Articulated blade tip devices for load alleviation on wind turbines

Abstract

This paper investigates the load alleviation capabilities of an articulated tip device, where the outermost portion of the blade can rotate with respect to the rest of the blade. Passive, semi-passive and active solutions are developed for the tip rotation. In the passive and semi-passive configurations tip pitching is mainly driven by aerodynamic loads, while for the active case the rotation is obtained with an actuator commanded by a feedback control law. Each configuration is analyzed and tested using a high-fidelity aeroservoelastic simulation environment, by considering standard operative conditions as well as fault situations. The potential benefits of the proposed blade tip concepts are discussed in terms of performance and robustness.