Vibration-induced aerodynamic loads on large horizontal axis wind turbine blades

The blades of a large Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine (HAWT) are subjected to significant vibrations during operation. The vibrations affect the dynamic flow field around the blade and consequently alter the aerodynamic forces on the blade. In order to better understand the influence of blade vibrations on the aerodynamic loads, the dynamic stall characteristics of an S809 airfoil undergoing translational motion as well as pitching motion were investigated using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) techniques. Simulation results indicated that both the out-of-plane and in-plane translational motions of the airfoil affect the unsteady aerodynamic forces significantly. In order to investigate the effects of blade vibration on the aerodynamic load on a large-scale HAWT blade during its operating lifetime, an aerodynamic model based on the Blade Element-Momentum (BEM) theory and the Beddoes-Leishman (B-L) dynamic stall model was proposed. The BEM model was revised to account for the vibration-induced velocity components in the calculation of the effective angle of attack. Aerodynamic load analysis of a 5 MW wind turbine was then performed and the impact of blade vibration on the lifetime aerodynamic fatigue loads was analysed.