Influence of structural damping on vibration property of tower of wind turbine

A three dimensional structural dynamic model of the tower of wind turbine was developed using the rigid finite element method. The fore-aft, torsional and vertical vibrations of tower were studied, and the influence of structural damping on the tower vibration was analyzed. The results show that properties of tower vertical vibration and torsional vibration are more complicated than fore-aft vibration. For the fore-aft vibration of tower, a very small damping can eliminate the influence of high frequency vibration completely, but for the torsional vibration of tower, the structural damping effects are not so efficient. Higher frequency of vertical vibration of tower can only be depressed by a very high structural damping. Moreover, the results show that the dominant function of first order fore-aft vibration decreases with the increasing damping, and the vibration is controlled by the turbulent wind. © 2015, Science Press. All right reserved.