Aeroelastic simulations of wind turbine using 13 DOF rigid beam model

Sudhakar Gantasala (1) , Jean-Claude Luneno (1) , Jan-Olov Aidanpää (1) , Michel Cervantes (1)

1 Department of Engineering Sciences & Mathematics

The vibration behavior of wind turbine substructures is mainly dominated by their first few vibration modes because wind turbines operate at low rotational speeds. In this study, 13 degrees of freedom (DOF) model of a wind turbine is derived considering fundamental vibration modes of the tower and blades which are modelled as rigid beams with torsional springs attached at their root. Linear equations of motion (EOM) governing the structural behavior of wind turbines are derived by assuming small amplitude vibrations. This model is used to study the coupling between the structural and aerodynamic behavior of NREL 5 MW model wind turbine. Aeroelastic natural frequencies of the current model are compared with the results obtained from the finite element model of this wind turbine. Quasi-steady aerodynamic loads are calculated considering wind velocity changes due to height and tower shadow effects. In this study, vibration responses are simulated at various wind velocities. The derived 13 DOF simplified model of the wind turbine enables to simulate the influence of change in parameters and operating conditions on vibration behavior with less computational effort. Besides that, the results of the simplified models can be interpreted with much ease.

Keywords: Aeroelastic; Wind turbine; Rigid beam

Domains: Engineering Sciences [physics]

Sudhakar Gantasala, Jean-Claude Luneno, Jan-Olov Aidanpää, Michel Cervantes. Aeroelastic simulations of wind turbine using 13 DOF rigid beam model. 16th International Symposium on Transport Phenomena and Dynamics of Rotating Machinery (ISROMAC 2016), Apr 2016, Honolulu, United States. ⟨hal-01516690⟩