Dynamic analysis of offshore wind turbines

Abstract

For large-scale 5MW offshore wind turbines, the discrete equation of fluid domain and the motion equation of structural domain with geometric nonlinearity were built, the three-dimensional modeling of the blade considering fluidstructure interaction (FSI) was achieved by using Unigraphics (UG) and Geometry modules, and the numerical simulation and the analysis of the vibration characteristics for wind turbine structure under rotating effect were carried out based on ANSYS software. The results indicate that the rotating effect has an apparent effect on displacement and Von Mises stress, and the response and the distribution of displacement and Von Mises stress for the blade in direction of wingspan increase nonlinearly with the equal increase of rotational speeds. Compared with the single blade model, the blade vibration period of the whole machine model is much longer. The structural coupling effect reduces the response peak value of the blade displacement and Von Mises stress, and the increase of rotational speed enhances this coupling effect. The maximum displacement difference between two models decreases first and then increases along wingspan direction, the trend is more visible with the equal increase of rotational speed, and the boundary point with zero displacement difference moves towards the blade root. Furthermore, the Von Mises stress difference increases gradually with the increase of rotational speed and decreases nonlinearly from the blade middle to both sides. The results can provide technical reference for the safe operation and optimal design of offshore wind turbines.