Seismic Effect of Marine Corrosion and CFRP Reinforcement on Wind Turbine Tower

Abstract

The offshore wind turbine tower, which has been in the marine corrosive environment for a long time, often buckles and collapses under the earthquake records. In order to study the influence of marine corrosion and CFRP reinforcement on the seismic performance of wind turbine tower structures, the horizontal displacement, horizontal acceleration and acceleration change rate of wind turbine towers are studied through numerical simulation and shaking table tests. The results show that the influence of earthquake type on the dynamic response of the wind turbine tower is different. The response values of acceleration and displacement under far-field earthquakes are larger than those of other earthquake types. The increase in PGA has a greater impact on the structural response range in the near-field earthquake. Corrosion defects not only increase the sensitivity of the wind turbine tower structure to seismic response but also have different effects on the location and development of structural plastic hinges. For the structure without corrosion defects, the plastic hinge appears at the connection between the tower and the foundation, while in the corrosion structure, the plastic hinge appears in the corrosion area. Corrosion defects increase the nonlinear development of structures, especially under far-field earthquakes. CFRP reinforcement can effectively reduce the displacement effect of the top of the structure and enhance the seismic performance of the corroded wind turbine tower.