Simulating Wind Tower Construction Process for Virtual Construction Safety Training and Active Learning

The growth of the wind energy industry in the United States has been remarkable; however, despite its significance and installation capacity, wind energy investments such as wind turbines and wind farms involve various safety risks. To increase awareness of construction workers regarding hazards associated, one needs to develop engaging training programs. Therefore, to address this emergent need, we develop a realistic simulation of the wind tower construction process in an immersive virtual reality environment aiming at informing workers of the general safety and health hazards associated with the critical processes used in constructing, maintaining, and demolishing wind towers.

1 Introduction

As the population is growing fast all over the world, the need for electricity is increasing dramatically. The rapidly developing wind energy sector is one of the most important renewable energy sources over the globe [10]. According to statistics published by the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) [1], the total installed wind capacity reached 591 gigawatts at the end of 2018, a growth of 9.6 percent compared to the end of 2017. Undoubtedly, the growth of the wind energy industry has been remarkable. However, despite its significance and installation capacity, wind energy investments such as wind turbines and wind farms involve various risks [10]. Because the construction and maintenance of wind turbines require highly specialized work, the need to pay close attention to worker safety in the industry is gaining importance.