On the Dynamics of Vibrational Multi-Modal Instability in Wind Turbine Aeroelastic Response

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-1-2026

Abstract

A fundamental aspect in the design of modern utility-scale wind turbines is predicting the vibrational response of their blades when excited by gust pulses of various amplitudes and frequencies in atmospheric flow. Improved designs based on accurate blade-response predictions can prevent extreme oscillations, reduce fatigue stress, and extend turbine’s operational life. In previously published works, the authors introduced and applied a novel technique that provided an energy-based Reduced-Order Characterization (ROC) for the oscillatory response of wind turbine rotors, when excited by wind gust pulses with different combinations of timespan and amplitude under various operational conditions. Those studies established the universal nature of the ROC by expressing the turbine aeroelastic response as a vibrational Stability Map, plotted in terms of non-dimensional quantities, which could be applied to turbines of any size that share a similar blade construction. In the present paper, the authors will expand the ROC technique beyond the scope of their previously published studies, to analyze the Multi-Modal Response observed in regions located at the external boundaries of the stable zones of the Stability Map. This will provide valuable information about rotor stability behavior in extreme turbine operational conditions which were previously unexplored.

Publication Title

Dynamics

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