Shaking table test and numerical analysis of offshore wind turbine tower systems controlled by TLCD

A wind turbine system equipped with a tuned liquid column damper(TLCD) is comprehensively studied via shaking table tests using a 1/13-scaled model. The effects of wind and wave actions are considered by inputting responseequivalent accelerations on the shaking table. The test results show that the control effect of the TLCD system is significant in reducing the responses under both wind-wave equivalent loads and ground motions, but obviously varies for different inputs. Further, a blade-hub-tower integrated numerical model for the wind turbine system is established. The model is capable of considering the rotational effect of blades by combining Kane's equation with the finite element method. The responses of the wind tower equipped with TLCD devices are numerically obtained and compared to the test results, showing that under both controlled and uncontrolled conditions with and without blades' rotation, the corresponding responses exhibit good agreement. This demonstrates that the proposed numerical model performs well in capturing the wind-wave coupled response of the offshore wind turbine systems under control. Both numerical and experimental results show that the TLCD system can significantly reduce the structural response and thus improve the safety and serviceability of the offshore wind turbine tower systems. Additional issues that require further study are discussed.