Dynamic behavior of wind turbine with viscous inertial mass system under wind and seismic excitations

Abstract

In recent years, tuned mass dampers (TMDs) have been used for the vibration control of wind turbines. To improve the vibration control effect of a TMD, novel vibration control systems have been developed by adding an inertial element. These novel vibration control systems can be classified into untuned and tuned viscous inertial mass systems (VIMS and TVIMS, respectively). In this study, the optimal parameters of each system in a single-degree-of-freedom system were determined by performing a frequency domain analysis. Numerical models of a 2.2 MW wind turbine with a TMD, VIMS and TVIMS were developed. The numerical models included theoretical models of a TMD, VIMS, and TVIMS, and used their optimal design parameters with a mass ratio of 2 %. Each model was validated by comparing its frequency information with that of an actual structure. Dynamic analysis of each structure was performed to obtain the structural responses under wind, seismic, and wind-seismic coupling loads. The advantages of the different vibration control systems were evaluated by comparing the responses of the vertices and the space required for each system. The VIMS can reduce the spring elongation by an average of 33.21 %, with a maximum reduction of 39.42 %. However, the VIMS was not as effective in controlling the structural displacement response as the TMD, with an average displacement response of only 4.99 %. The TVIMS improved the displacement response control effect by at least 21.83 %; however, the spring elongation was needed to be increased by at least 26.82 %. Its excellent control effect is attributed to large deformation of the spring element.