Free vibration analysis of the horizontal axis wind turbine tower

Abstract

A rigid multibody method for free vibration analysis of horizontal axis wind turbine tower is proposed. The considerations are performed in the frame of Euler-Bernoulli beam theory. There are two basic steps of this method. In the first step, the shape of the tower is approximated by the n cylindrical flexible segments. Then, every of the n cylindrical flexible segments is replaced with the three rigid bodies connected by the corresponding joints and springs in them. Finally, the rigid multibody model of the tower is provided.The results of the proposed model are compared with the similar one from the literature.