alternative support
structure concepts for deep water (30-60 m) offshore wind energy, and four innovative projects were selected
and are currently under development1 . Traditional support structures for offshore wind turbines include

∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +47-735-93113; Fax: +47-735-97021

Email address: michael.muskulus@ntnu.no (Michael Muskulus)
URL: http://www.ntnu.edu/employees/michael.muskulus (Michael Muskulus)
1 http://www.carbontrust.co.uk/emerging-technologies/current-focus-areas/offshore-wind/pages/

foundation-design.aspx

1876-6102 © 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of SINTEF Energi AS.
doi:10.1016/j.egypro.2012.06.120
372 Michael Muskulus / Energy Procedia 24 (2012) 371 – 377

monopiles, gravity-based solutions, and various space-frame concepts. The latter are hybrid designs, in
which a transition piece connects the support structure to a wind turbine with a traditional tubular tower,
and consist of tripod, tri-pile and jacket solutions. The OWA initiative has potentially enlarged this list by
suction bucket monopiles, a “twisted” jacket, a concrete “monopod” and a “tri-bucket” concept. All of these
concepts were developed as a hybrid design with a transition piece and a tubular wind turbine tower atop
the substructure.
Independently of these efforts, a more radical alternative has been studied at our institute, in which the
tubular tower of the wind turbine is abandoned completely (Fig. 1). This results in the so-called full-height
lattice tower concept, where the lattice structure continues up to the rotor-nacelle assembly, in contrast to
hybrid “half-height” lattice designs (commonly called jacket support structures) with a transition to a tubular
tower slightly above mean seawater level. This note summarizes the present state of this alternative concept.

1.1. History of the full-height lattice tower concept

Full-height lattice towers were quite
common in the early history of land-based
wind energy. A famous example is the
Smith-Putnam 1.25 MW two-bladed ma-
chine that was installed in Vermont in the
late 1930s [2]. Up to the mid-1980s free-
standing lattice towers were the predom-
inant support structure concept for wind
turbines, and were then slowly superseded
by the tubular towers that are so character-
istic for wind turbines nowadays. Onshore
lattice towers were typically bolted steel
frames, which were relatively easy and
cost-efficient to produce. Tubular wind
turbine towers then quickly gained in es-
teem, because of at least three distinct ad-
vantages:

• tubular towers are mostly welded

and do not use many bolts, improv-
ing the efficiency of the sections.
Welding leads to more rigid struc-
tures, places no restriction on joint
capacity and results in less stress
concentration.
• The inner volume of the tower of-
fers an protected area for access and Fig. 1. An illustration of the full-height lattice tower alternative support
equipment. structure concept. Blue: legs and waterplane. Red: braces.
• The shape of the tower is thought to
be more aesthetically pleasing.

It should be noted, however, that the tower shadow effect was thought to be a problematic issue [3].
Whereas lattice towers are relatively transparent to the ambient air flow, a large diameter tubular tower
significantly influences the flowfield. Although this effect is much stronger downwind of the tower, also
upwind of the tower a mean velocity deficit exists that results in a periodic impact-like loading on a passing
rotor. It testifies for the many advantages of monopiles that this disadvantage did not stop the further
spreading of wind turbines on tubular towers.
Most offshore wind turbines have been built with monopiles so far. A major issue in the offshore en-
vironment is corrosion, which necessitates the use of tubular steel pipes for offshore lattice structures, and
 Michael Muskulus / Energy Procedia 24 (2012) 371 – 377 373

makes it also necessary to weld the connections, thereby removing some of the most important advantages
of onshore lattice structures. Especially the time needed for welding is critical with regard to the cost, since
lattice structures include a large number of joints. Nevertheless, the Opti-OWECS project [4] considered,
among other concepts, a gravity-lattice-tower for an offshore site with 25 m water depth: with a hub height
of 59 m, this 3-legged structure was designed for a 3 MW WTS 80 wind turbine [5, p. 187]. More re-
cently the full-height lattice tower concept has been given consideration in the UpWind European project
[6, ch. 4.2], and seems to also have been chosen by a Dutch company for further commercial development2 .

1.2. Summary of related studies at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology
When the first jacket support structures were installed for the Beatrice wind farm demonstrator project
[7], the idea of a full-height lattice tower was reconsidered at the Department of Civil and Transport Engi-
neering at NTNU in the group of Prof. Geir Moe. A tower was designed conceptually for a 5 MW machine,
resulting in one of the first publications on the full-height lattice tower concept [8]. The tower was designed
with a total height of 87.6 m and resulted in a reduction of steel weight of around 50 percent compared to
a tubular tower of the same height, but was only analyzed statically and for buckling, not with respect to
fatigue.
Further work consisted in automatic optimization of the design for the ULS analysis [9]. To keep the
computational cost within reasonable limits, at first only constant legs and braces were considered, i.e., all
legs and all braces were taken to be the same in terms of pipe diameter and wall thickness. Together with a
fixed tower top spacing and assuming a constant-height of the sections, this resulted in five parameters (two
for the braces, two for the legs, and additionally the bottom leg spacing) that could be varied. This design
was considered for 35 m water depth and optimized for an extreme wind speed of 50 m/s and a 50 year
return period sea state, with respect to joint capacity and both column and local buckling. The results show
that the design is limited by two distinct effects: Whereas the bottom members need to be designed to resist
mostly the wave loads, the dimensions of the members at the top is governed by torsion. If member sizes
are kept constant along the tower (but separately for braces and legs), this results in relatively heavy towers
with a weight of about 400 tons, comparable to that of a tubular tower.
Assuming that individual members can be sized independently, a local optimization algorithm has been
conceived that resizes members individually by the values of their utilization, i.e., proportional to their actual
strength. For simplicity, the ratio between member diameter and thickness was kept constant, so then the
cross-sectional area was increased according to the utilization. This again resulted in a significant reduction
in tower mass of about 50 percent compared to an equivalent tubular tower [9].
For the FLS analysis, a simplified model was considered in the frequency-domain. Starting from the
ULS design, the member thicknesses were set to a very small value and then increased where necessary.
The simplified fatigue assessment pioneered by Kühn [5] was used, with the Dirlik method and using hot
spot stress concentration factors. The design was analyzed for 19 lumped wind speeds and typical associated
sea states. The tower mass is again comparable to a tubular tower. However, only the fatigue lifetime of
the hotspots at the joints is critical, so members are oversized along their span. Therefore, the effect of joint
cans / stubs was studied, which finally resulted in a tower mass of around 300 tons, i.e., in a reduction of 25
percent relative to a tubular tower [10]. Unfortunately, the joint detailing will also increase the production
cost of the tower.
These studies do not indicate that the full-height lattice tower is clearly a better alternative than a tradi-
tional tubular tower. However, it should be noted that the comparison is based on the tubular tower only. The
weight of the large-diameter monopile below the transition piece was not considered, whereas the above fig-
ures for the full-height lattice tower include the parts of the structure below the sea level. On the other hand,
the full-height lattice tower will incur additional costs related to the four piles, that are likewise neglected
here.

2 http://www.2-benergy.com/
374 Michael Muskulus / Energy Procedia 24 (2012) 371 – 377

1.3. Additional aspects relevant for full-height lattice towers

This work was followed up by considering a downwind rotor configuration mounted on a full-height
lattice tower. This will in principle allow for lighter blades and a simpler design of the turbine, which could
allow for further reduction in cost. Of particular concern for a downwind machine are the tower shadow
effects, and numerical simulations of the flow field were performed [11, 12]. First results about the influence
of the tower shadow on the fatigue of the blades show that a downwind rotor on a full-height lattice tower
will incur slightly higher damage-equivalent loads than for an upwind configuration, but fewer than for a
tubular tower downwind (unpublished).
Additionally, although a full-height lattice tower removes the need for an expensive transition piece at
the mid section, the connection with the yaw bearing at the tower top has to be designed carefully. Such a
connector has been designed in a preliminary study and satisfactory results could be achieved with a 3 m
“transition piece” that weighs 75-95 tons [13].

2. Comparison with monopile and hybrid tower concepts

A realistic comparison of the full-height lattice tower with other support structure concepts is difficult.
Many factors are influencing the choice of support structure concept, designs are quite sensitive to site
conditions, and many types of costs are difficult to estimate or assess. Ultimately, a comparison should be
based on total life-cycle costs, but even assessing capital investment costs is challenging.
The full-height lattice tower can be optimized for different site conditions, but the many parameters
result in practical limitations. The above mentioned studies therefore introduced certain simplifications, and
leave some space for further improvement. Fabrication costs are difficult to assess, not the least since no
generally accepted model for estimating welding costs (including set-up times) exists. Therefore at present
the main indicator of performance available is the total steel weight of the structure.
Differences between monopiles and jackets with regard to the design process, especially for deeper wa-
ters, have been recently summarized. According to Seidel [14], the relatively stiff jacket structure prevents
the excitation of global vibrations, whereas these are of major concern for monopiles. Therefore also the
effect of wave-wind misalignment is much more dramatic for monopiles (with little aerodynamic damping
in the direction transversal to the airflow) than for lattice structures. The secondary structure further compli-
cates the design of monopiles, whereas its influence on lattice tower design is significantly less. Although
soil uncertainty is also an issue for lattice tower support structures, its effect for lattice towers is thought to
be of relatively minor importance, whereas reliable soil data is one of the key parameters for the design of
monopiles. An interesting consequence of these considerations is that fatigue loads for monopiles are often
higher for idling turbines, such that reduced availability must be considered in FLS analysis, whereas for
lattice towers and jackets 100 percent availability is thought to be conservative [14].
Whereas the critical loading for monopiles is mostly in bending, lattice support structures (including
lattice towers and jackets) mostly exhibit significant axial load transfers. Instead of a detailed soil study and
careful tuning of eigenfrequencies for monopiles, the main design issue for lattice support structures are lo-
cal joint lifetimes. Global vibrations of braces can potentially be excited by higher rotor modes [15], which
complicates the design process (requiring fully-coupled time-domain simulations, at least for final analysis
and certification). A certain flexibility of the design, i.e., the possibility to adjust a given lattice support
structure to a different site with minimal changes, exists, but is limited because of such local phenomena.
Typically, softening a lattice structure by extending the legs (pile stick-up) leads to strongly increased vibra-
tion amplitudes and reduced fatigue lifetime due to excitation from hydrodynamic loads [16].
Regarding production and installation, the main issue for monopiles is the large diameter needed for deep
waters. Beyond 25 m of water depth, typical monopiles for turbines with a rated power of 5 MW and more
will exhibit diameters above 7 m and are both difficult to manufacture and to install, leading to relatively high
costs. Installation of jackets is relatively straightforward, although not cost-efficient yet without specialized
installation vessels, but for the full-height lattice tower the increased size is a drawback and might make it
necessary to study sectioned designs where the tower is produced, transported, and installed in two or more
pieces that are connected on-site.
 Michael Muskulus / Energy Procedia 24 (2012) 371 – 377 375

Additional issues with the full-height lattice tower are related to access and maintenance. Whereas tubu-
lar towers offer a protected space for access, the full-height lattice tower needs to provide access externally,
e.g., by an elevator and additional ladders along at least one of the legs. It has not been studied yet how such
access systems can be sufficiently protected in the offshore environment, i.e., for what cost. A boat landing
and support platform is needed slightly above mean seawater level, that additionally increases the cost, and
a crane needs to be provided in the center of the tower.
The inclination of the lattice tower leads to less margins for tower clearance, and a slight additional
coning or tilting of the rotor might be necessary, depending on the hub height and turbine type. This will
lead to a small loss of production due to reduced rotor efficiency.
The grouted connection between tubular tower and monopiles has been an issue of serious concern
recently. It is hypothesized that the periodic, fluctuating lateral loads due to thrust from the wind can lead to
ovalization and local wear of the grout. Due to the changing wind direction this process is able to affect the
total circumference of the monopile, leading to a loss of stability and sliding down of wind turbines. This
problem has been investigated and has led to revised guidelines [17]. Although lattice support structures
typically use grouted connections between support structure and piles, loads in these connections are mostly
axial and are thought not to affect the strength of the grout significantly.
To summarize, compared to tubular towers and monopiles, lattice support structures offer the following
relative advantages:

• For deep waters the large diameter of monopiles poses problems for fabrication and pile-driving that
are avoided for lattice support structures.
• The recently discovered problems with the grouted connection do not seem to be a significant issue
for lattice support structures.
• Global vibrations are typically not an issue for lattice support structures.
• Soil uncertainty is a key factor that complicates monopile design, but not the design of a lattice tower.
• Secondary structures and wind-wave misalignment complicate monopile design, but are less critical
for lattice support structures.
• For the full-height lattice tower, the expensive transition piece is replaced by a more economical
transition structure at the tower top.
• Significant savings in weight can be achieved, especially for the full-height lattice tower.

In contrast, the following disadvantages of lattice support structures can be identified:

• Structures are larger, which complicates fabrication and installation, especially for the full-height
lattice tower concept.
• Many members and welded joints increase the production cost significantly.
• Local vibrations of braces can be excited and can cause problems for joint lifetimes.
• Due to the large number of parameters, optimization of structures for site-specific conditions is time-
consuming and not straightforward.
• For the full-height lattice tower, access and maintenance is not as straightforward and economical as
for tubular towers.

3. Optimization of lattice towers

One major issue with lattice support structures is the large number of members and elements, which
complicates optimization of the design — both conceptually, as well as for site-specific conditions. Such a
large number of parameters and the computationally expensive analysis for fatigue lifetimes of joints pose
a major challenge for “optimal” structural optimization.
Present work of our group is concerned with developing better methods and tools for the automatic
optimization of lattice tower designs. Three key issues need to be addressed here:
376 Michael Muskulus / Energy Procedia 24 (2012) 371 – 377

• A fast code for the analysis of designs is needed — it might even be worth the effort to implement a
new special-purpose flexible multibody analysis code dedicated for fast wind turbine analysis.
• New methods for efficient, but still relatively accurate simplified fatigue estimation for wind turbine
support structures are needed, since the current number of load cases renders it impossible to use stan-
dard time-domain simulation techniques for lifetime fatigue assessment for optimization purposes.
• An efficient optimization algorithm is needed that optimally uses the information obtained by the
previous analyses in design space, and that therefore uses significantly fewer iterations than current
standard techniques.

Standard techniques from structural optimization [18] are not directly applicable to the optimization
of wind turbine support structures, since they were mainly developed for static loads. Standard general
optimization algorithms, e.g., gradient search, use too many analyses to obtain gradient information to be
useful. However, both the simultaneous perturbation search algorithm [19] and response-surface methods
[20] are promising possibilities that will be investigated.
Furthermore, first results presented at this conference suggest that local optimization is possible for
the full-height lattice tower: re-sizing members proportional to their utilization seems to allow for quickly
“zooming in” on an optimal design [21]. Although this pilot study was conducted with only one power-
production loadcase, a very small number of iterations (around 20) led to a competitive design for the
full-height lattice tower. Incorporating such sensitivities into the design phase can significantly speed up the
automatic optimization of the design.

4. Discussion

This short note has summarized some of the key findings and issues related to the full-height lattice
tower support structure for offshore wind turbines. Although it is difficult to judge the economic viability of
this concept — mainly due to the many unknowns in the cost equations — the large saving in steel weight
makes this an attractive concept. The weight reduction is achieved both by replacing the large diameter
tubular wind turbine tower with a more transparent lattice structure, and by removing the need for a heavy
transition piece.
A few issues with this concept remain, mostly related to access and installation, and will hopefully be
addressed in the course of a current NOWITECH joint initiative on a 10 MW reference wind turbine [22].

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