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Author
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Ioannis Eirinaios Chatzitolios, Stergios Nousios
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For the analysis of the towers to provide comparable results, a common wind turbine model of 5 MW was adopted that determined their height at 90 meters. The simulation and structural analysis were executed using Dlubal's RFEM and RSTAB software and their included add-on modules. The geometry of each model was finalized after a trial-and-error run. For both models the steel grade used was S355 and the forces acting on each tower were the self – weight of the structure, the weight of the WT and the thrust caused by the rotor and their respective overturning moments at the top and the customized wind pressure profile for each model. The appropriate design checks were performed according to the specifications of Eurocode.
Comparing the results of the analysis, the tubular structure ended up, as expected, heavier than the lattice while the overall translation of its top was significantly greater. As for the lattice model, the moment developed at its base was way lower which alleviates the need for such a robust foundation. On the opposite side, the number of its elements and the complexity of the lattice model, render its construction very time consuming and its maintenance demanding and dangerous. To sum up, the products of the analysis combined with the already known features of each model on one hand confirm the trend of favoring the tubular model while on the other, demonstrate that the lattice tower proves to be a viable alternative with great potential especially when the main concern is minimizing the cost.