A cable-based tuned inerter damper for edgewise vibration control of the wind turbine blade

Abstract

As wind turbines grow larger, with longer blades aimed at enhancing wind energy conversion efficiency, the accompanying increase also results in heightened vibration, thereby posing safety challenges to the structure. The cable-based method, requiring limited stroke and installation space while ensuring satisfactory control performance, is an emerging vibration control strategy in these structures. This study evaluates the efficacy of a wind blade-suited cable-based tuned inerter damper (CTID) in mitigating edgewise vibrations. The CTID comprises inerter, damping, and spring elements, anchored at the hub and connected to the blade tip through a cable. First, the multi-degree-of-freedom blade-CTID coupled model is established. Subsequently, the wind load spectrum of the rotating blade is derived by considering the rotational Fourier spectrum of wind speeds acting on the blade. The pseudo excitation method facilitates stochastic response analysis under wind loads, while particle swarm optimization identifies optimal CTID parameters. The effectiveness of the CTID is numerically validated through a comparison with the conventional tuned mass damper, demonstrating its superior vibration mitigation performance and less on-demand stroke. The associated practical issues of the CTID are discussed, such as the axial cable force-induced instability and buckling issues. The numerical results of this study proved the effectiveness and practicability of rotating blade-suited CTID, providing a novel and promising vibration control strategy in limited-space structures.