Aero-elastic vibration analysis based on a tower-blade coupled model of wind turbine in yaw condition

A fast method to calculate aero-elastic responses of wind turbine based on a tower-blade coupled structure model was proposed. By taking the 5 MW wind turbine system designed by Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics as an example, a finite element model for investigating the wind turbine tower-blade coupled vibration was established to obtain the information of its dynamic characteristics. The harmonic superposition method and the modified blade element momentum theory were applied to calculate the aerodynamic load, considering the influence of yaw conditions. The mode superposition method was used to solve the kinetic equation of wind turbine system, the blade velocity and dynamic load were updated through iterative loop, and then the aero-elastic responses of wind turbine system were calculated. The influence of yaw angle on wind-induced responses was discussed. The research contributes a scientific basis to the wind-resistant structure design for the tower-blade system of large-scale wind turbines. ©, 2015, Chinese Vibration Engineering Society. All right reserved.