Lattice-type ultra-tall wind turbine towers are popular in China for their modular benefits in fabrication, transportation, and installation. Nonetheless, their conceptual design remains predominantly dependent on engineering experience, and a generally applicable approach is still absent. This study proposes a self-similar modular topology optimization framework for lattice-type wind turbine support structures and develops software for its application. A minimum weighted compliance formulation with a prescribed volume fraction is developed utilizing the variable density approach, wherein modular constraints and their corresponding sensitivity expressions are explicitly included. The method is applied to a reference wind turbine model to generate modular lattice configurations. The novel structural models are evaluated under three representative design load cases outlined in IEC 61400 by finite element analysis. Compared with the reference structure, the 12-layer self-similar modular design reduces the maximum deformation and von Mises stress by 39.5% and 51.1%, respectively, demonstrating a substantial stiffness improvement while preserving modularity. The suggested approach provides an efficient and practical tool for the conceptual design of modular lattice-type wind turbine towers.
Cui et al. (Thu,) studied this question.
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