Structural and Dynamic Analysis of Wind Turbine Towers: A Simplified 1D Modeling Approach

Abstract Wind energy has turned out to be one of the key sources in renewable energy development around the world, as it presents a non-polluting and efficient way of solving ever-growing energy demands. The support towers are at the heart of wind turbines’ structural and operational stability, and because of their slender and flexible design, these are dynamic interactions between the aerodynamic forces, turbine functions, and environmental loads. These interactions introduce complicated vibrational behaviors that should be judiciously handled during both design and analysis. Considering the complexity of the dynamics of the systems, detailed computational methods have been resorted to evaluate with sufficient accuracy the tower behaviors. These computational methods significantly increase the duration required to develop a design and boost computational costs, particularly when used at the early stages of design. This study introduces a simplified modeling approach using the Euler-Bernoulli beam theory to analyze the structural and dynamic responses of a 4.4 MW onshore turbine tower. By comparing simplified methods with simulations and data, the results show that these models can effectively predict key dynamic behaviors while requiring less computational effort. This approach offers a practical solution for preliminary designs, balancing accuracy and efficiency, and addressing the challenges of larger and more complex modern turbines.