Analysis of

Structural Failures
of Wind Towers
AMERICAN WIND ENERGY ASSOCIATION

May 2009

Dilip Khatri, PhD, MBA, SE

Senior Structural Engineer
URS Corporation
Los Angeles, CA
Analysis of Structural Failures

1. Wind Tower Structures

2. Structural Failures
3. Wind Power Economics
4. Structural Design
Considerations
5. Improving Structural
Design Practice
Wind Farms
Wind Tower Structures

1980s – 1990s:
Wind Towers <
40m Truss
Structures
Turbine Sizes
250 kW – 500
kW
Wind Towers 1980’s – 2002

 Wind Towers 40m – 60m

 Steel Tubular Towers
 Spread Footings
 Pile – Cap Foundations
 P&H Foundation
 1 MW Turbine
 1.5 – 2.0 MW Turbine
Wind Towers 2002 - present

 Wind Towers 60m – 80m

 Steel Tubular Towers
 Spread Footings
 Pile – Cap Foundations
 P&H Foundation
 2.0 MW Turbine = 400,000 # - 500,000 #
[190-230kN]
 2.5 – 3.0 MW Turbine
Wind Towers - Future

 100m + Tower Heights

 3.0 MW – 5.0 MW Turbines
 700 kips [300 kN]
Why Taller Towers?
Wind Energy Basics
POWER = dW/dt = Energy (work)/time = Torque x Angular Velocity
Swept Rotor Area
Structural Failures

Structural Tubular Failures:

 Diameter-thickness ratios are high
 Buckling failure due to instability of the tower
tube
Structural Failures

Structural Tubular
Failures:
 E-stop load condition
 Overspeed of the
rotor
Foundation Failures
Foundation Design Issues

 Overturning moment
 Soil failure
 Dynamic stiffness
 Fatigue causing cracks in concrete
 Rotational stiffness degradation
 Soil-structure interaction
Structural Failure/Collapse of Wind
Towers

 3 short videos of wind tower collapse

 Tower design issues
 E-stop loading
 Rotor imbalance
 Fatigue cracking
 Buckling/stability failure
Tower Failure
Wind Power Economics:
Utility Grade Projects

 Typical cost of 1 wind tower is $1,500,000 to

$2,000,000/tower
 60 – 80m tower height
 1.5MW-2.0MW turbine
 Tower cost = $300,000
– $245,000 for steel materials + labor
– $50,000 for exterior painting
– $5,000 for engineering design, permitting
Wind Power Economics:
Utility Grade Projects
 Foundation Cost = $200,000
– $100,000 for construction, materials, labor, onsite
management
– $10,000 for design engineering, plans, permit
 Nacelle + Rotor = $1,100,000
– $900,000 Purchased from the Power Generation
company
– $200,000 for onsite crane and assembly
 Tower = $300,000
 Total Cost = $1,600,000/tower
Wind Power Projects

 A typical wind power project consisting of

100 towers is 100 X $1.6MM = $160MM
project
 Bank loan (80% debt-equity ratio) =
$128,000,000
 Risk factor to banks and insurance
companies
Structural Design Considerations

 Foundation-Soil-Tower Analysis; combined analysis of the

completed structure with soil profile included
 3D Finite Element Analysis of taller towers
 3D FEA of soil and foundation structure
 Germanisher Lloyd Guidelines; GL Certificate of
Approval
 Soil-structure interaction analysis of the foundation
 Consider E-stop loading
Structural Design Improvements
Finite Element Analysis

 Perform a detailed FEA of the tower and include

the nacelle + rotor into the model
 Perform a soil-structure interaction model
 Frequency Response Analysis
 Dynamic Response Analysis
 Fatigue analysis on the foundation elements
 Include soil fatigue
Finite Element Analysis

 3D FEA Models are

necessary to include
all vibration modes
 3D models capture
the torsional behavior
and buckling
characteristics
Finite Element Analysis

 Tower-Foundation
Models capture the full
frequency behavior
 Soil-structure
interaction analysis
allows for the
foundation to be
included with the soil
strata
Finite Element Analysis

 Tower-Foundation
Models capture
the full frequency
behavior
 Soil-structure
interaction
analysis allows for
the foundation to
be included with
the soil strata
 F L A C 3 D 3 .1 0
© 2 0 0 6 It a s c a C o n s u lt in g G r o u p , I n c .

FLAC3D Soil-Structure Interaction Model

S t e p 1 3 8 7 3 M o d e l P e r s p e c t iv e
0 8 :3 5 :5 7 W e d A p r 0 1 2 0 0 9

C e n te r : R o t a t io n :
X : 0 .0 0 0 e + 0 0 0 X : 3 6 0 .0 0 0
Y : 4 .5 0 0 e + 0 0 0 Y : 0 .0 0 0
Z : - 9 .0 0 0 e + 0 0 0 Z : 0 .0 0 0
D is t : 1 . 0 4 0 e + 0 0 2 M a g .: 1
A n g .: 2 2 .5 0 0

 FLAC3D B l o c k G for r o u p soil-

L iv e m e c h z o n e s s h o w n
structure cap
s o il

interaction
S E L G e o m e analysis try
M a g fa c = 0 .0 0 0 e + 0 0 0
to model micropiles
with a concrete cap F L A C 3 D 3 .1 0
© 2 0 0 6 I t a s c a C o n s u lt in g G r o u p , I n c .
S t e p 1 3 8 7 3 M o d e l P e r s p e c t iv e

Overturning
0 8 :3 7 :2 8 W e d A p r 0 1 2 0 0 9

 C e n te r :
X : 7 .4 1 7 e + 0 0 0
R o t a t io n :
X : 4 0 .0 0 0
F L A C 3 D 3 .1 0
© 2 0 0 6 It a s c a C o n s u lt in g G r o u p , In c .
S t e p 5 2 4 6 2 M o d e l P e r s p e c t iv e
Y : 1 .7 4 9 e + 0 0 0 Y : 0 .0 0 0

Moment analysis
Z : - 5 .8 2 9 e + 0 0 0
D is t : 1 . 0 4 0 e + 0 0 2
B lo c k G ro u p
 Uplift capacity
L iv e m e c h z o n e s s h o w n
cap
s o il
S E L G e o m e tr y
I t a s c a C o n s u lt in g G r o u p , I n c .
1 6 : 4 4 :2 4 W e d A p r 0 8 2 0 0 9
Z : 4 0 .0 0 0
M a g .: 1 .2 5 C e n te r: R o t a t io n :
A n g .: 2 2 .5 0 0 X : 0 .0 0 0 e + 0 0 0 X : 3 6 0 .0 0 0
Y : 7 .2 9 0 e + 0 0 0 Y : 0 .0 0 0
Z : - 4 .3 0 0 e + 0 0 0 Z : 0 .0 0 0
D is t : 1 . 0 4 0 e + 0 0 2 M a g .: 3 .0 5
A n g .: 2 2 .5 0 0
C o n to u r o f Z - D is p la c e m e n t
M a g f a c = 0 .0 0 0 e + 0 0 0
L iv e m e c h z o n e s s h o w n
-8 .6 1 3 2 e - 0 0 3 to -8 .0 0 0 0 e -0 0 3

 Post-Tension
-8 .0 0 0 0 e - 0 0 3 to -7 .0 0 0 0 e -0 0 3
M a g fa c = 0 .0 0 0 e + 0 0 0
M in n e a p o lis , M N U S A -7 .0 0 0 0 e - 0 0 3 to -6 .0 0 0 0 e -0 0 3
-6 .0 0 0 0 e - 0 0 3 to -5 .0 0 0 0 e -0 0 3
-5 .0 0 0 0 e - 0 0 3 to -4 .0 0 0 0 e -0 0 3
-4 .0 0 0 0 e - 0 0 3 to -3 .0 0 0 0 e -0 0 3
-3 .0 0 0 0 e - 0 0 3 to -2 .0 0 0 0 e -0 0 3

Effects
-2 .0 0 0 0 e - 0 0 3 to -1 .0 0 0 0 e -0 0 3
- 1 . 0 0 0 0 e - 0 0 3 t o 0 .0 0 0 0 e + 0 0 0
0 .0 0 0 0 e + 0 0 0 t o 1 . 0 0 0 0 e - 0 0 3
1 .0 0 0 0 e - 0 0 3 to 1 .2 1 1 1 e - 0 0 3
In te r v a l = 1 . 0 e - 0 0 3
S E L G e o m e tr y
M a g f a c = 0 .0 0 0 e + 0 0 0
S k e tc h
It a s c a C o n s u lt in g G r o u p , I n c .
M in n e a p o lis , M N U S A
I t a s c a C o n s u lt in g G r o u p , I n c .
M in n e a p o lis , M N U S A
Yaw Plate Analysis

 ANSYS FEA of Yaw Plate

 Eccentric Loads cause
stress concentrations
 Off-axis wind gusts
magnify the moments on
the yaw plate
Structural Failure of Wind Towers

 Over-speed condition
 E-stop loading
 Fatigue cracking in the tower shell
 Foundation rotation due to overturning moment,
soil creep, soil fatigue, or combination of soil-
foundation stiffness degradation
Structural Failure of Wind Towers

 Tower buckling
 Blade separation
 Eccentric loading due to offset between CG and
geometric center of tower nacelle (i.e., built in
eccentric loading)
Improving Structural Design Methods

1. Structural Performance Monitoring

2. Comprehensive Research on Structural
Failures
3. Evaluation of All Load Conditions
4. Sharing our Design Problems for Discussion
5. Statistical Record Keeping
6. Improving the Design Codes