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Designs
Special Issues
Design and Analysis of Offshore Wind Turbines
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Design and Analysis of Offshore Wind Turbines

A special issue of Designs (ISSN 2411-9660). This special issue belongs to the section "Mechanical Engineering Design".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2025 | Viewed by 9471

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Shuaishuai Wang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Marine Technology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway
Interests: offshore renewable energy; floating wind turbine; design and analysis of ma-rine structures; wind turbine mechanical system; numerical and experimental approaches; structural mechanics and dynamics; stochastic analysis
Prof. Dr. Yihan Xing

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Mechanical and Structural Engineering and Material Sciences, University of Stavanger, N-4036 Stavanger, Norway
Interests: floating wind turbines; offshore floating structures; marine structures; offshore renewable energy; offshore mechanics; subsea technology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Offshore wind energy plays a significant role in promoting the transition from fossil fuels to low-carbon energy. An offshore wind turbine (OWT) system is a complex combination of aero-hydro-servo-elastic models involving multidiscipline knowledge, and it is subjected to the stochastic short- and long-term variations in the environmental loads, making the load effects of the system very complicated. In addition, offshore wind turbines, especially floating ones, are only in the early development stage, and limited experiences and guidelines exist. These pose great challenges for achieving a safe and reliable design with a low cost throughout the intended service life of OWTs.

To address these challenges, tremendous research efforts are required from various perspectives, including the design of wind turbine structures and mechanical systems, modeling, dynamic analysis, numerical and model testing techniques, control algorithms, etc. In addition, AI, machine learning, and digital-twin technologies are of great interest to facilitate analysis of large-scale wind farms, installation, operation, and maintenance.

This Special Issue aims to address the key challenges and enhance technologies for dynamic analysis to improve the design of OWTs, with contributions both from academia and industry. Various topics include, but are not limited to:

  • Innovative concepts and technologies;
  • Stochastic- and reliability-based design and analysis;
  • Conceptual and detailed design;
  • High-fidelity aerodynamics and hydrodynamics;
  • Integrated aero-hydro-servo-elastic modeling and analysis;
  • Advanced control technologies;
  • Stress and strength analysis of OWTs;
  • Novel conceptual studies including multi-rotor designs;
  • Novel materials;
  • Substructure design and analysis;
  • Mooring line design and analysis;
  • Rotor and blade design and analysis;
  • Innovative drivetrain design and analysis;
  • Numerical and experimental analysis;
  • Machine learning and digital twins.

Dr. Shuaishuai Wang
Prof. Dr. Yihan Xing
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Designs is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • innovative design
  • modeling and analysis
  • fully coupled and decoupled analysis approaches
  • nonlinear dynamic load effects
  • stochastic environmental conditions
  • novel materials, mooring line design and analysis
  • substructure design and analysis
  • rotor and blade design and analysis
  • drivetrain design and analysis
  • numerical and experi-mental methods
  • machine learning and digital twin technologies

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 11357 KiB  
Article
Catastrophic Failure Analysis of a Wind Turbine Gearbox by the Finite Element Method and Fracture Analysis
by Jairo Aparecido Martins and Estaner Claro Romão
Designs 2025, 9(1), 4; https://doi.org/10.3390/designs9010004 - 5 Jan 2025
Viewed by 1036
Abstract
The wind turbine gearbox, used as a multiplier, is one of the main components directly related to a wind turbine’s efficiency and lifespan. Therefore, strict control of the gearbox and its manufacturing processes and even minor improvements in this component strongly and positively [...] Read more.
The wind turbine gearbox, used as a multiplier, is one of the main components directly related to a wind turbine’s efficiency and lifespan. Therefore, strict control of the gearbox and its manufacturing processes and even minor improvements in this component strongly and positively impact energy production/generation over time. Since only some papers in the literature analyze the mechanical aspect of wind turbines, focusing on some parts in depth, this paper fills the gap by offering an analysis of the gearbox component under the highest amount of stress, namely relating to the sun shaft, as well as a more holistic analysis of the main gear drives, its components, and the lubrification system. Thus, this work diagnoses the fracture mechanics of a 1600 kW gearbox to identify the main reason for the fracture and how the chain of events took place, leading to catastrophic failure. The diagnoses involved numerical simulation (finite element analysis—FEA) and further analysis of the lubrication system, bearings, planetary stage gears, helical stage gears, and the high-speed shaft. In conclusion, although the numerical simulation showed high contact stresses on the sun shaft teeth, the region with the unexpectedly nucleated crack was the tip of the tooth. The most likely factors that led to premature failure were the missed lubrication for the planetary bearings, a lack of cleanliness in regard to the raw materials of the gears (voids found), and problems with the sun shaft heat treatment. With the sun gear’s shaft, planet bearings, and planet gears broken into pieces, those small and large pieces dropped into the oil, between the gears, and into the tooth ring, causing the premature and catastrophic gearbox failure. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Design and Analysis of Offshore Wind Turbines)
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22 pages, 2379 KiB  
Article
Harnessing Convolutional Neural Networks for Automated Wind Turbine Blade Defect Detection
by Mislav Spajić, Mirko Talajić and Mirjana Pejić Bach
Designs 2025, 9(1), 2; https://doi.org/10.3390/designs9010002 - 27 Dec 2024
Viewed by 953
Abstract
The shift towards renewable energy, particularly wind energy, is rapidly advancing globally, with Southeastern Europe and Croatia, in particular, experiencing a notable increase in wind turbine construction. The frequent exposure of wind turbine blades to environmental stressors and operational forces requires regular inspections [...] Read more.
The shift towards renewable energy, particularly wind energy, is rapidly advancing globally, with Southeastern Europe and Croatia, in particular, experiencing a notable increase in wind turbine construction. The frequent exposure of wind turbine blades to environmental stressors and operational forces requires regular inspections to identify defects, such as erosion, cracks, and lightning damage, in order to minimize maintenance costs and operational downtime. This study aims to develop a machine learning model using convolutional neural networks to simplify the defect detection process for wind turbine blades, enhancing the efficiency and accuracy of inspections conducted by drones. The model leverages transfer learning on the YOLOv7 architecture and is trained on a dataset of 231 images with 246 annotated defects across eight categories, achieving a mean average precision of 0.76 at an intersection over the union threshold of 0.5. This research not only presents a robust framework for automated defect detection but also proposes a methodological approach for future studies in deep learning for structural inspections, highlighting significant economic benefits and improvements in inspection quality and speed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Design and Analysis of Offshore Wind Turbines)
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18 pages, 6378 KiB  
Article
Experimental Fitting of Efficiency Hill Chart for Kaplan Hydraulic Turbine
by Roberto Capata, Alfonso Calabria, Gian Marco Baralis and Giuseppe Piras
Designs 2024, 8(4), 80; https://doi.org/10.3390/designs8040080 - 13 Aug 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1592
Abstract
The development of hydroelectric technology and much of the “knowledge” on hydraulic phenomena derive from scale modeling and “bench” tests to improve machinery efficiency. The result of these experimental tests is mapping the so-called “hill chart”, representing the “DNA” of a turbine model. [...] Read more.
The development of hydroelectric technology and much of the “knowledge” on hydraulic phenomena derive from scale modeling and “bench” tests to improve machinery efficiency. The result of these experimental tests is mapping the so-called “hill chart”, representing the “DNA” of a turbine model. Identifying the efficiency values as a function of the specific parameters of the flow and energy coefficient (which both identify the operating point) allows us to represent the complete behavior of a turbine in hydraulic similarity with the original model developed in the laboratory. The present work carries out a “reverse engineering” operation that leads to the definition of “an innovative research model” that is relatively simple to use in every field. Thus, from the experimental survey of the degree of efficiency of several prototypes of machines deriving from the same starting model, the hill chart of the hydraulic profile used is reconstructed. The “mapping” of all the characteristic quantities of the machine, together with the physical parameters of the regulating organs of a four-blade Kaplan turbine model, also made it possible to complete the process, allowing to identify not only the iso-efficiency regions but also the curves relating to the trend of the angle of the impeller blades, the specific opening of the distributor, and the identification of critical areas of cavitation. The development of the hill chart was made possible by investigating the behavior of 33 actual prototypes and 46 characteristic curves derived from the same reference model based on practical experiments for finding the optimal blade distributor “setup curve”. To complete this, theoretical characteristic curves of “not physically realized” prototypes were also mapped, allowing us to complete the regions comprising the diagram. The study of the unified hill charts found in previous documentation of the most famous manufacturers was of great help. Finally, the validation of the “proposed procedure” was obtained through the experimental survey of the actual efficiency of the new prototype based on the theoretical values defined in the design phase on the chart obtained with the method described. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Design and Analysis of Offshore Wind Turbines)
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26 pages, 4301 KiB  
Article
Optimized Floating Offshore Wind Turbine Substructure Design Trends for 10–30 MW Turbines in Low-, Medium-, and High-Severity Wave Environments
by Joseph Habib Dagher, Andrew J. Goupee and Anthony M. Viselli
Designs 2024, 8(4), 72; https://doi.org/10.3390/designs8040072 - 18 Jul 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3025
Abstract
Floating offshore wind is a promising renewable energy source, as 60% of the wind resources globally are found at depths requiring floating technologies, it minimizes construction at sea, and provides opportunities for industrialization given a lower site dependency. While floating offshore wind has [...] Read more.
Floating offshore wind is a promising renewable energy source, as 60% of the wind resources globally are found at depths requiring floating technologies, it minimizes construction at sea, and provides opportunities for industrialization given a lower site dependency. While floating offshore wind has numerous advantages, a current obstacle is its cost in comparison to more established energy sources. One cost-reduction approach for floating wind is increasing turbine capacities, which minimizes the amount of foundations, moorings, cables, and O&M equipment. This work presents trends in mass-optimized VolturnUS hull designs as turbine capacity increases for various wave environments. To do this, a novel rapid hull optimization framework is presented that employs frequency domain modeling, estimations of statistical extreme responses, industry constructability requirements, and genetic algorithm optimization to generate preliminary mass-optimal VolturnUS hull designs for a given turbine design and set of site conditions. Using this framework, mass-optimized VolturnUS hull designs were generated for 10–30 MW turbines for wave environments of varying severities. These design studies show that scaling up turbine capacities increases the mass efficiency of substructure designs, with decreasing returns, throughout the examined turbine capacity range. Additionally, increased wave environment severity is shown to increase the required mass of a given substructure design. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Design and Analysis of Offshore Wind Turbines)
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20 pages, 10893 KiB  
Article
From Generation to Reuse: A Circular Economy Strategy Applied to Wind Turbine Production
by Ana Rita Caramelo, Paulo Santos and Tânia Miranda Lima
Designs 2024, 8(2), 32; https://doi.org/10.3390/designs8020032 - 3 Apr 2024
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2110
Abstract
The environmental impact of wind turbine rotor blades, both during manufacturing and at the end of their life cycle, can be significant. The aim of this study was to define and test a methodology for recycling the waste resulting from their production. Particles [...] Read more.
The environmental impact of wind turbine rotor blades, both during manufacturing and at the end of their life cycle, can be significant. The aim of this study was to define and test a methodology for recycling the waste resulting from their production. Particles of waste from the mechanical machining of rotor blades, which were made up of a glass fibre/epoxy matrix mixture, were used to produce toe caps for use by the footwear industry. The addition of 1 wt.% of particles improved the mechanical properties of the epoxy matrix, with a 5.50% improvement in tension and an 8% improvement in stiffness. Characterisation of the laminates, manufactured by hand lay-up technique, revealed that in the three-point bending tests, the additive laminates showed improvements of 18.60% in tension, 7.50% in stiffness, and 10% in deformation compared to the control laminate. The compression test showed that the additive glass fibre toe cap had greater resistance to compression than the control glass fibre toe cap, with a reduction in deformation of 23.10%. The toe caps are suitable for use in protective footwear according to European standard EN ISO 20346:2022. They guaranteed protection against low-velocity impacts at an energy level of at least 100 J and against compression when tested at a compression load of at least 10 kN. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Design and Analysis of Offshore Wind Turbines)
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