Recent Advances in Vibration Control Methods for Wind Turbine Towers

Georgios Malliotakis, Panagiotis Alevras and Charalampos Baniotopoulos
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Georgios Malliotakis: Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
Panagiotis Alevras: Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
Charalampos Baniotopoulos: Department of Civil Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 22, 1-37

Abstract: Wind power is a substantial resource to assist global efforts on the decarbonization of energy. The drive to increase capacity has led to ever-increasing blade tip heights and lightweight, slender towers. These structures are subject to a variety of environmental loads that give rise to vibrations with potentially catastrophic consequences, making the mitigation of the tower’s structural vibrations an important factor for low maintenance requirements and reduced damage risk. Recent advances in the most important vibration control methods for wind turbine towers are presented in this paper, exploring the impact of the installation environment harshness on the performance of state-of-the-art devices. An overview of the typical structural characteristics of a modern wind turbine tower is followed by a discussion of typical damages and their link to known collapse cases. Furthermore, the vibration properties of towers in harsh multi-hazard environments are presented and the typical design options are discussed. A comprehensive review of the most promising passive, active, and semi-active vibration control methods is conducted, focusing on recent advances around novel concepts and analyses of their performance under multiple environmental loads, including wind, waves, currents, and seismic excitations. The review highlights the benefits of installing structural systems in reducing the vibrational load of towers and therefore increasing their structural reliability and resilience to extreme events. It is also found that the stochastic nature of the typical tower loads remains a key issue for the design and the performance of the state-of-the-art vibration control methods.

Keywords: vibration control; wind turbine tower; review; tuned mass damper; tuned liquid column damper; multi-hazard (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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