INVESTIGATING THE MECHANICAL PERFORMANCES OF OFFSHORE WIND TURBINE TOWER USING FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS FOR A SUSTAINABLE RENEWABLE ENERGY

Abstract

The high cost of electricity is an obstacle for offshore wind energy development and the offshore wind energy possesses great advantages which make it the leading stock in the investment of wind energy. The modern offshore wind turbines are also design to withstand the harsh weather conditions at the location in which they are situated. This report is a study of an offshore wind turbine tower using the finite element analysis to investigate the mechanical performances and structural integrity of a large offshore wind turbine tower. This is due to the high cost of energy produced from the wind, in-depth understanding of the area where the cost can be reduced was considered. The tower which has highest percentage of weight of the turbine was chosen as the subject of interest. Finite Element Analysis on the tower of the turbine was carried out. The shape of the tower of the offshore wind turbine is important in designing the wind turbine to reduce the cost. Most offshore wind turbine uses a cylindrical tower model due to the large size of the offshore wind turbine, this has led to high cost high cost of the energy produced by the wind. The resulting forces were applied to the tower by the use of CATIA finite element analysis software. The main objective is to identify the stress and displacement of the offshore wind turbine tower at sensitive zones which are prone to mechanical damage and failure as its effect can be considered on reduction of the turbine tower’s weight hence making the turbine cost effective. Comparing the stress on the model to the yield strength of the structural steel, the yield strength of structural steel is 250Mpa and the maximum stress derived from the Finite Element Analysis of the offshore wind turbine tower is 126Mpa, hence having a factor of safety of about 2. Considering the stress and displacement analysis of the offshore wind turbine tower using the finite element analysis, the turbine’s tower is prone to optimization so as to adequately harness the energy from the wind for a sustainable energy.