Finite Element Analysis and Vibration Suppression Control of Smart Wind Turbine Blade

• DOI: 10.1007/s10443-011-9236-5
• Publication Date: 2011-11-25T20:23:57Z
• Authors: Yin-hu Qiao; Jiang Han; Chun-yan Zhang; Jie-ping Chen; Ke-chuan Yi
• Keywords: Smart material; Active Vibration Control

With the increasing size of wind turbine blades, the need for more sophisticated load control techniques has induced the interest for aerodynamic control systems with build-in intelligence on the blades. New structural concepts have emerged where multifunctional materials, exhibiting a strong coupling between its mechanical response and its electrical behaviour, which work as sensors and actuators, are embedded or bonded to composite laminates for high-performance structural applications. The paper aims to provide a way for modeling the adaptive wind turbine blades and analyze its ability for vibration suppress. This study provides a finite element model of the smart blade for wind turbines. Numerical analysis is performed using finite element method, which is used to calculate the time response of the model. The displacement response from the piezoelectric actuator and piezoelectric sensors is obtained to control the vibration. By using this model, an active vibration method which effectively suppresses the vibrations of the smart blade is designed.