Cross-wind dynamic response of concrete-filled double-skin wind turbine towers: Theoretical modelling and experimental investigation

Abstract

Wind turbine towers are growing taller to obtain larger thrust load and capture more wind energy at higher elevations. To address the excessive vibration problem of conventional steel tube (ST) towers, a concrete-filled double-skin tubular (CFDST) tower can be a great alternative owing to the advantages of excellent mechanical properties and cost efficiency, especially for tall and slender wind turbines. This paper developed a theoretical model of the CFDST-based wind turbine system by combining the Lagrangian method with the Galerkin method. Subsequently, the analytical solutions of both fundamental frequency and cross-wind displacement response were obtained. The wind tunnel tests of scaled CFDST and ST wind turbine systems, with variations in hollow ratio, tube length, and wind speed, were used to verify the proposed model. The predicted results from the analytical model showed reasonable agreement with the test results. Finally, the validated analytical solutions were employed to further analyze the influence of hollow ratio, length-to-diameter ratio, and tip-mass ratio. This study makes a contribution to the integration analysis of the CFDST-based wind turbine system in theory and experiment, and develops a simplified method to predict its dynamic behavior.