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Dynamics and Control of Offshore and Onshore Wind Turbine Structures

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "A3: Wind, Wave and Tidal Energy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2021) | Viewed by 16377

Special Issue Editors

Institute of Knowledge Technology, Complutense University of Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Interests: intelligent control (neuro and fuzzy control, evolutive optimization); modelling and simulation; autonomous vehicles: AGV; wind turbines
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Department of Process Control, AGH University of Science and Technology, Mickiewicza 30 Ave, 30-059 Kraków, Poland
Interests: vibration control; structural vibration; wind turbines; modeling and simulation; optimal control; MR actuators
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Department of Mechanical Engineering & Aeronautics, School of Mathematics, Computer Science & Engineering, City University of London, Northampton Square, London EC1V 0HB, UK
Interests: vibration control; systems modelling; nonlinear systems; structural control; control systems

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are organizing a special issue that may be of interest to you. As *Guest Editor*, I cordially invite you to submit a manuscript for consideration and possible publication in a special issue on "Dynamics and Control of Offshore and Onshore Wind Turbine Structures" to be published in *Energies* (https://0-www-mdpi-com.brum.beds.ac.uk/journal/energies), an open access journal publishing related scientific research and studies, is published by MDPI online monthly. Since its launch in 2008, the journal has been indexed by Science Citation Index Expanded, COMPENDEX and other large databases. The latest Impact Factor for 2019 is 2.702.

Renewable energies, and particularly wind energy, are playing a decisive role on helping to meet the global energy demand in an eco-friendly and clean environment. Along with well-established status of onshore wind, offshore wind turbines (both floating and fixed in the seabed) have emerged as a favorable solution for countries with sea waters. However, wind turbine structures are subject to large loads and undesirable vibrations caused by prolonged strong winds, sea currents as well as large waves, which may reduce energy efficiency and lead to damage (in addition to shortening the fatigue life). Hence, reducing the load impact on these land-based and marine structures is a fundamental challenge in order to increase reliability, and possibly reduce maintenance. Wind turbine control methods would be enhanced and ultimately, energy extraction could then be optimized.

In order to address these issues, the identification of computational models that can represent these strongly non-linear systems is essential. Additionally, various control aspects involved in the performance of these renewable energy solutions should also be addressed in order to improve the energy extraction efficiency and reduce vibration, leading to the increased fatigue life.

This Special Issue will focus on new approaches for the modelling, simulation, and control of offshore and onshore wind turbines. Topics of interest for publication include, but are not limited to:

  • Modelling and identification of offshore and onshore wind turbine structures;
  • Wind and waves models for wind turbines, wind- and waves-structure interaction;
  • Soil- and seabed-structure interaction, including land subsidence;
  • Offshore and onshore wind turbines vibration analysis;
  • Offshore and onshore wind turbine control problems, including structural control;
  • Optimisation of wind turbines performance and fatigue life;
  • Energy efficiency of offshore and onshore wind turbines.
Prof. Dr. Matilde Santos
Dr. Hab. Eng. Paweł Martynowicz
Dr. Maria Tomas-Rodriguez
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • wind energy
  • floating offshore wind turbines
  • wind control
  • structural control

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Editorial

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3 pages, 170 KiB  
Editorial
Special Issue on Dynamics and Control of Offshore and Onshore Wind Turbine Structures
by Matilde Santos
Energies 2022, 15(8), 2782; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/en15082782 - 11 Apr 2022
Viewed by 1143
Abstract
Renewable energies, particularly wind energy, play a decisive role in helping to meet the global energy demand while maintaining an eco-friendly and clean environment [...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dynamics and Control of Offshore and Onshore Wind Turbine Structures)

Research

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17 pages, 3729 KiB  
Article
Improving the Performance of Controllers for Wind Turbines on Semi-Submersible Offshore Platforms: Fuzzy Supervisor Control
by Pablo Zambrana, Javier Fernandez-Quijano, J. Jesus Fernandez-Lozano, Pedro M. Mayorga Rubio and Alfonso J. Garcia-Cerezo
Energies 2021, 14(19), 6222; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/en14196222 - 29 Sep 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1569
Abstract
The use of sea wind energy is restricted by the limited availability of suitable sites in shallow waters. To overcome this challenge, wind turbines located on offshore semi-submersible platforms appear as a valuable option, as they also allow the exploitation of other resources [...] Read more.
The use of sea wind energy is restricted by the limited availability of suitable sites in shallow waters. To overcome this challenge, wind turbines located on offshore semi-submersible platforms appear as a valuable option, as they also allow the exploitation of other resources like wave energy or aquaculture. Nevertheless, the literature addressing this kind of design is scarce, and the interactions of the wind turbine and the platform movements increase the complexity of the control system with respect to the wind turbines with fixed foundations. Within this context, fuzzy control is a promising alternative to deal with these issues. However, while fuzzy controllers can be an alternative to substitute conventional PI control, the latter is a well-known, robust choice for operators. In this sense, fuzzy controllers can be designed to work in collaboration with PI controllers to ease their adoption. To this end, this paper addresses those gaps in the literature by presenting a methodology, its application to enhance controllers for large-scale wind turbines in semi-submersible offshore platforms and the results attained. The methodology is based on the implementation of an integrated simulation tool, together with the definition of three indexes that describe the performance of the control system in the overall platform behaviour regarding key aspects of its exploitation. Using it, an Anti-Wind-Up algorithm was designed to improve the behaviour of the conventional controller and is presented and evaluated along a fuzzy supervisor controller. In this kind of configuration, the fuzzy controller modifies the values of the PI controller. Finally, a comparison of the performance using the reference PI and the improved PI, in both cases together with a fuzzy supervisor controller modifying their values, is presented and discussed, contributing to extend the state of the art of controllers for large-scale wind turbines on offshore semi-submersible platforms. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dynamics and Control of Offshore and Onshore Wind Turbine Structures)
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22 pages, 15242 KiB  
Article
Nonlinear Optimal-Based Vibration Control of a Wind Turbine Tower Using Hybrid vs. Magnetorheological Tuned Vibration Absorber
by Paweł Martynowicz
Energies 2021, 14(16), 5145; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/en14165145 - 20 Aug 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1534
Abstract
This paper presents an implementation of a nonlinear optimal-based wind turbine tower vibration control method. An NREL 5.0 MW tower-nacelle model equipped with a hybrid tuned vibration absorber (HTVA) is analysed against the model equipped with a magnetorheological TVA (MRTVA). For control purposes, [...] Read more.
This paper presents an implementation of a nonlinear optimal-based wind turbine tower vibration control method. An NREL 5.0 MW tower-nacelle model equipped with a hybrid tuned vibration absorber (HTVA) is analysed against the model equipped with a magnetorheological TVA (MRTVA). For control purposes, a 3 kN active actuator in parallel with a passive TVA is used in the HTVA system, while an MR damper is built in the MRTVA instead of a viscous damper, as in a standard TVA. All actuator force constraints are embedded in the implemented nonlinear control techniques. By employing the Pontryagin maximum principle, the nonlinear optimal HTVA control proposition was derived along with its simplified revisions to avoid a high computational load during real-time control. The advantage of HTVA over MRTVA in vibration attenuation is evident within the first tower bending frequency neighbourhood, with HTVA also requiring less working space. Using the appropriate optimisation fields enabled an 8-fold reduction of HTVA energy demand along with a (further) 29% reduction of its working space while maintaining a significant advantage of HTVA over the passive TVA. The obtained results are encouraging for the assumed mass ratio and actuator force limitations, proving the effectiveness and validity of the proposed approaches. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dynamics and Control of Offshore and Onshore Wind Turbine Structures)
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16 pages, 1727 KiB  
Article
General Methodology for the Identification of Reduced Dynamic Models of Barge-Type Floating Wind Turbines
by Daniel Villoslada, Matilde Santos and María Tomás-Rodríguez
Energies 2021, 14(13), 3902; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/en14133902 - 29 Jun 2021
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 2443
Abstract
Floating offshore wind turbines (FOWT) are designed to overcome some of the limitations of offshore bottom-fixed ones. The development of computational models to simulate the behavior of the structure and the turbine is key to understanding the wind energy system and demonstrating its [...] Read more.
Floating offshore wind turbines (FOWT) are designed to overcome some of the limitations of offshore bottom-fixed ones. The development of computational models to simulate the behavior of the structure and the turbine is key to understanding the wind energy system and demonstrating its feasibility. In this work, a general methodology for the identification of reduced dynamic models of barge-type FOWTs is presented. The method is described together with an example of the development of a dynamic model of a 5 MW floating offshore wind turbine. The novelty of the proposed identification methodology lies in the iterative loop relationship between the identification and validation processes. Diversified data sets are used to select the best-fitting identified parameters by cross evaluation of every set among all validating conditions. The data set is generated for different initial FOWT operating conditions. Indeed, an optimal initial condition for platform pitch was found to be far enough from the system at rest to allow the dynamics to be well characterized but not so far that the unmodeled system nonlinearities were so large that they affected significantly the accuracy of the model. The model has been successfully applied to structural control research to reduce fatigue on a barge-type FOWT. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dynamics and Control of Offshore and Onshore Wind Turbine Structures)
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19 pages, 1256 KiB  
Article
Analysis of the Effects of the Location of Passive Control Devices on the Platform of a Floating Wind Turbine
by Antonio Galán-Lavado and Matilde Santos
Energies 2021, 14(10), 2850; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/en14102850 - 15 May 2021
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 2069
Abstract
Floating offshore wind turbines (FOWT) are subjected to strong loads, mainly due to wind and waves. These disturbances cause undesirable vibrations that affect the structure of these devices, increasing the fatigue and reducing its energy efficiency. Among others, a possible way to enhance [...] Read more.
Floating offshore wind turbines (FOWT) are subjected to strong loads, mainly due to wind and waves. These disturbances cause undesirable vibrations that affect the structure of these devices, increasing the fatigue and reducing its energy efficiency. Among others, a possible way to enhance the performance of these wind energy devices installed in deep waters is to combine them with other marine energy systems, which may, in addition, improve its stability. The purpose of this work is to analyze the effects that installing some devices on the platform of a barge-type wind turbine have on the vibrations of the structure. To do so, two passive control devices, TMD (Tuned Mass Damper), have been installed on the platform of the floating device, with different positions and orientations. TMDs are usually installed in the nacelle or in the tower, which imposes space, weight, and size hard constraints. An analysis has been carried out, using the FAST software model of the NREL-5MW FOWT. The results of the suppression rate of the tower top displacement and the platform pitch have been obtained for different locations of the structural control devices. They have been compared with the system without TMD. As a conclusion, it is possible to say that these passive devices can improve the stability of the FOWT and reduce the vibrations of the marine turbine. However, it is indispensable to carry out a previous analysis to find the optimal orientation and position of the TMDs on the platform. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dynamics and Control of Offshore and Onshore Wind Turbine Structures)
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Review

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35 pages, 10896 KiB  
Review
Review of Vibration Control Methods for Wind Turbines
by Ali Awada, Rafic Younes and Adrian Ilinca
Energies 2021, 14(11), 3058; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/en14113058 - 25 May 2021
Cited by 27 | Viewed by 6604
Abstract
The installation of wind energy increased in the last twenty years, as its cost decreased, and it contributes to reducing GHG emissions. A race toward gigantism characterizes wind turbine development, primarily driven by offshore projects. The larger wind turbines are facing higher loads, [...] Read more.
The installation of wind energy increased in the last twenty years, as its cost decreased, and it contributes to reducing GHG emissions. A race toward gigantism characterizes wind turbine development, primarily driven by offshore projects. The larger wind turbines are facing higher loads, and the imperatives of mass reduction make them more flexible. Size increase of wind turbines results in higher structural vibrations that reduce the lifetime of the components (blades, main shaft, bearings, generator, gearbox, etc.) and might lead to failure or destruction. This paper aims to present in detail the problems associated with wind turbine vibration and a thorough literature review of the different mitigation solutions. We explore the advantages, drawbacks, and challenges of the existing vibration control systems for wind turbines. These systems belong to six main categories, according to the physical principles used and how they operate to mitigate the vibrations. This paper offers a multi-criteria analysis of a vast number of systems in different phases of development, going from full-scale testing to prototype stage, experiments, research, and ideas. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dynamics and Control of Offshore and Onshore Wind Turbine Structures)
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