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Simple vibration model for the design of a vertical axis wind turbine

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Abstract

Wind turbines are widely used these days as one of renewable energy sources. In this paper, a dynamic model of a vertical axis wind turbine is developed by considering coupling effects among shaft bending, shaft torsion, shaft tension, rotor tension and rotor bending. The modal characteristics of the vertical axis wind turbine were obtained by using the dynamic model. The accuracy of the proposed model was first validated by comparing its numerical results to those obtained with a commercial program. Then, the effects of key design parameters such as shaft length, shaft diameter and rotor cross section area on the modal characteristics of the wind turbine were investigated. The natural frequency loci veering phenomena occurred when those parameters varied. The loci veering phenomena were associated with the mode shape switch between shaft bending and rotor bending, which should be carefully examined to improve the vibration quality of the wind turbine. The main contribution of this study is to propose a simple vibration model by which the effects of various design parameters on the modal characteristics of the vertical axis wind turbine can be investigated. Some design guidelines related to the vibration performance are also suggested.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the Basic Science Research Program through a grant from the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT (NRF-2018R1A2A2A05022590).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Convergence Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul, 04763, Korea

    Hyung Hee Kim & Yutaek Oh

  2. School of Mechanical Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul, 04763, Korea

    Hong Hee Yoo

Authors
  1. Hyung Hee Kim
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  2. Yutaek Oh
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  3. Hong Hee Yoo
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Correspondence to Hyung Hee Kim.

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Recommended by Editor No-cheol Park

Hyung Hee Kim received his B.S. degree in the Department of Mechanical Engineering in Youngnam University in 2012. He is working as a M.S. candidate in the Department of Mechanical Convergence Engineering in Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea. His research interests include structural vibration and dynamics.

Yutaek Oh received his B.S. degree in the Department of Mechanical Engineering in Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea in 2013. He is working as a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Mechanical Engineering in Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea. His research interests include structural vibration and multibody dynamics

Hong Hee Yoo received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in the Department of Mechanical Design in Seoul National University in 1980 and 1982, respectively. He received his Ph.D. degree in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics in the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in 1989. He is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea. His research interests include multi-body dynamics, structural vibration and statistical uncertainty analysis in mechanics.

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Kim, H.H., Oh, Y. & Yoo, H.H. Simple vibration model for the design of a vertical axis wind turbine. J Mech Sci Technol 34, 511–520 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-020-0101-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-020-0101-z

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