NEESR-II: A Seismic Study of Wind Turbines for Renewable Energy Ian Prowell Presenter, Graduate Student Researcher PI: Prof. Ahmed Elgamal Co-PI:Prof. Joel Conte Prof. J. Enrique Luco Prof. Chia-Ming Uang

Background and Motivation Source: Sandia National Laboratories

Background 65 kW Nordtank (15 m rotor diameter), 900 kW NEG Micon 52m (52 m rotor diameter), and 3 MW Vestas V90 (90 m rotor diameter)

Background Enercon 4.5MW 112 Meter Rotor Source: Sandia National Laboratories Construction of Modern Turbine Blade Source: LM Glassfiber

Motivations for Research Coincidence of wind resource and seismic hazard –Pacific Rim: US West Coast, Japan, China, etc –Mediterranean: Greece, Turkey, etc Require combined wind, operational, and seismic load case

Field Vibration Testing:

In-Situ Vibration Experiments 900 kW NEG Micon 2 hours of data while operating 46 hours of parked data Tower and surrounding soil instrumented Forced vibration up to 15 Hz Data recorded while rotor and gearbox were removed Wind speed and operational data recorded simultaneously with vibration data

In-Situ Vibration Experiments 1.5 MW NEG Micon 45 hours of data while operating 1 hour of parked data Tower and surrounding soil instrumented Wind speed and operational data recorded simultaneously with vibration data

In-Situ Vibration Experiments: Outcomes

Shake Table Testing:

Shake Table Testing Dense instrumentation with in- and out-of-plane components Input motions in two perpendicular orientations relative to nacelle Input motions in operational and parked conditions

Simulation Experiment Shake Table Testing: Outcomes Experimental validation of operational effects and accurate simulation in using updates to NREL code for turbines

Overall Project Outcomes Numerous publications sharing results Provide valuable experimental evidence supporting seismic behavior of wind turbines Field work and shake table tests provide basis for applying results across entire range of existing turbines Contributed and validated updates to NREL simulation code for turbines to simulate combined earthquake, operational, and wind loads Project personnel provided guidance on seismic loads in development of forthcoming AWEA/ASCE turbine permitting guidelines

Acknowledgements – Organizations NSF - Grant No. CMMI Oak Creek Energy Systems Sandia National Laboratories National Renewable Energy Laboratory Harvey Mudd College

Thank You