A New Zero Waste Design for a Manufacturing Approach for Direct-Drive Wind Turbine Electrical Generator Structural Components

An integrated structural optimization strategy was produced in this study for direct-drive electrical generator structures of offshore wind turbines, implementing a design for an additive manufacturing approach, and using generative design techniques. Direct-drive configurations are widely implemented on offshore wind energy systems due to their high efficiency, reliability, and structural simplicity. However, the greatest challenge associated with these types of machines is the structural optimization of the electrical generator due to the demanding operating conditions. An integrated structural optimization strategy was developed to assess a 100-kW permanent magnet direct-drive generator structure. Generated topologies were evaluated by performing finite element analyses and a metal additive manufacturing process simulation. This novel approach assembles a vast amount of structural information to produce a fit-for-purpose, adaptative, optimization strategy, combining data from static structural analyses, modal analyses, and manufacturing analyses to automatically generate an efficient model through a generative iterative process. The results obtained in this study demonstrate the importance of developing an integrated structural optimization strategy at an early phase of a large-scale project. By considering the typical working condition loads and the machine’s dynamic behavior through the structure’s natural frequencies during the optimization process coupled with a design for an additive manufacturing approach, the operational range of the wind turbine was maximized, the overall costs were reduced, and production times were significantly diminished. Integrating the constraints associated with the additive manufacturing process into the design stage produced high-efficiency results with over 23% in weight reduction when compared with conventional structural optimization techniques.