Multiple scales analysis of out-of-plane and in-plane vibrations of a wind turbine blade

Abstract

Steady-state response of an isolated horizontal axis wind turbine blade undergoing out-of-plane and in-plane vibrations are studied considering the two cases separately. Equations of motion for both cases are sought by modeling the blade as cantilevered Euler-Bernoulli beam and applying the Lagrangian formulation. Taking into account the effects of blade rotation on gravitational and aerodynamic forces and allowing the blade to undergo large deformations, various nonlinearities arise in the system resulting in superharmonic resonances. Taking practically relevant numerical values of parameters, we suitably order the parameters for their smallness. We then obtain the frequency responses corresponding to primary and superharmonic resonances by applying the method of multiple scales up to fourth and third orders for out-of-plane and in-plane cases respectively. Comparisons are drawn with the results obtained using the method of harmonic balance.