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ICMSMT 2020 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 872 (2020) 012046 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/872/1/012046

Simulation and numerical analysis of offshore wind turbine

with monopile foundation

Lokesh Ram S and Mohana R

Department of Civil Engineering, Mepco Schlenk Engineering College, Sivakasi, Tamil Nadu, India

E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract: Static Analysis and Harmonic response analysis using Finite Element Analysis (FEA) is
performed to evaluate the deformation, stresses and strain energy of monopile and tower of offshore
wind turbine (OWT) in dense sand. In this study monopile, tower and soil along with water layer
modelled as 3 dimension solid model in ANSYS workbench. Considering the soil as explicit material
with environmental loads like wind and wave loads on turbine as static loads static analysis is done.
From the analysis it is concluded that the structures behaviour changes with accordance to the change
of parameters, turbines response towards the excitation frequency is investigated.

Keywords: Numerical analysis, offshore wind turbine, Finite element software

1. INTRODUCTION

Wind energy is accepted together as the foremost developed, foreseen efficient and verified renewable
energy technologies to fulfill rise of electricity requirements in a very appropriate manner.
Enormous scale preparation of onshore wind energy have reached a stage and became competitive
with fuel based mostly electricity generation across the planet, exploitation of offshore wind energy
is nonetheless to succeed in a comparable scale. Asian countries mostly achieved important success
within the onshore alternative energy development with concerning 24 GW of wind energy already
put in and generating power [8]. The government is trying to transpose the success of offshore
alternative energy development. Almost 8.7 GW offshore wind capability has already been put in
across the globe associate degreed just about an equal capability is beneath construction. There are
offshore wind farms existing and underdevelopment within the UK (4494MW), Scandinavian country
(1271MW), Federal Republic of Germany (1049MW), Belgium (712MW), China (670MW),
European nation (247MW) and Scandinavian nation (212MW) [15]. The study of behaviour of
offshore wind turbine thus will provide us a brief idea and knowledge about its simulation over
extreme operational conditions. In India there’s a scarcity of sensible demonstration expertise of
offshore wind generation projects but, it’s the coastline of 7,600 kilometers used for the development
of offshore wind power generation. Wind knowledge collected for the outline region of
Rameshwaram and Kanyakumari in Tamil nadu and Gujarat Coast shows cheap potential because
it has continuous air flow. A preliminary assessment suggests establishing
around one GW capability wind park every on the coastline of Rameshwaram and Kanyakumari (Gulf
of Mannar) as shown in Figure. 1 in Tamil nadu [16, 17]. In Europe and Asia the offshore wind power
industry is expanding at a rapid pace and has the potential to solve many global issues: clean air, and
energy security for fossil-fuel-starved countries (e.g. Japan, India). Furthermore, the cost wind turbine
is reducing spectacularly over the last five years, and it is foreseen that this might become one of the
cheapest form of energy in the manufacturing world. The overall concept design for offshore wind
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ICMSMT 2020 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 872 (2020) 012046 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/872/1/012046

turbine foundation selection plays a vital role in greater choices made over financial implications.
Typically, foundations cost 15−35% of the overall costs, depending on the wind farms location and
size. The design of offshore oil and gas (O&G) structures is being followed for the design of
foundation. The OWT structures are unique in their features. The most important difference in OWT
with respect to O&G installation structure is dynamic sensitivity [3] − i.e. the forcing frequencies
from wave, rotor Frequency (1P), and blade frequency (2P/3P) is nearer to natural frequencies of
OWT structures [18]. The large hollow steel-driven pile of diameter 3 to 6 m is the most commonly
used foundation system for offshore wind turbines, and has been reported with a length-to-diameter
ratio of less than 8. Monopiles has become an efficient solution for offshore wind turbine foundations
in water depths nearing 30-35 m.

Figure 1.Location of wind farm in southern India

Figure 2.Model representing offshore wind turbine

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ICMSMT 2020 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 872 (2020) 012046 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/872/1/012046

2. Finite Element Modeling & Analysis

The Modeling of offshore wind turbine shown in Figure. 2 needs to be reliable, and should be precise
as much as possible, here the finite element package ANSYS Workbench software is used for the
analysis of deformation, stresses, strain values over the tower and monopile and also energy
dissipated on the soil layer where the monopile is embedded is also obtained [12].

Figure 3. Geometry (a).Tower (b).Transition Piece (c).Monopile Foundation.

The Engineering parameters from Figure. 3 and other parameters considered for the modeling of wind
turbine tower, monopile, soil layer and water layer is given below [13],

A. Soil parameters
Density – 1100 Kg/m3
Young’s Modulus – 60 MPa
Poisson’s Ratio – 0.25
Initial Inner Friction Angle – 350
Initial Cohesion – 10 Pa
Dilatancy Angle – 50
Soil Depth – 20 m

B. Structural steel parameters

Density – 7850 Kg/m3
Young’s Modulus – 2 x10^5 MPa
Poisson’s Ratio – 0.3
Tensile yield strength – 250 MPa
Tensile ultimate Strength – 460 MPa

C. Water data
Density – 1030 Kg/m3
Bulk Modulus – 2200 MPa
Water Depth – 10 m

D. Properties of Wind turbine Model

Rating (MW) – 3.0

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ICMSMT 2020 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 872 (2020) 012046 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/872/1/012046

Wind Class – IEC IA

Hub Height – 90 m
Rotor Position, rotor type – Upwind, 3-bladed
Rotor Weight – 41 ton
Nacelle Mass – 143 ton
Blade Weight – 8.4 ton

The Figure. 2 full scale model Computational time for the meshing and analyzing takes more time so
scale down of model is done by means of scale down laws.

The models are based on Froude number in Froude’s model law which means, the Froude number for
dynamic similarity between the model and the prototype should be equal. If gravity force is only
predominant force which controls the flow in addition to the force of inertia (i.e.,) wave is generated
on surface. Froude’s number (dimensionless number is used) is defined as the square root of the ratio
of inertia force of a fluid to the gravity force mathematically,

𝐹𝑖
𝐹𝑒 = 𝐹𝑔
(1)
Here,
Fe= Froude number Fi= Inertial force
Fg= Force due to gravity Lr = scale ratio for length
Fr = scale ratio for force Pr = scale ratio for pressure
According to Froude model law Scale ratio for Force is
Fr = Lr3; and Moment Mr=Lr4.

Loads on wind turbine

The wind turbine manufacturer provide us the Wind Load on the hub height, [1] the wave load based
on linear Airy wave theory and the wheeler stretching method using the Morison’s equation is
calculated. The DNV (DNV-OS-J101, 2014) helps in appraisal of serviceability load cases. Other load
combinations were not likely considered in the study. The loads under serviceability limit state are,

Vertical force – 2092.0 KN

Horizontal shear force – 492.5 KN
Moment – 1142.6 kNm
Torque – 721.7 kNm
Standard Earth Gravity – 9.8 m/s2

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ICMSMT 2020 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 872 (2020) 012046 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/872/1/012046

Figure 4.Load application on offshore wind turbine

The Vertical load of RNA is applied on the top of tower and the horizontal shear force, the total
moment and torque is also applied at the top of the tower as shown in Figure. 4 [2, 11]. Meshing of
model is done in ANSYS Workbench software where the Minimum Edge length of mesh is 106.12m,
and the target quality is 0.05 with inflation of smooth transition and the transition ratio is 0.272, here
the number of nodes generated is 236012 and total number of elements formed is 272184.

Figure 5.Contact between tower soil and structure offshore wind turbine

The solid elements are created by SOLID186 & SOLID 187 the contact between the soil layer and the
water layer as shown in Figure. 5 is done by CONTA174 &TARG170.The Multiple contacts are done
by MPC 184 and the number of contact elements created is 157719 [14]. The soil boundary layer
created is of 10 times the diameter of the monopile which will give us the stiffness to the foundation
[4, 7]. The bottom of the soil layer and the monopile is fixed to the ground to assess the long term
performance of the wind turbine the loading condition should be of time stepping but in our we have
only applied the loading as static loading which will produce the initial analysis report and behavior
of monopile and tower structure on soil layer [20, 21].

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ICMSMT 2020 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 872 (2020) 012046 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/872/1/012046

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The effect of long-term cyclic loading increase the deflection and rotation of monopile head, the
current design codes quotes that the maximum deflection on top of the tower and the deflection and
rotation of pile head are usually subjected to constraints to meet the serviceability requirement (DNV-
OS-J101, 2014) [6]. For example, DNV clarifies that the installation leeway at the mud line and
permanent rotation is 0.25°. The maximum deflection at pile head is considered as 30 mm (Wang and
Yang, 2012) [22], and (DNV-OS-J101, 2014) provoke towers maximum deflection is to be set about
LW/200 [6].

Figure 6.Total Deformation of the wind turbine

It is obviously clear that the maximum deformation is at the tower head and the deformation at the
pile is lower which is within the specified limits as shown in Figure. 6, so it is safe for the wind
turbine to operate. The Equivalent elastic stresses and the strain along the tower due to the
horizontally applied loads and moments is clearly predicted from the analysis [20]. Due to the applied
loading the strain energy produced along the tower is dissipated to the water layer and the soil layer
Figure. 10 & Figure. 11 which will clearly enumerate the behavior of monopile along with tower
structure in the soil layer. Along the horizontally applied load the stresses are developed, the
maximum stress is developed at the top of the tower shown in Figure. 7, when applying the moment at
the bottom of the monopile the stress is greater at the mud line where the monopile is embedded and
also at the transition piece where geometry changes [19].

Figure 7.Principle Stress on wind turbine tower and foundation

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ICMSMT 2020 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 872 (2020) 012046 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/872/1/012046

Figure 8.Principle Strain on wind turbine tower and foundation

Based upon the observations the dissipated strain energy along the supporting tower structure shown
in Figure. 9 and the strain energy due to the tower over the water layer and soil layer in Figure. 8 is
mainly happening in and around the pile layer within the distance of 3 times the diameter of pile on
the soil layer.

Figure 9.Strain Energy on wind turbine tower

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ICMSMT 2020 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 872 (2020) 012046 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/872/1/012046

Figure 10.Strain Energy on water layer

Figure 11.Strain Energy on wind turbine tower and foundation

The first natural frequency of any structure is a very crucial parameter in determining the dynamic
conduct of the wind turbines in offshore [9]. If the excited frequency is close to the natural frequency,
resonance occurs which leads to high stress concentration in the monopile structure. Due to
slenderness of the structure when the blade passes it creates vibration of the wind turbine [5].

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ICMSMT 2020 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 872 (2020) 012046 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/872/1/012046

Figure 12.Harmonic response of wind turbine on 0.361 Hz of excited frequency

A rotor having three blades resists the peak forces at frequencies of 1P (Blade passing frequency) and
3P due to turbulent eddy. For a distinctive variable speed turbine, the 1P ranges of 0.15 Hz to 0.3 Hz
approx, and rotation frequency 3P which is of 0.44 Hz to 0.92 Hz approx, the sea waves typically
creates cyclic loading which is at a frequency rate of 0.04 Hz to 0.29 Hz [16].

The design of offshore wind turbine (turbine, tower, monopile) within a natural frequency between
blade passing frequency, rotor frequencies and wave frequencies helps in avoiding the resonance
effect is shown in Figure. 12 [10]. Figure. 13 symbolise the forced frequencies of wind turbine in
offshore. The increase in applied lateral wind load decreases the natural frequency in the Mohr-
coulomb strain-dependent soil stiffness models. Thus every wind turbine and pile foundation has to be
within the allowable frequency range requisite by wind turbine manufacturers.

1P-Rotor Frequency
3p-Blade Passing Frequency

Energy power spectrum (G) vs. Frequency (Hz)

Figure 13.Forced frequencies on offshore wind turbine

The increase in pile diameter and pile thickness results in drastic decrease over the deflection and
rotation upon the pile head region vice versa over tower top and bottom. Using finite element
modelling short-term static loading over offshore wind turbine under the serviceability limit state
(SLS) is incorporated to examine the performance is attempted here therein a three-dimensional (3D)
finite element (FE) model is done with the help of ANSYS Space claim, where the effect of pile-soil
interaction due to short-term static loading is neglected. A cogitation carried out over a 3 MW wind
turbine supported on a large-diameter monopile in sand using small-scale 3D model. The outlines of
main results are:

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ICMSMT 2020 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 872 (2020) 012046 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/872/1/012046

(a) Under serviceability limit state the deflection and rotation at pile head computed over the
short-term cyclic loading are smaller comparing to the effect over long term loading.
(b) Under the serviceability limit state, the deflection ratio and rotation ratio of pile head tends to
reduce cut back substantially with an increase in strain energies in and around soil
surrounding the pile, the strain energy dissipated also appears to be on the surrounding soil
layer. The deflection ratio for tower top tends to be more sensitive towards static type of
loading.
(c) The increase in pile wall thickness and pile diameter can lead to a moderate decrease in the
deflection of tower top and stresses at maximum over the tower top due to short term loading.
Variation over pile diameter causes abrupt change over the strain energies which are
dissipated on the water and soil layer.

All the issues relating to offshore wind turbine project is complicated and needs a separate revision
which cannot be clubbed in a single project. The numerical model currently used is modelled based on
the observations of tests over small scale models which may show limitations of scaling effect.
Physical and numerical aspects with high performance computer are needed to develop a better
understanding of the problem with full scale modelling.

4. CONCLUSION

In this study of static loading on monopile highlights the initial behaviour of wind turbine. It is
suggested to account long-term loading effect for design of foundation. Under its service period of
offshore wind turbines supported on monopiles the long-term performance is a major concern to look
into. This paper presents an investigation across the effect of static loading on the performance of
offshore wind turbine under the limit state by finite element modelling. Three-dimensional (3D) finite
element (FE) models were constructed on the platform of ANSYS workbench, in which the effect of
soil layer and water layer is taken into account A cogitation carried out on a 3 MW wind turbine
supported on a large-diameter monopile in sand using small-scale 3D model conducted to reckon the
influence of several design parameters for complete behaviour of offshore wind turbine. Monopile
with varied thickness, pile section length and pile with uniform thickness provide us information to
design the foundation in an economical way.Currently there are no defined codal provisions for
monopile foundation, standardization of design criteria will be helpful in future.

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ICMSMT 2020 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 872 (2020) 012046 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/872/1/012046

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