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Title: Sensitivity analysis of the effect of wind characteristics and turbine properties on wind turbine loads

Abstract

Proper wind turbine design relies on the ability to accurately predict ultimate and fatigue loads of turbines. The load analysis process requires precise knowledge of the expected wind-inflow conditions as well as turbine structural and aerodynamic properties. However, uncertainty in most parameters is inevitable. It is therefore important to understand the impact such uncertainties have on the resulting loads. The goal of this work is to assess which input parameters have the greatest influence on turbine power, fatigue loads, and ultimate loads during normal turbine operation. An elementary effects sensitivity analysis is performed to identify the most sensitive parameters. Separate case studies are performed on (1) wind-inflow conditions and (2) turbine structural and aerodynamic properties, both cases using the National Renewable Energy Laboratory 5 MW baseline wind turbine. The Veers model was used to generate synthetic International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) Kaimal turbulence spectrum inflow. The focus is on individual parameter sensitivity, though interactions between parameters are considered. The results of this work show that for wind-inflow conditions, turbulence in the primary wind direction and shear are the most sensitive parameters for turbine loads, which is expected. Secondary parameters of importance are identified as veer, u-direction integral length, and u components of the IECmore » coherence model, as well as the exponent. For the turbine properties, the most sensitive parameters are yaw misalignment and outboard lift coefficient distribution; secondary parameters of importance are inboard lift distribution, blade-twist distribution, and blade mass imbalance. This information can be used to help establish uncertainty bars around the predictions of engineering models during validation efforts, and provide insight to probabilistic design methods and site-suitability analyses.« less

Authors:
; ; ;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Wind and Water Technologies Office (EE-4W)
OSTI Identifier:
1563060
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1562861
Report Number(s):
NREL/JA-5000-74876
Journal ID: ISSN 2366-7451
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC36-08GO28308
Resource Type:
Journal Article: Published Article
Journal Name:
Wind Energy Science (Online)
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Name: Wind Energy Science (Online) Journal Volume: 4 Journal Issue: 3; Journal ID: ISSN 2366-7451
Publisher:
European Wind Energy Association - Copernicus
Country of Publication:
Germany
Language:
English
Subject:
17 WIND ENERGY; FAST; wind; sensitivity analysis; fatigue loads; extreme loads; wind characteristics; turbine properties

Citation Formats

Robertson, Amy N., Shaler, Kelsey, Sethuraman, Latha, and Jonkman, Jason. Sensitivity analysis of the effect of wind characteristics and turbine properties on wind turbine loads. Germany: N. p., 2019. Web. doi:10.5194/wes-4-479-2019.
Robertson, Amy N., Shaler, Kelsey, Sethuraman, Latha, & Jonkman, Jason. Sensitivity analysis of the effect of wind characteristics and turbine properties on wind turbine loads. Germany. https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-4-479-2019
Robertson, Amy N., Shaler, Kelsey, Sethuraman, Latha, and Jonkman, Jason. 2019. "Sensitivity analysis of the effect of wind characteristics and turbine properties on wind turbine loads". Germany. https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-4-479-2019.
@article{osti_1563060,
title = {Sensitivity analysis of the effect of wind characteristics and turbine properties on wind turbine loads},
author = {Robertson, Amy N. and Shaler, Kelsey and Sethuraman, Latha and Jonkman, Jason},
abstractNote = {Proper wind turbine design relies on the ability to accurately predict ultimate and fatigue loads of turbines. The load analysis process requires precise knowledge of the expected wind-inflow conditions as well as turbine structural and aerodynamic properties. However, uncertainty in most parameters is inevitable. It is therefore important to understand the impact such uncertainties have on the resulting loads. The goal of this work is to assess which input parameters have the greatest influence on turbine power, fatigue loads, and ultimate loads during normal turbine operation. An elementary effects sensitivity analysis is performed to identify the most sensitive parameters. Separate case studies are performed on (1) wind-inflow conditions and (2) turbine structural and aerodynamic properties, both cases using the National Renewable Energy Laboratory 5 MW baseline wind turbine. The Veers model was used to generate synthetic International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) Kaimal turbulence spectrum inflow. The focus is on individual parameter sensitivity, though interactions between parameters are considered. The results of this work show that for wind-inflow conditions, turbulence in the primary wind direction and shear are the most sensitive parameters for turbine loads, which is expected. Secondary parameters of importance are identified as veer, u-direction integral length, and u components of the IEC coherence model, as well as the exponent. For the turbine properties, the most sensitive parameters are yaw misalignment and outboard lift coefficient distribution; secondary parameters of importance are inboard lift distribution, blade-twist distribution, and blade mass imbalance. This information can be used to help establish uncertainty bars around the predictions of engineering models during validation efforts, and provide insight to probabilistic design methods and site-suitability analyses.},
doi = {10.5194/wes-4-479-2019},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1563060}, journal = {Wind Energy Science (Online)},
issn = {2366-7451},
number = 3,
volume = 4,
place = {Germany},
year = {Tue Sep 10 00:00:00 EDT 2019},
month = {Tue Sep 10 00:00:00 EDT 2019}
}

Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record at https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-4-479-2019

Figures / Tables:

Figure 1 Figure 1: Overview of the parametric uncertainty in a wind turbine load analysis. Includes wind-inflow conditions (subset shown in blue), turbine aeroelastic properties (subset shown in black), and the associated load quantities of interest (QoIs) (subset shown in red).

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