Dynamic Analysis of Wind Turbines Including Soil-Structure Interaction

This paper investigates the along-wind forced vibration response of an onshore wind turbine. The study includes the dynamic interaction effects between the foundation and the underlying soil, as softer soils can influence the dynamic response of wind turbines. A Multi-Degree-of-Freedom (MDOF) horizontal axes onshore wind turbine model is developed for dynamic analysis using an Euler–Lagrangian approach. The model is comprised of a rotor blade system, a nacelle and a flexible tower connected to a foundation system using a substructuring approach. The rotor blade system consists of three rotating blades and includes the effect of centrifugal stiffening due to rotation. The foundation of the structure is modeled as a rigid gravity based foundation with two DOF whose movement is related to the surrounding soil by means of complex impedance functions generated using cone model. Transfer functions for displacement of the turbine system are obtained and the modal frequencies of the combined turbine-foundation system are estimated. Simulations are presented for the MDOF turbine structure subjected to wind loading for different soil stiffness conditions. Steady state and turbulent wind loading, developed using blade element momentum theory and the Kaimal spectrum, have been considered. Soil stiffness and damping properties acquired from DNV/Risø standards are used as a comparison. The soil-structure interaction is shown to affect the response of the wind turbine. This is examined in terms of the turbine structural displacement and also the base shear and bending moment in the tower and the foundation. The frequency domain response of the bending moment and shear force in the foundation and the tower base, for stiffer soil condition, is shown to be characterized by peaks at multiples of the wind turbine rotational speed (3P effects). The effect of dynamic soil-structure interaction on the rotation of the foundation has also been investigated.