Optimization of Offshore Wind Turbine Structure by EOL-OS

Wind Turbine-EOL software

1 Introducnion
The methodology exposed in this report is the improvement of classical steel solutions dedicated to monopile structures
used in off- shore wind industry. The optimization tool EOL has been implemented to investigate the gains in terms of weight
and production costs generated by the use of high tensile steel for shells, as well as longitudinal and circumferential
stiffeners. The input data implemented in the project are the starting point of the computation. They are related to the
environment at the offshore location, the characteristics of the wind turbine and the scantling of the support structure.
The set of selected design variables and input data are then used as a basis to assess the objective function that can be
weight or production cost and the constraints of the monopile structure. The optimization algorithm then combines these
two elements (objective function and structural integrity)over a certain number of iterations in order to find the optimum
scantling of the support structure.
The software is based on a genetic algorithm (GA). Genetic algorithms are search algorithms that work via the process of
natural selection. They begin with a sample set of solutions which evolves towards a set of more optimal solutions after
several iterations. Within the sample set, poor solutions tend to disappear while better solutions mate and propagate their
advantageous traits, introducing better solutions into the set. A random mutation guarantees that a set won't stagnate while
filling up with numerous copies of the same solution. The flowchart of the optimization procedure is presented on Figure 1.

INPUT DATA

SCANTLING AND
DESIGN VARIABLES

CONSTRAINTS

OBJECTIVE FUNCTION
(Weight or Production cost)

Resonance

Ultimate limit

Fatigue

check

state check

check

GENETIC ALGORITHM

NE

END OF ITERATION

DA
OPTIMUM SCANTLING

Figure 1 General scheme of the optimization

Optimization of Offshore Wind Turbine Structure by EOL-OS

2 Input Data
2.1 Generals
The site of the offshore wind farmin is in the North Sea, with water depth of 32 m. The investor has chosen to use 5 MW
wind turbines, with a service life of 20 years.

2.1 Wind turbine

Some general data of the wind turbine are taken into account for this design of the monopile structure (Table 1)
Description

Value

Unit

Wind turbine power

MW

Number of blades

Rotor diameter

118

Tower top mass

190

tones

Speed range

4-14.2

rpm

Rated rotor speed

12.2

rpm

Table 1. Characteristics of the offshore wind turbine

2.2 Environmental conditions

Environmental data summarizes the characteristics of the site, data related to fatigue analysis and load cases considered for
the ultimate limit state analysis. The site data contains the values for water depth d, the power law exponent characterizing
the vertical distribution of wind speeds over the tower height, the densities of the air a and of the sea water w. Data related
to ultimate limit states are listed in table 2
Ultimate load cases

Unit

Load case 1

Load case 1

Type

FX

kN

870

721

FY

kN

-210

120

FZ

kN

-150

MX

kNm

5300

MY

kNm

-2840

2125

MZ

kNm

-1240

3800

Missalignement

deg

Vhub

m/s

42.5

37.5

Sea state

Regular

Regular

Wave height

4.8

Wave period

9.2

25

Water elevation

0.7

0.4

Aerodynamic

0.04

0.04

Table 2. Data related to ultimate limit states

The envelop diagrams of internal loads generated by the software for the initial scantling is shown in figure 2

Optimization of Offshore Wind Turbine Structure by EOL-OS

Figure 2. Envelop diagrams of internal loads for the initial scantling

Data related to fatigue analysis are listed in table 3

Fatigue case

Wind state

Sea States

Wind turbine power

9.8

38.9

24.4

0.7

1.2

HS

Number of blades

225

417

560

5.8

12

Rotor diameter

4.1*10e8

6.53*10e7

2.76*10e6

20

Probability

Table 3. Data related to fatigue analysis

Optimization of Offshore Wind Turbine Structure by EOL-OS

3 Initial monopile support structure

Before optimization we have to design initial monopile structure. The monopile structure has 4 cylindrical tubular segments.
The segments themselves are made of shell rings linked together with butt welds. The hight of the shell rings is choosen
3.35 m due to difficulity of production longer rings. Finial number of rings is 34. The initial monopile support structure
considered in the report is made of steel S235 and it is adjusted to be constant in order to speed up orderptimization
proces. Ring shell characteristics of monopile structure are listed in Table 4.

id Vir

Z Bottom

UnitZ Top

Height

Tickness

Diameter Inf.

Diameter Sup.

Material

0.000

3.35

3.35

0.1

5.5

5.5

S235 JR

3.350

6.7

3.35

0.1

5.5

5.3

S235 JR

6.700

10.05

3.35

0.095

5.3

5.2

S235 JR

10.05

13.4

3.35

0.095

5.2

5.1

S235 JR

13.40

16.75

3.35

0.095

5.1

S235 JR

16.75

20.1

3.35

0.095

S235 JR

20.10

23.45

3.35

0.085

S235 JR

23.45

26.8

3.35

0.085

S235 JR

26.80

30.15

3.35

0.085

S235 JR

30.15

33.5

3.35

0.085

S235 JR

10

33.50

36.85

3.35

0.085

S235 JR

11

36.85

40.2

3.35

0.085

S235 JR

12

40.20

43.55

3.35

0.085

S235 JR

13

43.55

46.9

3.35

0.08

4.7

S235 JR

14

46.90

50.25

3.35

0.08

4.7

4.7

S235 JR

15

50.25

53.6

3.35

0.08

4.7

4.7

S235 JR

16

53.60

56.95

3.35

0.08

4.7

4.7

S235 JR

17

56.95

60.3

3.35

0.08

4.7

4.2

S235 JR

18

60.30

63.65

3.35

0.08

4.2

4.2

S235 JR

19

63.65

67

3.35

0.08

4.2

4.2

S235 JR

20

67.00

70.35

3.35

0.07

4.2

4.2

S235 JR

21

70.35

73.7

3.35

0.07

4.2

4.2

S235 JR

22

73.70

77.05

3.35

0.07

4.2

3.8

S235 JR

23

77.05

80.4

3.35

0.07

3.8

3.8

S235 JR

24

80.40

83.75

3.35

0.06

3.8

3.8

S235 JR

25

83.75

87.1

3.35

0.06

3.8

3.8

S235 JR

26

87.10

90.45

3.35

0.06

3.8

3.8

S235 JR

27

90.45

93.8

3.35

0.06

3.8

3.8

S235 JR

28

93.80

97.15

3.35

0.05

3.8

3.8

S235 JR

29

97.15

100.5

3.35

0.05

3.8

3.8

S235 JR

30

100.5

103.8

3.35

0.05

3.8

3.5

S235 JR

31

103.8

107.2

3.35

0.05

3.5

3.5

S235 JR

32

107.2

110.5

3.35

0.05

3.5

3.5

S235 JR

33

110.5

113.9

3.35

0.05

3.5

3.5

S235 JR

Table 4. Initial ring shell characteristics

Optimization of Offshore Wind Turbine Structure by EOL-OS

Also the computations results of fatigue analysis and ultimate limit state analysis as well as fatigue analysis for each shell
rings is given in the Table 5.

id Vir

Z Bottom UnitZ Top

JSD/fy,d

Buckling

Yielding

Total cumulative fatigue

damage DFat

0.000

3.35

0.8074

0.9506

0.189749

3.350

6.7

0.8079

0.9227

0.98569

6.700

10.05

0.7655

0.8616

0.95312

10.05

13.4

0.7768

0.8827

0.90526

13.40

16.75

0.781

0.8641

0.82449

16.75

20.1

0.7464

0.8164

0.79428

20.10

23.45

0.714

0.7757

0.71944

23.45

26.8

0.6828

0.7365

0.67937

26.80

30.15

0.6949

0.7463

0.584070

30.15

33.5

0.665

0.7079

0.511728

10

33.50

36.85

0.6812

0.7200

0.401614

11

36.85

40.2

0.6517

0.6853

0.355264

12

40.20

43.55

0.6207

0.6526

0.295264

13

43.55

46.9

0.6185

0.6497

0.222369

14

46.90

50.25

0.6305

0.6618

0.188248

15

50.25

53.6

0.6269

0.6576

0.154664

16

53.60

56.95

0.6225

0.6526

0.129118

17

56.95

60.3

0.6171

0.6465

0.109347

18

60.30

63.65

0.6106

0.6392

0.0938130

19

63.65

67

0.586

0.6130

0.0814596

20

67.00

70.35

0.5447

0.5695

0.0675401

21

70.35

73.7

0.504

0.5264

0.0565462

22

73.70

77.05

0.5056

0.5272

0.0477754

23

77.05

80.4

0.5051

0.5258

0.0417313

24

80.40

83.75

0.4585

0.4764

0.0360536

25

83.75

87.1

0.4127

0.4278

0.0313669

26

87.10

90.45

0.3678

0.3799

0.0274731

27

90.45

93.8

0.3239

0.3330

0.0242178

28

93.80

97.15

0.2813

0.2872

0.0214798

29

97.15

100.5

0.2442

0.2468

0.0191628

30

100.5

103.8

0.2273

0.2263

0.0195554

31

103.8

107.2

0.2089

0.2043

0.0176309

32

107.2

110.5

0.1784

0.1695

0.0159739

33

110.5

113.9

0.1512

0.1374

0.00000

Table 5. Initial ring shell characteristics

Optimization of Offshore Wind Turbine Structure by EOL-OS

4 Resonance of the support structure

We have to check is there a frequency that is close to the natural frequency of the support structure in order to avoid
resonance phenomena. The Campbell diagram related to the excitation frequencies for the rotor motion (1n) and the blades
passing (3n) can then be used to check if resonance of the support structure. The Campbell diagram characterizing the
offshore wind turbine shows the eigen frequencies with +/- 5% variance compared to the rotational speed range of the rotor.
The Campbell diagram is presented in Figure 3.

Figure 3. Campbell diagram

5 Optimization of the offshore wind turbine

The optimization was done in order to get optimal cost and weight. In the diagram in Figure 4 has shown that convergence
to the optimum solution occur around 1200 iterations.

Figure 4. Evolution of weight and production cost

Optimization of Offshore Wind Turbine Structure by EOL-OS

The general characteristics of the optimum solutions are summarized in the table 6.

Description

Value

Unit

Diameter at top

3.5

Diameter at seaground

Shell thickness at top

43

mm

Shell thickness at seaground

102

mm

Tower length

113.9

Structural Weight

694.5

tones

Cost

889 200

euro

Table 6. General characteristics of the optimum solutions

In the following figure 5 is presented initial and optimal scantling where is vissible slythly improvment of structure that results
by reduction of cost and weigt. The structure is made of steel S235.

Figure 5. initial
scantling and optimal scantling

Optimization of Offshore Wind Turbine Structure by EOL-OS

6 Conclusion
In the report optimization of offshore wind turbine has performed by EOL software based on the Genetic algorithm. The
results are reduction of weight for 18.2% as well as reduction of production costs for 15.2%. This shows that the
optimization process is quite significant improvement in the design from initial monopile structure to optimal one and it saves
almost 20% of reduction (cost and weight). The software itself is very powerful and friendly to use. The disadvantage of
software is that it takes quite a lot time to obtain optimal solution. How this software is based on a genetic algorithm it have
some advantages eg we can incerase number of variables. But also there is have some disadvantages, when you increase
number of variables also the time to get optimal solution is extended, so to speed up the process it require a powerful
computer. Also if you repeat the process of optimization you'll always get different solutions, all can be optimal solution, but
not exactly the same results. There is no proof that your solution is global optimum, you can always end up in a local
optimum.