Refinements and Tests of an Advanced Controller to Mitigate Fatigue Loads in the Controls Advanced Research Turbine: Preprint

Wind turbines are complex, nonlinear, dynamic systems forced by aerodynamic, gravitational, centrifugal, and gyroscopic loads. The aerodynamics of wind turbines are nonlinear, unsteady, and complex. Turbine rotors are subjected to a complicated 3-D turbulent wind inflow field, with imbedded coherent vortices that drive fatigue loads and reduce lifetime. Design of control algorithms for windturbines must account for multiple control objectives. Future large multi-megawatt turbines must be designed with lighter weight structures, using active controls to mitigate fatigue loads, while maximizing energy capture. Active damping should be added to these dynamic structures to maintain stability for operation in a complex environment. At the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), wehave designed, implemented, and tested advanced controls to maximize energy extraction and reduce structural dynamic loads. These control designs are based on linear models of the turbine that are generated by specialized modeling software. In this paper, we present field test results of an advanced control algorithm to mitigate blade, tower, and drivetrain loads in Region 3.