Abstract
This paper presents a newly developed aero-servo-elastic platform for implementing smart rotor control and shows its effectiveness with aerodynamic loads on large-scale offshore wind turbines. The platform was built by improving the FAST/Aerodyn codes with the integration of an external deformable trailing edge flap controller in the Matlab/Simulink software. Smart rotor control was applied to an Upwind/NREL 5 MW reference wind turbine under various operating wind conditions in accordance with the IEC Normal Turbulence Model (NTM) and Extreme Turbulence Model (ETM). Results showed that, irrespective of whether the NTM or ETM case was considered, aerodynamic load in terms of blade flapwise root moment and tip deflection were effectively reduced. Furthermore, the smart rotor control also positively affected generator power, pitch system and tower load. These results laying a foundation for a future migration of the “smart rotor control” concept into the design of large-scale offshore wind turbines.
Highlights
It is well known that, in order to decrease the average costs of manufacturing, transportation, hoisting and maintenance as well as subsequently lower the overall cost per kilowatt-hour of a Energies 2012, 5 turbine, offshore wind turbines have been steadily increasing in size
In this study, we developed a new aero-servo-elastic simulation platform, based on the open source FAST [20]/Aerodyn [21] code developed by NREL, which has already been tested in a smart rotor control system [17], in addition to the integration of
In order to investigate the effect of the smart rotor control system on load reduction, two kinds of external conditions were taken into consideration: Normal Turbulence Model (NTM) and Extreme
Summary
It is well known that, in order to decrease the average costs of manufacturing, transportation, hoisting and maintenance as well as subsequently lower the overall cost per kilowatt-hour (kWh) of a Energies 2012, 5 turbine, offshore wind turbines have been steadily increasing in size. Recently developed advanced SISO and MIMO H∞ feedback and feed forward controllers to study the load reduction potential of a prototyped two-bladed smart rotor equipped with trailing-edge flaps and strain sensors in an experimental way. There has previously been limited investigation of relative aerodynamic and control design and subsequent performance analysis To tackle these issues, in this study, we developed a new aero-servo-elastic simulation platform, based on the open source FAST [20]/Aerodyn [21] code developed by NREL, which has already been tested in a smart rotor control system [17], in addition to the integration of DTEFs. The aerodynamic and control design are described in detail with the Upwind/NREL 5 MW reference wind turbine as reference. To show the effectiveness of smart rotor control on aerodynamic load, simulations were individually conducted under normal and extreme turbulent wind conditions, and the corresponding results were systematically analyzed
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