Use of mixed coordinates in modeling wind turbines including tubular tower

Abstract

Abstract. This paper studies the effect of the tower dynamics upon the wind turbine model by using mixed sets of rigid and/or nodal and/or modal coordinates within multibody system dynamics approach. The nodal model exhibits excellent numerical properties, especially in the case where the rotation of the rotor-blade is extremely high, and therefore, the geometric stiffness effect can not be ignored. However, the use of nodal models to describe the flexibility of large multibody systems produces huge size of coordinates and may consume massive computational time in simulation. On the other side, the dynamics of the tower as well as other components of wind turbine remain exhibit small deformations and can be modeled using Cartesian and/or reduced set of modal coordinates. The paper examines a method of using mixed sets of different coordinates in the same model, although there are differences in the scale and the physical interpretation. The equations of motion of the wind-turbine model is presented based on the floating frame of reference formulation. The mixed coordinates vector consists of three sets: Cartesian coordinates set to present the rigid body motion (nacelle and rotor bodies), elastic nodal coordinates for rotating blades, and reduced-order modal coordinates for low speed components and those that deflect by simple motion shapes (circular Tower). Experimental validation has been carried out successfully, and consequently, the proposed model can be utilized for design process, identification and health monitoring aspects.