Nilanjan Saha

Bio: Nilanjan Saha is an academic researcher from Indian Institute of Technology Madras. The author has contributed to research in topics: Offshore wind power & Wind speed. The author has an hindex of 11, co-authored 41 publications receiving 286 citations. Previous affiliations of Nilanjan Saha include Mediterranea University of Reggio Calabria & Indian Institute of Science.

Short‐term extreme response analysis of a jacket supporting an offshore wind turbine

Abstract: Wind turbines must be designed in such a way that they can survive in extreme environmental conditions. Therefore, it is important to accurately estimate the extreme design loads. This paper deals with a recently proposed method for obtaining short-term extreme values for the dynamic responses of offshore fixed wind turbines. The 5 MW NREL wind turbine is mounted on a jacket structure (92 m high) at a water depth of 70 m at a northern offshore site in the North Sea. The hub height is 67 m above tower base or top of the jacket, i.e. 89 m above mean water level. The turbine response is numerically obtained by using the aerodynamic software HAWC2 and the hydrodynamic software USFOS. Two critical responses are discussed, the base shear force and the bending moment at the bottom of the jacket. The extreme structural responses are considered for wave-induced and wind-induced loads for a 100 year return-period harsh metocean condition with a 14.0 m significant wave height, a 16 s peak spectral period, a 50 m s − 1 (10 min average) wind speed (at the hub) and a turbulence intensity of 0.1 for a parked wind turbine. After performing the 10 min nonlinear dynamic simulations, a recently proposed extrapolation method is used for obtaining the extreme values of those responses over a period of 3 h. The sensitivity of the extremes to sample size is also studied. The extreme value statistics are estimated from the empirical mean upcrossing rates. This method together with other frequently used methods (i.e. the Weibull tail method and the global maxima method) is compared with the 3 h extreme values obtained directly from the time-domain simulations. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Aerodynamics of wind turbines

Abstract: The study of rotor blade aerodynamic performances of wind turbine has been presented in this thesis. This study was focused on aerodynamic effects changed by blade surface distribution as well as grid solution along the airfoil. The details of numerical calculation from Fluent were described to help predict accurate blade performance for comparison and discussion with available data. The direct surface curvature distribution blade design method for two-dimensional airfoil sections for wind turbine rotors have been discussed with the attentions to Euler equation, velocity diagram and the factors which affect wind turbine performance and applied to design a blade geometry close to an existing wind turbine blade, Eppler387, in order to argue that the blade surface drawn by direct surface curvature distribution blade design method contributes aerodynamic efficiency. The FLUENT calculation of NACA63-215V showed that the aerodynamic characteristics agreed well with the available experimental data at lower angles of attack although it was discontinuities in the surface curvature distributions between 0.7 and 0.8 in x/c. The discontinuities were so small that the blade performance could not be affected. The design of Eppler 387 blade performed to reduce drag force. The discontinuities of surface distribution matched the curve of the pressure coefficients. It was found in the curvature distribution that the leading edge pressure side had difficulties to connect to Bezier curve and also the trailing edge circle was never be tangent to the lines of trailing edge pressure and suction sides due to programming difficulties.

Foundations of offshore wind turbines: A review

Abstract: Offshore wind is a source of clean, renewable energy of great potential value to the power industry in the context of a low carbon society. Rapid development of offshore wind energy depends on a good understanding of technical issues related to offshore wind turbines, which is spurring ongoing research and development programmes. Foundations of offshore wind turbines present one of the main challenges in offshore wind turbine design. This paper reviews the present state of knowledge concerning geotechnical and structural issues affecting foundation types under consideration for the support structures of offshore wind turbines, and provides recommendations for future research and development.

Extended Kalman filter for material parameter estimation in nonlinear structural finite element models using direct differentiation method

Abstract: Summary This paper presents a novel nonlinear finite element (FE) model updating framework, in which advanced nonlinear structural FE modeling and analysis techniques are used jointly with the extended Kalman filter (EKF) to estimate time-invariant parameters associated to the nonlinear material constitutive models used in the FE model of the structural system of interest. The EKF as a parameter estimation tool requires the computation of structural FE response sensitivities (total partial derivatives) with respect to the material parameters to be estimated. Employing the direct differentiation method, which is a well-established procedure for FE response sensitivity analysis, facilitates the application of the EKF in the parameter estimation problem. To verify the proposed nonlinear FE model updating framework, two proof-of-concept examples are presented. For each example, the FE-simulated response of a realistic prototype structure to a set of earthquake ground motions of varying intensity is polluted with artificial measurement noise and used as structural response measurement to estimate the assumed unknown material parameters using the proposed nonlinear FE model updating framework. The first example consists of a cantilever steel bridge column with three unknown material parameters, while a three-story three-bay moment resisting steel frame with six unknown material parameters is used as second example. Both examples demonstrate the excellent performance of the proposed parameter estimation framework even in the presence of high measurement noise. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.