Aeroelastic stability analysis of wind turbines using an eigenvalue approach

A design tool for performing aeroelastic stability analysis of wind turbines is presented in this paper. The method behind this tool is described in a general form, as independent of the particular aeroelastic modelling as possible. Here, the structure is modelled by a Finite beam Element Method, and the aerodynamic loads are modelled by the Blade Element Momentum method coupled with a Beddoes-Leishman type dynamic stall model in a state-space formulation. The linearization of the equations of motion is performed about a steady-state equilibrium, where the deterministic forcing of the turbine is neglected. To eliminate the periodic coefficients and avoid using the Floquet Theory, the multi-blade transformation is utilized. From the corresponding eigenvalue problem, the eigenvalues and eigenvectors can be computed at any operation condition to give the aeroelastic modal properties: Natural frequencies, damping and mode shapes. An example shows a good agreement between predicted and measured aeroelastic damping of a stall-regulated 600 kW turbine. Copyright (C) 2004 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.