Vibration attenuation performance of wind turbine tower using a prestressed tuned mass damper under seismic excitation

With the rapid development of large megawatt wind turbines,the operation environment of wind turbine towers(WTTs)has become increasingly complex.In particular,seismic excitation can create a resonance response and cause excessive vibration of the WTT.To investigate the vibration attenuation performance of the WTT under seismic excitations,a novel passive vibration control device,called a prestressed tuned mass damper(PS-TMD),is presented in this study.First,a mathematical model is established based on structural dynamics under seismic excitation.Then,the mathematical analytical expression of the dynamic coefficient is deduced,and the parameter design method is obtained by system tuning optimization.Next,based on a theoretical analysis and parameter design,the numerical results showed that the PS-TMD was able to effectively mitigate the resonance under the harmonic basal acceleration.Finally,the time-history analysis method is used to verify the effectiveness of the traditional pendulum tuned mass damper(PTMD)and the novel PS-TMD device,and the results indicate that the vibration attenuation performance of the PS-TMD is better than the PTMD.In addition,the PS-TMD avoids the nonlinear effect due to the large oscillation angle,and has the potential to dissipate hysteretic energy under seismic excitation.

Comparisons of Wave Force Model Effects on the Structural Responses and Fatigue Loads of a Semi-Submersible Floating Wind Turbine

The selection of wave force models will significantly impact the structural responses of floating wind turbines.In this study,comparisons of wave force model effects on the structural responses and fatigue loads of a semi-submersible floating wind turbine(SFWT)were conducted.Simulations were performed by employing the Morison equation(ME)with linear or second-order wave kinematics and potential flow theory(PFT)with first-or second-order wave forces.A comparison of regular waves,irregular waves,and coupled wind/waves analyses with the experimental data showed that many of the simulation results and experimental data are relatively consistent.However,notable discrepancies are found in the response amplitude operators for platform heave,tower base bending moment,and tension in mooring lines.PFT models give more satisfactory results of heave but more significant discrepan-cies in tower base bending moment than the ME models.In irregular wave analyses,low-frequency resonances were captured by PFT models with second-order difference-frequency terms,and high-frequency resonances were captured by the ME models or PFT models with second-order sum-frequency terms.These force models capture the response frequencies but do not reasonably predict the response amplitudes.The coupled wind/waves analyses showed more satisfactory results than the wave-only analyses.However,an important detail to note is that this satisfactory result is based on the overprediction of wind-induced responses.

Dynamic Analysis of a 10 MW Floating Offshore Wind Turbine Considering the Tower and Platform Flexibility

Recently,semisubmersible floating offshore wind turbine technologies have received considerable attention.For the coupled simulation of semisubmersible floating offshore wind energy,the platform is usually considered a rigid model,which could affect the calculation accuracy of the dynamic responses.The dynamic responses of a TripleSpar floating offshore wind turbine equipped with a 10 MW offshore wind turbine are discussed herein.The simulation of a floating offshore wind turbine under regular waves,white noise waves,and combined wind-wave conditions is conducted.The effects of the tower and platform flexibility on the motion and force responses of the TripleSpar semisubmersible floating offshore wind turbine are investigated.The results show that the flexibility of the tower and platform can influence the dynamic responses of a TripleSpar semisubmersible floating offshore wind turbine.Considering the flexibility of the tower and platform,the tower and platform pitch motions markedly increased compared with the fully rigid model.Moreover,the force responses,particularly for tower base loads,are considerably influenced by the flexibility of the tower and platform.Thus,the flexibility of the tower and platform for the coupled simulation of floating offshore wind turbines must be appropriately examined.

Influence of Trailing-Edge Wear on the Vibrational Behavior of Wind Turbine Blades

To study the impact of the trailing-edge wear on the vibrational behavior of wind-turbine blades,unworn blades and trailing-edge worn blades have been assessed through relevant modal tests.According to these experiments,the natural frequencies of trailing-edge worn blades-1,-2,and-3 increase the most in the second to fourth order,thefifth order increases in the middle,and thefirst order increases the least.The damping ratio data indi-cate that,in general,thefirstfive-order damping ratios of trailing-edge worn blades-1 and trailing-edge worn blades-2 are reduced,and thefirstfive-order damping ratios of trailing-edge worn blades-3 are slightly improved.The mode shape diagram shows that the trailing-edge worn blades-1 and-2 have a large swing in the tip and the blade,whereas the second-and third-order vibration shapes of the trailing edge-worn blade-3 tend to be improved.Overall,all these results reveal that the blade’s mass and the wear area are the main fac-tors affecting the vibration characteristics of wind turbine blades.

Research on Fatigue Damage Behavior of Main Beam Sub-Structure of Composite Wind Turbine Blade

Given the difficulty in accurately evaluating the fatigue performance of large composite wind turbine blades(referred to as blades),this paper takes the main beam structure of the blade with a rectangular cross-sectionas the simulation object and establishes a composite laminate rectangular beam structure that simultaneouslyincludes the flange,web,and adhesive layer,referred to as the blade main beam sub-structure specimen,throughthe definition of blade sub-structures.This paper examines the progressive damage evolution law of the compositelaminate rectangular beam utilizing an improved 3D Hashin failure criterion,cohesive zone model,B-K failurecriterion,and computer simulation technology.Under static loading,the layup angle of the anti-shear web hasa close relationship with the static load-carrying capacity of the composite laminate rectangular beam;under fatigueloading,the fatigue damage will first occur in the lower flange adhesive area of the whole composite laminaterectangular beam and ultimately result in the fracture failure of the entire structure.These results provide a theoreticalreference and foundation for evaluating and predicting the fatigue performance of the blade main beamstructure and even the full-size blade.

Nonlinear Flap-Wise Vibration Characteristics ofWind Turbine Blades Based onMulti-Scale AnalysisMethod

This work presents a novel approach to achieve nonlinear vibration response based on the Hamilton principle.We chose the 5-MW reference wind turbine which was established by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory(NREL),to research the effects of the nonlinear flap-wise vibration characteristics.The turbine wheel is simplified by treating the blade of a wind turbine as an Euler-Bernoulli beam,and the nonlinear flap-wise vibration characteristics of the wind turbine blades are discussed based on the simplification first.Then,the blade’s large-deflection flap-wise vibration governing equation is established by considering the nonlinear term involving the centrifugal force.Lastly,it is truncated by the Galerkin method and analyzed semi-analytically using the multi-scale analysis method,and numerical simulations are carried out to compare the simulation results of finite elements with the numerical simulation results using Campbell diagram analysis of blade vibration.The results indicated that the rotational speed of the impeller has a significant impact on blade vibration.When the wheel speed of 12.1 rpm and excitation amplitude of 1.23 the maximum displacement amplitude of the blade has increased from 0.72 to 3.16.From the amplitude-frequency curve,it can be seen that the multi-peak characteristic of blade amplitude frequency is under centrifugal nonlinearity.Closed phase trajectories in blade nonlinear vibration,exhibiting periodic motion characteristics,are found through phase diagrams and Poincare section diagrams.

Flashover Probability of Wind Turbine Blade and Impact of Strong Electromagnetic Pulse from Lightning Strikes on Wind Turbine Safety

This paper systematically studies the flashover probability of wind turbine blade lightning arrester and the impact of strong electromagnetic pulses on the local and surrounding wind turbines during lightning strikes.The research results indicate that the flashover probability of direct lightning strikes by the wind turbine blade lightning arrester is almost negligible,and the strong electromagnetic pulse of wind turbine blade during lightning strikes has a serious impact on the electronic equipment of the machine,while the impact on the surrounding wind turbine is relatively small.At the same time,the calculation formula for the reflection of lightning current on the carbon brush between the wind turbine hub and the engine compartment during the flashing of the wind turbine blades is provided,and the calculation method for calculating the spatial gradient distribution of electromagnetic field intensity using Biot-Savart Law theorem is applied.The limitations of using wind turbine blades for lightning protection are pointed out,and a technical route for achieving wind turbine lightning safety is proposed,which can be used as a reference for wind turbine lightning protection technicians.

Hydrodynamic Characteristics of Three-Bucket Jacket Foundation for Offshore Wind Turbines During the Lowering Process

The three-bucket jacket foundation is a new type of foundation for offshore wind turbine that has the advantages of fast construction speed and suitability for deep water. The study of the hoisting and launching process is of great significance to ensure construction safety in actual projects. In this paper, a new launching technology is proposed that is based on the foundation of the three-bucket jacket for offshore wind turbine. A complete time domain simulation of the launching process of three-bucket jacket foundation is carried out by a theoretical analysis combined with hydrodynamic software Moses. At the same time, the effects of different initial air storage and sea conditions on the motion response of the structure and the hoisting cable tension are studied. The results show that the motion response of the structure is the highest when it is lowered to 1.5 times the bucket height. The natural period of each degree of freedom of the structure increases with the increase of the lowering depth. The structural motion response and the hoisting cable tension vary greatly in the early phases of Stages Ⅰ and Ⅲ, smaller in Stage Ⅱ, and gradually stabilize in the middle and late phases of Stage Ⅲ.

Coupled Time-Domain Investigation on a Vertical Axis Wind Turbine Supported on a Floating Platform

The dynamic responses of a floating vertical axis wind turbine(VAWT)are assessed on the basis of an aero-hydro-mooring coupled model.The aerodynamic loads on the rotor are acquired with double-multiple stream tube method.First-and second-order wave loads are calculated on the basis of 3D potential theory.The mooring loads are simulated by catenary theory.The coupled model is established,and a numerical code is programmed to investigate the dynamic response of the semi-submersible VAWT.A model test is then conducted,and the numerical code is validated considering the hydrodynamic performance of the floating buoy.The responses of the floating VAWT are studied through the numerical simulation under the sea states of wind and regular/irregular waves.The effects of the second-order wave force on the motions are also investigated.Results show that the slow-drift responses in surge and pitch motions are significantly excited by the second-order wave forces.Furthermore,the effect of foundation motion on aerodynamic loads is examined.The normal and tangential forces of the blades demonstrate a slight increase due to the coupling effect between the buoy motion and the aerodynamic loads.

Aero-Hydrodynamic Coupled Dynamic Characteristics of Semi-Submersible Floating Offshore Wind Turbines Under Inflow Turbulence

In this study,the frequency characteristics of the turbulent wind and the effects of wind-wave coupling on the low-and high-frequency responses of semi-submersible floating offshore wind turbines(FOWT)are investigated.Various wave load components,such as first-order wave loads,combined first-and second-order difference-frequency wave loads,combined first-and second-order sum-frequency wave loads,and first-and complete second-order wave loads are taken into consideration,while different turbulent environments are considered in aerodynamic loads.The com-parison is based on time histories and frequency spectra of platform motions and structural load responses and statistical values.The findings indicate that the second-order difference-frequency wave loads will significantly increase the natural frequency of low-frequency motion in the responses of the platform motion and structure load of the semi-submersible platform,which will cause structural fatigue damage.Under the action of turbulent wind,the influences of second-order wave loads on the platform motion and structural load response cannot be ignored,especially under extreme sea conditions.Therefore,in order to evaluate the dynamic responses of semi-submersible FOWT more accurately,the actual environment should be simulated more realistically.

Centrifuge tests for seismic response of single pile foundation supported wind turbines in sand influenced by earthquake history

This paper reports on two sets of centrifuge model tests of wind turbines in dry sand and saturated sand subjected to earthquake sequences.The wind turbine system is composed of a single pile foundation and a wind turbine.All tests were applied with liquefaction experiments and analysis projects(LEAP)waves to simplify the analysis.The objectives of the tests are to investigate:(1)the influence of earthquake history on the seismic response of wind turbines;(2)the influence of earthquake history on the dynamic pile-soil interaction;and(3)the influence of two different foundation types on the seismic response of wind turbines.The tests indicated that earthquake history has a significant influence on the natural frequency of the pile and the soil around the pile in the saturated sand,but has no obvious influence on the dry sand.The shear modulus of the soil and the acceleration amplification factor of the pile top in both tests increased and the maximum bending moment envelope of the single pile foundation shrunk.The stiffness of the p-y curve in saturated sand was increased by the earthquake history,while that in dry sand was not significantly affected.

Evaluating effectiveness of multiple tuned mass dampers for vibration control of jacket offshore wind turbines under onshore and seafloor earthquakes

The dynamic characteristics and structural responses of operation and grid loss offshore wind turbines(OWTs)under onshore and seafloor earthquakes are analyzed based on the established coupled seismic analysis model.In addition to the remarkable influence of the rotor system on the responses of the operation OWT under earthquakes,interactions among the natural modes of the grid loss OWT in the fore-aft and side-to-side directions are revealed.By comparing with the onshore earthquakes,the more significant differences of structural response are observed under the selected seafloor earthquakes,due to the longer duration and more abundant energy distribution around the natural frequencies of OWT.Concurrently,a multiple tuned mass damper(MTMD)is designed and applied to the operation and grid loss OWTs.Then,the comparisons of the mitigation effects under onshore and seafloor ground motions are carried out,and the necessity of applying seafloor ground motions to OWTs are proved.Moreover,in comparison to the operation OWT,more effective reductions are observed for the grid loss OWT under onshore and seafloor earthquakes using the designed MTMD.Therefore,the combined shutdown procedures and MTMD vibration control strategy is suggested for OWTs under earthquakes.

Comparison of Pile-Soil-Structure Interaction Modeling Techniques for A 10-MW Large-Scale Monopile Wind Turbine Model Under Wind and Wave Conditions

Considering the large diameter effect of piles,the influence of different pile-soil analysis methods on the design of monopile foundations for offshore wind turbines has become an urgent problem to be solved.Three different pile-soil models were used to study a large 10 MW monopile wind turbine.By modeling the three models in the SACS software,this paper analyzed the motion response of the overall structure under the conditions of wind and waves.According to the given working conditions,this paper concludes that under the condition of independent wind,the average value of the tower top x-displacement of the rigid connection method is the smalle st,and the standard deviation is the smallest under the condition of independent wave.The results obtained by the p-y curve method are the most conservative.

A Simplified Method for Estimating the Initial Stiffness of Monopile-Soil Interaction Under Lateral Loads in Offshore Wind Turbine Systems

The interface mechanical behavior of a monopile is an important component of the overall offshore wind turbine structure design.Understanding the soil-structure interaction,particularly the initial soil-structure stiffness,has a significant impact on the study of natural frequency and dynamic response of the monopile.In this paper,a simplified method for estimating the interface mechanical behavior of monopiles under initial lateral loads is proposed.Depending on the principle of minimum potential energy and virtual work theory,the functions of soil reaction components at the interface of monopiles are derived;MATLAB programming has been used to simplify the functions of the initial stiffness by fitting a large number of examples;then the functions are validated against the field test data and FDM results.This method can modify the modulus of the subgrade reaction in the p-y curve method for the monopile-supported offshore wind turbine system.

Dynamic Reliability Evaluation and Life Prediction of Transmission System of Multi-Performance Degraded Wind Turbine

Wind power is a kind of important green energy.Thus,wind turbines have been widely utilized around the world.Wind turbines are composed of many important components.Among these components,the failure rate of the transmission system is relatively high in wind turbines.It is because the components are subjected to aerodynamic loads for a long time.In addition,its inertial load will result in fatigue fracture,wear and other problems.In this situation,wind turbines have to be repaired at a higher cost.Moreover,the traditional reliability methods are difficult to deal with the above challenges when performing the reliability analysis of the transmission system of wind turbines.To solve this problem,a stress-strength interference model based on performance degradation is introduced.Based on considering the strength degradation of each component,the improved Monte Carlomethod simulation based on the Back Propagation neural network is used to obtain the curve of system reliability over time.Finally,the Miner linear cumulative damage theory and the Carten-Dolan cumulative damage theory method are used to calculate the cumulative damage and fatigue life of the gear transmission system.

Wind turbine clutter mitigation using morphological component analysis with group sparsity

To address the problem that dynamic wind turbine clutter(WTC)significantly degrades the performance of weather radar,a WTC mitigation algorithm using morphological component analysis(MCA)with group sparsity is studied in this paper.The ground clutter is suppressed firstly to reduce the morphological compositions of radar echo.After that,the MCA algorithm is applied and the window used in the short-time Fourier transform(STFT)is optimized to lessen the spectrum leakage of WTC.Finally,the group sparsity structure of WTC in the STFT domain can be utilized to decrease the degrees of freedom in the solution,thus contributing to better estimation performance of weather signals.The effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed method are demonstrated by numerical simulations.

A method of convolutional neural network based on frequency segmentation for monitoring the state of wind turbine blades

Wind turbine blades are prone to failure due to high tip speed,rain,dust and so on.A surface condition detecting approach based on wind turbine blade aerodynamic noise is proposed.On the experimental measurement data,variational mode decomposition filtering and Mel spectrogram drawing are conducted first.The Mel spectrogram is divided into two halves based on frequency characteristics and then sent into the convolutional neural network.Gaussian white noise is superimposed on the original signal and the output results are assessed based on score coefficients,considering the complexity of the real environment.The surfaces of Wind turbine blades are classified into four types:standard,attachments,polishing,and serrated trailing edge.The proposed method is evaluated and the detection accuracy in complicated background conditions is found to be 99.59%.In addition to support the differentiation of trained models,utilizing proper score coefficients also permit the screening of unknown types.

Analysis of the Influence of the Blade Deformation on Wind Turbine Output Power in the Framework of a Bidirectional Fluid-Structure Interaction Model

The blades of large-scale wind turbines can obviously deform during operation,and such a deformation can affect the wind turbine’s output power to a certain extent.In order to shed some light on this phenomenon,for which limited information is available in the literature,a bidirectional fluid-structure interaction(FSI)numerical model is employed in this work.In particular,a 5 MW large-scale wind turbine designed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory(NREL)of the United States is considered as a testbed.The research results show that blades’deformation can increase the wind turbine’s output power by 135 kW at rated working conditions.Compared with the outcomes of the simulations conducted using the model with no blade deformation,the results obtained with the FSI model are closer to the experimental data.It is concluded that the bidirectional FSI model can replicate the working conditions of wind turbines with great fidelity,thereby providing an effective method for wind turbine design and optimization.

Rooted Tree Optimization for Wind Turbine Optimum Control Based on Energy Storage System

The integration of wind turbines(WTs)in variable speed drive systems belongs to the main factors causing lowstability in electrical networks.Therefore,in order to avoid this issue,WTs hybridization with a storage system is a mandatory.This paper investigates WT system operating at variable speed.The system contains of a permanent magnet synchronous generator(PMSG)supported by a battery storage system(BSS).To enhance the quality of active and reactive power injected into the network,direct power control(DPC)scheme utilizing space-vector modulation(SVM)technique based on proportional-integral(PI)control is proposed.Meanwhile,to improve the rendition of this method(DPC-SVM-PI),the rooted tree optimization technique(RTO)algorithm-based controller parameter identification is used to achieve PI optimal gains.To compare the performance ofRTO-based controllers,they were implemented and tested along with some other popular controllers under different working conditions.The obtained results have shown the supremacy of the suggested PIRTO algorithm compared to competing controllers regarding total harmonic distortion(THD),overshoot percentage,settling time,rise time,average active power value,overall efficiency,and active power steadystate error.

Influence of the Blade Bifurcated Tip on the Correlation between Wind Turbine Wheel Vibration and Aerodynamic Noise

To reduce the vibration and aerodynamic noise of wind turbines,a new design is proposed relying on a blade with a bifurcated apex or tip.The performances of this wind turbine wheel are tested at the entrance of a DC(direct-action)wind tunnel for different blade tip angles and varying centrifugal force and aerodynamic loads.The test results indicate that the bifurcated apex can reduce the vibration acceleration amplitude and the vibration fre-quency of the wind wheel.At the same time,the bifurcated apex can lower the maximum sound pressure level corresponding to the rotating fundamental frequency of the wind wheel.According to all thesefindings,the tip angle of the bifurcated apex is the main factor enhancing the effect of the modification.