Dynamic Response Software for Wind Turbine Based on Multibody System Dynamic Algorithm and Mode Summation Method

Renewable resources such as wind exert great potential because they are indigenous, nonpolluting, and inexhaustible. Land-based wind power has been the world’s fastest growing energy source for more than a decade. For a land-based wind turbine structure, a multibody system dynamic algorithm is adopted to establish the structural dynamic model. Based on this model, a dynamic response software for wind turbine is developed to obtain motions and loads of wind turbine structure in time domain. Loads from wind acting on blades and tower of the wind turbine are both considered, and the aerodynamic loads on blades are calculated by blade element momentum theory (BEMT). Based on Kane’s equation, a multibody system dynamic equation is constructed for a complete wind turbine structure with multiple degrees of freedom. Tower and blades, as essential components of the wind turbine structure, are considered as flexible bodies in the calculation. For improving computation efficiency, the mode summation method is used to calculate the deflection of all flexible bodies. With the developed software, the dynamic response of the wind turbine components under complex wind fields can be obtained, which provides technical supports for structural design and safety analysis of land-based wind turbine.