WINDPOWER DIVISION LEADER AZTEC ENGINEERING GROUP PHOENIX, Arizona
Presentation Description: The current wind energy market tends to the construction of ever-taller and larger (in terms of power) wind turbines generators (WTGs) with the aim of enhancing the production rates and reducing the Levelised Cost of Energy. The greater size and height of the WTGs result in an increase of the loads to be resisted by the foundation and the ground. This becomes especially demanding for the stiffness requirements, mostly in the case of concrete towers. On this basis, more precise modelling tools and methods are necessary for the accurate design of WTG’s foundations. The aim of this article is to demonstrate the obsolescence of the analytical methods in the design of the foundations, either from the structural or the geotechnical point of view. We have identified that the uncertainties increased drastically in the application of analytical methods for this new generation of WTGs, and therefore it is completely necessary the employ of refined and detailed 3D FEM numerical models
Methodology: Results will be presented in a comparative table showing analytical versus numerical approach
Learning Objectives:
Have a clear view of specific risk during design of large WTG
will have comparative numerical references between the different calculation methods.
