Experimental Investigation of Offshore Wind Turbine Structure on Structural Behavior Under Lateral Loads

Expanding renewable energy capacity is becoming increasingly important as the International Energy Agency (IEA) advises reducing carbon dioxide emissions in response to rising energy demand and environmental concerns associated with fossil fuels. Wind turbines, a powerful and efficient means of generating renewable electricity, have seen exponential growth in numbers over the recent decades. Many countries are actively promoting wind turbine construction and research, but despite numerous reports of tower collapses, there has been limited progress in the field of structural reliability studies. Generally, the structural design methods, Allowable Stress Design (ASD) and Load & Resistance Factor Design (LRFD), used for wind turbine towers. To ensure a more robust structural design, it is advisable to consider Ultimate Limit State (ULS), which considers the potential resistance for buckling and post-buckling behavior of the entire structure. This study presents an experimental investigation of the comprehensive structural response of a structure based on the geometric characteristics and loading conditions of a wind turbine tower. The experiment was conducted on a cantilevered cylindrical shell structure subjected to lateral loading. Both load-displacement curves and strain measurements are presented for a comprehensive understand of structural behavior. The effects of the bottom boundary condition and the initial geometric imperfections of the cylindrical shell on the results are analyzed. It also discusses experiment limitations.