To study the effect of soil–structure interaction (SSI) on the seismic response and fatigue damage of an ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) hybrid wind turbine tower, finite-element models with and without consideration of the SSI effects were established for a 5 MW onshore wind turbine with a height of 180 m. Non-linear time history analysis and fatigue analysis were conducted to evaluate the dynamic response and fatigue life of the wind turbine tower with UHPC and C80, respectively. The lateral displacement, acceleration and stress of the tower were analysed to evaluate the seismic response. Further, the fatigue life of the hybrid wind turbine tower was predicted according to the stress–time history of the fatigue critical section of the tower under rated wind load. The analysis results showed that the SSI effects decreased the natural frequency of the wind turbine tower. Compared to the C80 hybrid wind turbine tower, the UHPC hybrid wind turbine tower exhibited a lower displacement and damage level. The SSI effects have a significant impact on the dynamic response of the wind turbine tower. The fatigue life of the hybrid wind turbine tower increases by around 10% after consideration of the SSI effects.
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1 November 2025
Research Article|
November 07 2025
Soil–structure interaction effects on seismic and fatigue response of hybrid wind turbine
Gao Ma;
Key Laboratory of Earthquake Engineering and Engineering Vibration,
Institute of Engineering Mechanics, China Earthquake Administration
, Harbin, PR China
; Key Laboratory of Earthquake Disaster Mitigation, Ministry of Emergency Management, Harbin, PR China; College of Civil Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha, PR ChinaCorresponding author Gao Ma (magao@hnu.edu.cn)
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Songshuo Guo;
Songshuo Guo
College of Civil Engineering,
Hunan University
, Changsha, PR China
; Key Laboratory for Damage Diagnosis of Engineering Structures of Hunan Province, Hunan University, Changsha, PR China
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Hyeon-Jong Hwang;
Hyeon-Jong Hwang
Department of Architecture and Architectural Engineering,
Seoul National University
, Seoul, Korea
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Chunxu Hou;
Chunxu Hou
College of Civil Engineering,
Hunan University
, Changsha, PR China
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Zhenhao Zhang;
Zhenhao Zhang
School of Civil Engineering,
Changsha Univ. of Science and Technology
, Changsha, PR China
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Jae-Yo Kim
Jae-Yo Kim
Department of Architectural Engineering,
Kwangwoon University
, Seoul, Korea
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Corresponding author Gao Ma (magao@hnu.edu.cn)
Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that there are no known conflicts of interest.
Publisher: Emerald Publishing
Received:
March 24 2025
Accepted:
August 25 2025
Online ISSN: 1751-7702
Print ISSN: 0965-0911
Funding
Funding Group:
- Award Group:
- Funder(s): Scientific Research Fund of Institute of Engineering Mechanics
- Award Id(s): 2023D38
- Funder(s):
- Award Group:
- Funder(s): Huxiang Youth Talent Support Programme of Hunan Province
- Award Id(s): 2021RC3041
- Funder(s):
- Award Group:
- Funder(s): National Research Foundation of Korea(NRF)
- Award Id(s): RS-2024–00333882,RS-2024–00409719
- Funder(s):
- Funding Statement(s): The authors express their appreciation for the financial support by the Scientific Research Fund of Institute of Engineering Mechanics, China Earthquake Administration (grant no. 2023D38), the Huxiang Youth Talent Support Programme of Hunan Province, China (grant no. 2021RC3041) and the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (MSIT) (RS-2024–00333882 and RS-2024–00409719).
© 2025 Emerald Publishing Limited
2025
Emerald Publishing Limited
Licensed re-use rights only
Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Structures and Buildings (2025) 178 (11): 1048–1066.
Article history
Received:
March 24 2025
Accepted:
August 25 2025
Citation
Ma G, Guo S, Hwang H, Hou C, Zhang Z, Kim J (2025), "Soil–structure interaction effects on seismic and fatigue response of hybrid wind turbine". Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Structures and Buildings, Vol. 178 No. 11 pp. 1048–1066, doi: https://doi.org/10.1680/jstbu.25.00048
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