Multi-Objective Structural Optimization of a Wind Turbine Tower

The 2MW wind turbine tower is considered as the baseline configuration for structural optimization. The design variables consist of the thickness and height located at the top tower junction. The relationships between the design variables and the optimization objectives (mass, equivalent stress, top displacement and fatigue life) are mapped on the basis of uniform design and regression analysis. Subsequently, five solutions are developed by an algorithm, NSGA-III. According to their efficiency and applicability, the most suitable solution is found. This approach yields a decrease of 0.48% in the mass, a decrease of 54.48% in the equivalent stress and an increase of 8.14% in fatigue life, as compared with existing tower designs. An improved wind turbine tower is obtained for this practice. © 2020, Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.