Wind Turbine FEA Structural Analysis

Working in a team of four, I designed a 500-foot-tall wind turbine tower optimized for minimum mass and material cost while meeting strict structural and thermal constraints. Using ANSYS Mechanical, I performed finite element analysis to evaluate the tower’s performance across a wide range of operating temperatures and wind speeds. The final design utilized a tapered beam geometry and a base plate connection secured by high-strength bolts.

To ensure the reliability of the simulation, I coupled every FEA result with manual calculations for deflection, stress factors of safety, buckling, and natural frequencies. We also conducted eigenvalue analysis to determine the tower's modal behavior and analyzed asymmetrical loading scenarios, such as the loss of a turbine blade. The project successfully delivered a design that adhered to all factor-of-safety requirements while minimizing material use.