Considerations for the structural

design of wind turbine generator

footings in accordance with
Australian Standards
Peter Delphin

March 19, 2014

Introduction

This presentation will give an overview of the use of the

foundation load document for the structural design of wind
turbine generator (WTG) footings and how it may be adapted
for use with Australian Standards.
We will look at the following:

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Building Code of Australia

WTG Foundation Load document
AS1170 Loading Standards
Structural design requirements

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Building Code of Australia (BCA)

The applicability of the BCA for wind farms is at the

discretion of the relevant authority or building surveyor.

Wind turbines are not specifically covered by the BCA

however they are generally classified as a Class 10b
structure.
Class 10 a non-habitable building being
(b) Class 10b a structure being a fence, mast, antenna,
retaining or free-standing wall, swimming pool, or the like.

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Building Code of Australia (BCA)

Importance levels:
The BCA defines importance levels based on the hazard to
human life and the impact on the public in the event of
building failure.
Failure of a WTG is likely to present a low hazard to human
life and either a low or moderate impact on the public.
The Importance Level would range from 1 to 2 depending on
the impact to the public.

An importance level of 2 is typically adopted.

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Building Code of Australia (BCA)

Annual probabilities of exceedance:

The BCA defines annual probabilities of exceedance for
Design Events for Safety based on the Importance level for
the structure.
For an importance level of 2, the following values are
obtained:
Wind 1:500 annual probability of exceedance
Earthquake 1:500 annual probability of exceedance

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WTG Foundation Load Document

WTG Foundation Load Document

The foundation load document is provided by the turbine

manufacturer and presents the results of dynamic load
simulations of the WTG for a range of load cases in
accordance with IEC 61400-1 or an equivalent specification
e.g. GL Wind.
The following information is important for structural design:

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Wind turbine classification

Hub height
Extreme, operational and fatigue loads at the tower base
Rotational stiffness requirement

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WTG Foundation Load Document

Wind turbines are classified in accordance with a reference

wind speed measured at hub height of the tower.
Wind turbine class

II

III

[m/s]

50

42.5

37.5

Ve50 [m/s]

70

59.5

52.5

Vref

Vref is a wind speed averaged over 10 minutes

Ve50 is an extreme 3 second gust wind speed with a return period of 50 years
The wind turbulence category A, B or C is also appended to the class where A
represents high turbulence, B medium and C low.

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WTG Foundation Load Document

Design load cases (IEC 61400-1)
Design Situation

DLC

Wind Conditions

1. Power production

1.1 to 1.5

Vin < Vhub < Vout , Vr

2. Power production plus

occurrence of fault

2.1 to 2.4

Vin < Vhub < Vout , Vr

3. Start up

3.1 to 3.3

Vin < Vhub < Vout , Vr

4. Normal shutdown

4.1 to 4.2

Vin < Vhub < Vout , Vr

5. Emergency shutdown

5.1

Vr

6. Parked (standing still or idling)

6.1 to 6.4

50-year return, 1-year

return

7. Parked and fault conditions

7.1

1-year return

8.Transport, assembly,
maintenance and repair

8.1 to 8.2

Vmaint

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WTG Foundation Load Document

The design loads given in the foundation load document are

multiplied by partial safety factors depending on the limit
state being analysed and the operating condition. The partial
safety factors are defined in IEC 61500-1
Design situation

Partial safety factor

Ultimate limit state, Normal and extreme, N

1.35

Ultimate limit state, Abnormal, A

1.1

Ultimate limit state, Transport, erection,

installation and maintenance, T

1.5

Serviceability limit state

1.0

Fatigue limit state

1.0

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WTG Foundation Load Document

Typical presentation of loads at tower base and coordinate system

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AS1170 Loading Standards

AS1170 Loading

AS1170 specifies general procedures and criteria for the

structural design of buildings or structures in limit state
format.
The AS1170 standard is made up of 5 parts:

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Part 0: General principles

Part 1: Permanent, imposed and other actions
Part 2: Wind actions
Part 3: Snow and ice actions
Part 4: Earthquake actions

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AS1170 Loading

Limit states
States beyond which the structure no longer satisfies the design
criteria

Ultimate limit state

States associated with collapse, or other similar forms of structural
failure

Serviceability limit state

States that correspond to conditions beyond which specified
service criteria for a structure are no longer met.

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AS1170 Loading

AS1170.0 specifies combinations of actions for the ultimate

limit states for stability and strength.

Stability:

Stabilising effects Ed,stb = [0.9G]

Destabilising effects Ed,dst = [1.2G, Wu, psicQ]

Strength:

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Ed = [1.2G, Wu, psicQ] permanent, wind and imposed action

Ed = [0.9G,Wu] permanent and wind action
Ed = [G, Eu, psieQ] permanent, earthquake and imposed action

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AS1170 Loading
The 50-year return period wind speed at hub height can be calculated
from AS1170.2 and compared with the Ve50 wind speed based on the
wind turbine classification.

The IEC 61400-1 partial safety factor of 1.35 when applied to the 50-year
return period characteristic loads from the foundation load document is
equivalent to a wind with a recurrence period of approximately 580 years.
This is comparable to the 1:500 BCA requirement
Therefore the factored extreme loads can be substituted for the ultimate
loads, Wu, in the AS1170.0 load combinations.
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AS1170 Loading
WTGs are typically located on
hills, ridges and escarpments
therefore a topographic survey
plan is required to determine the
coefficient, Mt to calculate wind
speed at hub height using
AS1170.2

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AS1170 Loading

Wind speed comparison at hub-height:

AS1170.2 V50 wind less than or equal to Ve50

Use factored extreme loads from load document

AS1170.2 V50 wind greater than Ve50

Factor the DLC cases that use extreme wind by
Do not factor the production load cases DLC 1 to 5

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AS1170 Loading
Earthquake loading AS1170.4
May or may not be included in the foundation load document
If not included a separate assessment will need to be carried out by the
structural engineer. The earthquake load should be added to an
operating wind load case since the earthquake will likely trigger sensors
that shut down the WTG.
A simple dynamic analysis can be carried out to determine earthquake
forces. Knowledge of the tower construction and mass distribution of the
WTG is required.

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Structural design

Structural design

The structural design of the WTG footing requires

consideration of the following:

- Ultimate limit state

Stability (overturning, sliding)

Ultimate bearing capacity of the foundation
Bending and shear capacity of the footing
Transfer of load from tower to footing

- Serviceability limit state

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In-service bearing pressures

Footing rotation/settlement
Crack control in concrete (reinforcement stress)

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Structural design
- Fatigue limit state

Concrete stress
Steel reinforcement stress

- Other

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Dynamic rotational stiffness

Durability

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Structural design
Ultimate limit state
- overturning

- sliding
AS1170.0 requirement
- Ed,std >= Ed,dst
i.e. stabilising >= destabilising

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Structural design
Ultimate limit state
- Soil bearing (triangular)

- Recommend at least 50% of

base of the footing is in contact
with the ground as soil
pressure increases
exponentially with increasing
overturning
- Equivalent uniform pressure
using DNV/Riso approach

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Structural design
Ultimate limit state

Bending
Shear
Punching

Strength calculations
carried out in accordance
with AS3600 Concrete
Structures using load
combinations:

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1.2G+Wu
0.9G+Wu

Structural design
Serviceability limit state
- no-gapping requirement

- Footing in full contact with the

ground
- Expected settlement / rotation
(geotechnical advice)
- Cracking in concrete reviewed
by limiting reinforcement stress
in accordance with AS3600.
- Crack widths can also be
determined using Eurocode
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Structural design
Fatigue limit state
- AS3600 Concrete Structures
does not have any rules for
fatigue assessment
- AS5100 Bridge Structures or
Eurocode EC2 can be used to
assess fatigue in concrete and
reinforcement
- Damage equivalent loading
simpler to check fatigue.
- Miners method can be used to
sum individual stress ranges
and damage ratios
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Structural design
Other
- Rotational stiffness
The rotational stiffness of the footings
needs to be checked to ensure that it
is greater than the minimum value
specified in the foundation load
document.
This is necessary to avoid the
possibility that resonance could occur
when the WTG is operating leading to
increased deflections and rocking.

Geotechnical advice required for the

dynamic shear modulus of the
founding material
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Structural design

Durability
Concrete cover to reinforcement and concrete compressive
strength are determined to comply with durability
requirements of AS 3600 Concrete Structures.
Detailing of the reinforcement should also comply with
AS3600 requirements to control cracking due to shrinkage
and temperature effects.

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Summary

Summary

The WTG foundation load document and the IEC partial

safety factors can be used as ultimate loads for footing
design.
Wind speed at hub height should be checked using
AS1170.2 and compared with IEC turbine classification.
Load cases in the foundation load document using the
extreme wind may need to be scaled accordingly.
AS3600 in combination with AS5100 or Eurocode EC2 for
fatigue assessment can be used to design reinforced
concrete WTG footing.

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Thank You

peter.delphin@aecom.com