Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering (2024) 46:272

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40430-024-04789-y

TECHNICAL PAPER

Out‑of‑plane vibration mitigation of wind turbine rotor blades using

nonlinear energy sink
Maziar Daghighi1 · Ali Rahmani Hanzaki1 · Majid Shahgholi1 · Saeed Bab2

Received: 22 June 2023 / Accepted: 11 January 2024

© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to The Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering 2024

Abstract
Limitations and pollution of non-renewable natural resources and ecological destruction have encouraged the use of renew-
able resources. The realization of this green shift requires the enlargement of wind turbines to generate more electricity, which
means more wind load to be tolerated by them. Therefore, the study of the mechanical integrity of wind turbines with the
objective of reducing maintenance costs is suggested as a key success factor for the global wind energy industries. Hence, in
this research, the dynamic behavior of a five-megawatt wind turbine rotor, including hub, nacelle, and blades is studied, and
bi-stable nonlinear energy sinks (NES) are employed to mitigate the out-of-plane vibrations of the blades. A 3D wind speed
model is generated by the Turbsim program, and the speed profile is then mapped on the rotor plane and the blades’ elements.
This has been followed by the calculation of the aerodynamic load based on the blade element momentum (BEM) theory.
Finally, the equations of motion of the system are numerically solved using the Runge–Kutta method. Sensitivity analysis is
performed to obtain optimum nonlinear stiffness and damping of NES; and then, the blades' amplitude with optimum NES
and optimum linear absorber are compared with each other. The results show that the bistable nonlinear energy sink could
reduce the vibration amplitude of the blades by about 58%.

Keywords Wind turbine · Highly efficient nonlinear energy sink · Vibration mitigation · Blade vibration

List of symbols EI(x) Blades bending stiffness

c Damping coefficient Fd Drag force
Cl Lift coefficient Fl Lift force
Cd Drag coefficient FN Normal force
C̃ Damping matrix of the system Fnl Total horizontal force
D Damping energy FT Normal force
g Gravity acceleration
Technical Editor: Samuel da Silva. k Stiffness coefficient
kfp Stiffness coefficient for strain energy
Maziar Daghighi, Ali Rahmani Hanzaki, Majid Shahgholi, and due to bending
Saeed Bab are equally contributed to this work.
kge,fp Stiffness coefficient for centrifugal stiff-
* Ali Rahmani Hanzaki ening effect
a.rahmani@sru.ac.ir kgr,fp Stiffness coefficient for potential energy
Maziar Daghighi related to gravity
m.daghighi@sru.ac.ir K̃ Stiffness matrix of the system
Majid Shahgholi L NES spring physical length
majid.shahgholi@sru.ac.ir m Blades mass per unit length
Saeed Bab Mnac Nacelle mass
sbab@nri.ac.ir mnes NES mass
mabs Optimal linear absorber mass
1
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Shahid Rajaee Teacher M̃ Mass matrix of the system
Training University, Shabanloo Street, Tehran, Iran
q Relative coordinate
2
Mechanical Rotary Equipment Department, Niroo Research q̃ j , j = 1..4 Relative coordinate vector of the system
Institute, Dadman Street, Tehran, Iran

Vol.:(0123456789)
 272 Page 2 of 15 Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering
q̃̇ j , j = 1..4 Relative velocity vector of the system
q̃̈ j , j = 1..4 Relative acceleration vector of the
system
Qext,j  jTh component of non-conservative
loads
R Blades length
T Kinetic energy
uj (x, t), j = 1..4 Displacement along the out-of-plane
axis
V Potential energy
vbj Absolute velocity of the jth blade
vnac Absolute velocity of the nacelle
Wwl Virtual work
xc NES stable positions
𝜓j (t) The angle of the jth blade from the
vertical axis at the time t
Ω Blades rotating speed (rad/sec)
𝜑i (x) The first mode shape of the turbine
blade in out-of-plane direction
1 Introduction
Wind power is one of the fastest-growing renewable energy
technologies. The 93.6 GW of new installations in 2021
brings global cumulative wind power capacity to 837 GW,
representing 12% annual growth [1]. Modern wind turbines
with tall thin towers and long blades are designed and manu-
factured to produce more power in all windy environments,
especially in low wind speed conditions, while also reduc-
ing the electricity cost. As an example, the SG 14-222 DD
model of the SIEMENS offshore wind turbine has a rotor
diameter of 222 m, a blade length of 108 m, and a nominal
power production of 14 MW [2]. The impact of wind force
on this huge equipment in harsh environments causes severe
vibrations that may lead to breakdowns and damages. In
addition, uncontrolled vibrations cause fatigue of mechani-
cal parts and eventually damage the structure [3].
The operating modes of a two-blade wind turbine struc-
ture were examined by Stoll et al. They indicated how the
turbine modes are affected by centrifugal and gyroscopic
effects when the rotor speed increases [4]. Park et al. derived
the equations of motion by multi-body technique and proved
that the proposed method can be used to predict the vibration
behavior of wind turbine blades [5]. Adhikari and Bhattacha-
rya [6] presented an expression for a rapid evaluation of a
wind turbine's fundamental frequency. Numerical solutions,
laboratory results, and field data show the validity of the
proposed equations. The out-of-plane vibrations of an elastic
wind turbine blade under wind load were studied by Inoue
et al. They studied the nonlinear vibration of a wind turbine
blade and monitored the effect of applying wind forces that
(2024) 46:272
vary periodically and gravitational simultaneously on the
super-harmonic resonance [7]. Zhou et al. [8] presented a
new method for the analysis of composite blades by develop-
ing beam theory. They compared numerical examples with
analytical and finite element results to verify their method.
Wang et al. proposed an improved model and used vibration
signal analysis. They modeled the nacelle as a mass with
two degrees of freedom, the tower as an elastic beam, and
the foundation using two lateral and rotational springs. The
result of the field test proved that the model is accurate and
practical [9]. Avila et al. studied the dynamic behavior of a
5 MW wind turbine under three conditions, operation, soil-
structure interaction, and the rotor velocity [10].
Scientists around the world have shown great interest in
studying the vibration control of wind turbines and their
components under aerodynamic loads such as wind load,
wave load, or earthquake and have presented various con-
trolling systems including active, semi-active, and passive.
Sensors, controllers, and signal processing have been
used in active and semi-active control systems to manage
primary system vibrations [11]. These devices which are
listed in [12–14] are used in many scientific researches, but
due to their higher cost, higher complexity, and lower reli-
ability, they have received less attention from researchers,
and they prefer to work with passive methods, such as tuned
mass dampers [15, 16], tuned liquid column dampers[17,
18], ball dampers [19] and nonlinear energy sinks [20].
The effectiveness of linearly tuned mass dampers signifi-
cantly depends on the ratio of its mass to the mass of the
primary structure which can be expected to have effective
and robust control by using large ratios. However, installing
a large tuned mass damper in a wind turbine is impractical
due to limited space in the nacelle and the tower. In order
to overcome this problem, the use of multiple small tuned
mass dampers proposed by Zhou et al. [21] and Chen et al.
[22], can be an alternative solution. Jahangiri and Sun [23],
Sarkar and Fitzgerald [24], Hu et al. [25], Zhang et al. [26],
and Zhang and Hogue [27] proposed the use of a mechani-
cal inerter together with a tuned mass damper to achieve the
effects of increasing the mass properties without changing
the physical mass and improving the responses of modern
offshore wind turbines.
Sun [28], Dai et al. [29], and Lin et al. [30] considered
soil-structure interaction to investigate the effectiveness of
tuned mass dampers in mitigating vibration of wind turbines.
The results showed that tuned mass dampers may lose their
efficiency to some extent.
It is known that modern offshore wind turbines are often
installed in tough marine environments and their natural
frequencies inevitably vary due to differences between
designed and constructed structure, operating conditions,
material destruction, damage, and soil-structure interac-
tion. While tuned mass dampers are generally optimized in
Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering
a narrow frequency band and are effective only in this band.
Therefore, any little change in the frequency of the con-
trolled structure may significantly reduce the effectiveness
of the tuned mass damper. On the other hand, wind, wave,
and earthquake, which are the sources of the wind turbine
excitation have a broadband frequency content. Nonlinear
energy sinks were invented to cover the weakness of the
aforementioned tuned mass dampers. They usually consist of
a small relative mass, a viscous damper and a nonlinear stiff-
ness element. Nonlinear stiffness basically enables a nonlin-
ear energy sink to operate efficiently over a large frequency
bandwidth with energy absorption from the primary system.
Previous studies show that the vibration energy of a
controlled structure can be irreversibly transferred to the
nonlinear energy sink [31]. As a result, in order to improve
the effectiveness of control system, various types have been
proposed by scientists, including bi-stable [32–34], magnet-
based [35], single-sided [36, 37], two-sided vibro-impact
[38], and asymmetric nonlinear energy sinks [39].
The mentioned NES have been employed to protect struc-
tures under impulsive [32, 37, 40, 41], earthquake [34, 35,
39], periodic loads [20], and explosive loads [36, 38]. Based
on these experiences, researchers have recently tested the use
of nonlinear energy sinks to reduce the vibrations of wind
turbines. Zhou and Zhou [42] reduced the vibration ampli-
tude of a 3D finite element model of a typical offshore wind
turbine by using two nonlinear energy sinks [43]. Daghighi
et al. [44] used a nonlinear energy sink to reduce a the vibra-
tions of a wind turbine single blade. Zuo et al. [42] studied
a new NES which was a combination of second and forth
polynomials. They predicted that NES can reduce the dis-
placement and acceleration of offshore wind turbines close
to tuned mass dampers, with a better robustness against the
detuning effect. Mattei and Côte [45] employed a nonlinear
energy sink with nonlinear damping and stiffness to mitigate
vibration of a toy model of offshore wind turbine. The result
demonstrated that it can strongly control turbine movement
in its entire load range.
The above literature shows that despite the reliable per-
formance of the nonlinear energy sink in vibration mitiga-
tion of various equipment in different industries, only few
research has been conducted on the effect of this nonlinear
absorber in controlling the vibrations of the wind turbine in
recent years, and consequently, there is a suitable space for
further research in this subject. For this purpose, the cur-
rent paper studies the performance of the bistable nonlinear
energy sink in controlling the out-of-plane displacement of
rotor-blades of the wind turbine and achieves significant
results. In this line, the rotor including hub, nacelle, etc. are
modeled as a concentrated mass, and three elastic beams in
the vertical plane, which is the same as the model presented
in [46, 47]. The proposed NES is similar to the highly effi-
cient NES presented by Al-Shudeifat [32] which is actually
(2024) 46:272 Page 3 of 15 272
an optimized bi-stable nonlinear energy sink. By deriving
the equations of motion of the rotor alone and those for the
rotor along with the NES, and solving them numerically, the
performance of the nonlinear absorber is studied. Finally, the
results are compared with an optimal linear absorber effect.
2 Modeling and derivation of equations
2.1 Wind turbine rotor
Modern multi-megawatt wind turbines are a very complex
mechanical–electrical systems consisting of several com-
ponents including structural elements such as tower, rotor
(containing nacelle and blades), gearbox, converters, trans-
formers, many sensors, actuators, different controllers, etc.
Hence, modeling these giant machines with huge and com-
plicated structures is very challenging. Providing accurate
models requires investigation of their structural dynamics
with high degrees of freedom, and a set of high-dimensional
equations. Since, the aim of this research is the study of
rotor dynamics and out-of-plane vibrations of the rotor, the
prepared mathematical model considers only the relevant
degrees of freedom.
Figure 1 shows the rotor of a wind turbine with a horizon-
tal axis including nacelle, hub, and three blades. The blades
are connected to the nacelle as Euler–Bernoulli beams with
length R, bending stiffness EI(x), and mass per unit length
m. The blades rotate at a constant speed Ω (rad/sec), so, the
angle of the jth blade 𝜓j (t) from the vertical axis at the time
t is as follows [48]:
2𝜋
𝜓j (t) = Ωt + (j − 1) , j = 1, 2, 3 (1)
3
The connection of the rotor and tower is considered through
a translational spring and a linear damper, and the nacelle
horizontal movement along the out-of-plane axis (x) is
considered with one degree of freedom. The variables
ũ j (r, t), j = 1, 2, 3 and u4 expresses the displacement of the
blades and the nacelle along the out-of-plane axis. In addi-
tion,k4 and c4 are the stiffness and the damping coefficients
of the tower and nacelle connection, respectively.
The rotor model has four degrees of freedom which pro-
vides a detailed description of the behavior of each elastic
blade and nacelle. By increasing the degrees of freedom
up to 7 by adding one NES to each blade, this model is
also employed to evaluate the performance of the absorbers
too. Equation (2) shows the relative coordinate vector of the
system, i.e., q̃ (t).
 272 Page 4 of 15 Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering (2024) 46:272

Fig. 1  Model of wind turbine z

Ω
Blade
ψ
x
Nacell

The first mode shape of the turbine blade in out-of-

plane direction, 𝜙j (x) is [49]:
6 5 4
𝜙j = −2.2555r + 4.7131r − 3.2452r
3 2
(4)
+ 1.7254r + 0.0622r
where r is normalized blade radius and is calculated by
dividing r by the blade radius r = 61.5
r
.
The Lagrange's equation of a dynamic system is a func-
tion of general coordinates and their time derivatives, and
uses the difference of the kinetic energy (T) and the poten-
tial energy (V) of the system:

L(̃q(t), q̃̇ (t)) = T(̃q(t), q̃̇ (t)) − V(̃q(t)) (5)

where q̃ (t) is the relative coordinate vector of the system as

presented in Eq. (2). Therefore, the equation of motion of the
Fig. 2  The nacelle and blades' coordinate system
system is derived using the following equation:
( ) ( )
d 𝜕L(̃q(t), q̃̇ (t)) 𝜕L(̃q(t), q̃̇ (t))
⎡ q1 ⎤ − = Qext,j (t) (6)
⎢q ⎥ dt 𝜕 q̇ j (t) 𝜕qj (t)
q̃ (t) = ⎢ 2 ⎥ (2)
⎢ q3 ⎥ where Qext,j (t) is the jth component of non-conservative
⎣ q4 ⎦
loads Qext (t) applied to the system. For computing the kinetic
where q4 is equal to u4 (t) and represents the displacement of energy of the system, the velocities of different components
the nacelle along the out-of-plane axis of the blades, and q1 are as:
,q2 , and q3 denote the flap-wise coordinates of the blades. vnac = q̇ 4 (t) (7)
The displacement of the jth blade is shown in Fig. 2. Con-
sidering a very small piece of the blade with a length of
dr at a distance r from the blade root, the coordinates are
vbj (r, t) = q̇ 4 (t) + 𝜙j (r)q̇ j (t), j = 1, 2, 3 (8)
expressed as: Therefore, the kinetic energy of the wind turbine rotor is
uj (r, t) = q4 (t) + 𝜙j (r) qj (t), i = 1, 2, 3 (3) equal to:
R
The displacement of the blades in the z direction is negligi- 1∑
3

2 j=1 ∫
1
ble and can be ignored. T = Mnac v2nac + mv2bj (r, t) dr (9)
2
0
Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering (2024) 46:272 Page 5 of 15 272

where Mnac is the mass of the nacelle, and m is the mass force produced by the material, the Rayleigh's dissipation
of blades per unit length. On the other hand, the potential function of the system is considered as follows:
energy of the blades is the sum of the strain energy due to l
bending, the centrifugal stiffening effect, and the potential ∑
3

2 ∫ 2 rj j
1 1
energy related to gravity: Db = c q̇ (t)2 drj
j=1
0 (15)
1∑
3
∑1
3
(10)
2
Vb = (kfp + kge,fp − kgr,fp cos 𝜓j (t))qj (t) = cj q̇ j (t)2
2 j=1 2
j=1

where while the structural damping of the nacelle is:

R
1
∫
kfp = EIfp (r)(𝜙��j (r))2 dr (11) Dnac = c q̇ (t)2 (16)
2 4 4
0
For simplicity in the following sections, the dependency of
R R
coordinates and loads as well as T, V, q, and q̇ on time would
not be considered.
∫ ∫
kge,fp = Ω 2
m(𝜉)𝜉d𝜉(𝜙�j (r))2 dr (12)
0 r 2.2 Nonlinear energy sink
R R The bi-stable nonlinear energy sink employed in this research

∫ ∫
kgr,fp = g 2
[m(𝜉) d𝜉](𝜙j �(r)) dr (13) is highly efficient NES introduced by Al-Shudeifat [32]. In
0 r
this type of absorber, two linear springs with the configuration
shown in Fig. 3 are used to create nonlinear stiffness. It is obvi-
In the equations, g is the acceleration of gravity and sym- ous from this figure that the NES are placed in a straight track
bols ′ and ″ on a function express its derivative relative to r. perpendicular to the blade centerline parallel to axis x in Fig. 1,
The nacelle potential energy is calculated by the following near the blade tip which in, the NES mass is attached to the
equation: blade through linear damping and two oblique linear spring. In
1 this arrangement, the unloaded springs make negative stiffness
Vnac = k q2 (t) (14) during the movement. The two stable NES positions where the
2 4 4
springs are neither compressed nor stretched are at x = 0 and
while k4 is the stiffness coefficient of the spring connecting x = 2xc, while xc > 0. That means that the mass is unstable
the nacelle and the wind turbine tower. at x = xc. Also, due to the symmetry of the springs, the total
The non-conservative forces acting on the rotor are the vertical force is always zero.
viscous damping force and the external wind load. The vis- It is obvious that the appropriate connecting point of the
cous damping force is due to the external damper connecting absorber is the point where the maximum amplitude of dis-
the rotor and the tower. To calculate the blades damping placement in the primary structure occurs [44]. Since, the
dimensions of blade cross section are reduced at the end of the

Fig. 3  Physical configuration of z

nonlinear energy sink a Blade
and NES b left equilibrium
position c NES spring in tension
Blade body
δ
k L L+Δ
cnes L0
blade mnes
Fnl
xc
xc
x
x

(a) (b) (c)

 272 Page 6 of 15 Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering (2024) 46:272

( )
blade, to the connection point of the nonlinear energy sink to L kL
the wind turbine blade is considered at a distance of δ = 0.8 × R k1 = 2k − 1 , k2 = 3
L0 L0
from the root of the blade. So, the absolute coordinate of the (24)
3kL 5kL
absorber is obtained: k3 = 5 , k4 = 7 , x = x − xc
4L0 8L0
unesi (r, t) = q4 (t) + 𝜙j (𝛿)qj (t)
(17) The potential energy of the nonlinear energy sinks on the
+ qj+4 (t), j = 1, 2, 3
blades (j = 5–7 on the first to third blades, respectively)
where q5 to q7 represent the relative displacement of non- due to the springs’ forces and gravity force is calculated as
linear energy sinks connected to blades 1 to 3, respectively. follows.
Equation (17) is obtained by adding the displacement of the
∑7
1
NES to the displacement of the installed point of the NES, Unesj = − k1j (qj (t) − qc )2
which is obtained by considering r = δ in Eq. (3). j=5
2
By taking the first-order derivative of the above expression 1
+ k3j (qj (t) − qc )4
with respect to time, the velocity is obtained, and the kinetic 2
energy is calculated consequently as: 1 (25)
+ k5j (qj (t) − qc )6
2
vnesj (r, t) = q̇ 4 (t) + 𝜙j (𝛿)q̇ j (t) 1
(18) + k7j (qj (t) − qc )8
+ q̇ j+4 (t), j = 1, 2, 3 2
+ mnes g𝛿 cos(𝜓j (t))

1∑
3
where δ is the distance between NES connection point and
Tnes = m v2 (19) the blade's root, and qc is equal to xc . The non-conservative
2 j=1 nesj nesj
load of the nonlinear absorber is the viscous damping force
The negative linear and nonlinear stiffness coefficients of and calculated as:
the NES system are determined by extracting the relation-
1∑
7
ship between the net horizontal force of the springs Fnl in Dnesj = c q̇ 2 (26)
the layout of Fig. 3c, when the mass moves to the right by 2 j=5 nesj j
x. Hence, for the deflection of each of the springs, the net
nonlinear force of the springs acting on the mass is calcu-
lated as follows: 2.3 Linear absorber
( 2 )
(L0 + (x − xc )2 )1∕2 − L For linear absorber, the classic linear absorber includ-
Fnl = −2k(x − xc )
(L02 + (x − xc )2 )1∕2 (20) ing mass ( mabs), linear damper, and linear stiffness is used
( ) instead of the NESs on three blades. For deriving equations
= −2k(x − xc ) 1 − (L02 + (x − xc )2 )−1∕2 of motion of the linear absorber, a procedure similar to what
was done before for NES is followed and the kinetic, poten-
L = (L02 + xc2 )1∕2 (21) tial, and non-conservative energies are calculated as follows:

when L is the length of springs when unloaded. Using the vabsj (r, t) = q̇ 4 (t) + 𝜙j (𝛿)q̇ j (t)
(27)
Taylor-expansion around x = xc for (L02 + (x − xc )2 )−1∕2 leads + q̇ j+4 (t), j = 1, 2, 3
to:

1∑
3
1 (x − xc )2 3(x − xc )4
(L02 + (x − xc )2 )−1∕2 = − + Tabs = m v2 (28)
L0 2L03 8L05 2 j=1 absj absj
(22)
5(x − xc )6
− + O((x − xc )8 )
16L07 ∑7
1
Uabsj = − kabsj qj (t)2
2 (29)
Substituting Eq. (22) into Eq. (20), we have: j=5

3 5 7
+ mabsj g𝛿 cos(𝜓j (t))
Fnl = k1 x − k2 x + k3 x − k4 x
9
(23)
+ Q(x ), L0 < L
Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering (2024) 46:272 Page 7 of 15 272

1∑
7
dr c
Dabs = c q̇ 2 (30)
2 j=5 absj j
N
The optimization of the linear absorbers will be presented in N-1
the following sections along with NES optimization.
The optimal stiffness and damping coefficients of the opti-
mal linear absorber connected attached to the blade are derived
according to Den Hartog's equations [50], and its mass is con-
i
sidered equal to the mass of the nonlinear energy sink:
( )2
𝜔abs 1 p0
= ⇒ kabs = mabs ,
p0 1+𝜇 1+𝜇
(31)
m
𝜇 = abs r R
mblade

( )1∕2
3𝜇
𝜉abs = ⇒ cabs = 2𝜉abs mabs 𝜔abs ,
8(1 + 𝜇)3
√ (32)
kabs
𝜔abs =
mabs
Fig. 4  Wind turbine blade divided into N elements

3 Aerodynamics load

To calculate the wind load applied on the blades, a three-

dimensional wind field is generated by the logarithmic wind
profile and IEC Kaimal spectral model provided by the Turb-
Sim software [51] which has ability to produce coherent tur-
bulence. Using MATLAB software, a complete wind field is
created to map the loads applied on all the elements of the
rotating blades.
A typical wind turbine blade divided into N elements
according to the blade momentum theory [52] is shown in
Fig. 4, where r is the radial distance of the jth blade element
from the root with the span length b and chord c. As shown Fig. 5  Blade cross section under wind load
in Fig. 5 the relative velocity Vrel observed by the blade cross-
section is obtained as a function of the tangential velocity, i.e.,
1
Ωr(1 + a� ), and axial velocity, namely V0 (1 − a) as follows a=
4F sin2 (𝜑) (35)
[48]: 𝜎Cn
+1
√
Vrel = [V0 (1 − a)]2 + [Ωr(1 + a� )]2 (33) 1
a� = 4F sin(𝜑) cos(𝜑)
−1 (36)
𝜎Ct
V0 (1 − a)
𝜑 = tan−1 (34)
Ωr(1 − a� ) The lift force Fl is defined as a component of the load per-
pendicular to the relative velocity and is parallel with drag
As shown in Fig. 5, 𝜑 is the angle of the relative velocity and force Fd . The lift and drag forces per unit length can be
the plane of rotation, V0 is wind speed, and a and a′ are the calculated by knowing the lift Cl and drag Cd coefficients as:
axial and tangential velocity induction factors, respectively,
which are calculated as follows: Fl =
1 2
𝜌V cC (37)
2 rel l
272 Page 8 of 15 Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering (2024) 46:272

1 2 The NREL 5 MW offshore wind turbine characteristics

Fd = 𝜌V cC (38)
2 rel d are listed in Table 1.
Also, the first mode shape of the blades based on Eq. (4)
Normal force FN and tangential force FT on the blade are:
is illustrated in Fig. 6.
FN = L cos(𝜑) + D sin(𝜑) (39)

FT = L sin(𝜑) + D cos(𝜑) (40)

6 Results
Considering the virtual work done, the external wind load
is calculated as follows: The wind speed is calculated according to the above
description using TurbSim software, and its values at the
R
∑
3
[ ] first blade tip element is illustrated in Fig. 7. The speed
∫
𝛿 Wwl = FNj (r, t) 𝜙j 𝛿qj + 𝛿q4 dr (41) diagram is drawn based on the average wind speed ( v0 ) of
j=1
0 12 m/s at the hub height level of 90 m, and the turbulence
intensity of 10%.
Based on the principles of work and energy, the wind load
The aerodynamic load is calculated using Eqs. (43) and
Qj is equal to:
(44), and considering the values listed in Table 1. The out-
𝜕(𝛿 Wwl ) of-plane loads applied to the first blade for 60 s is shown
Qj =
𝜕(𝛿 qj ) (42) in Fig. 8.
The rotor equation of motion, Eq. (45) is solved by
Wind load vector can be calculated by substituting Eq. (41) Runge–Kutta method. The displacements of the tip ele-
into (42): ment of the first blade in out-of-plane direction for 120 s
R
is illustrated in Fig. 9. As can be seen, the maximum and
minimum coordinates of the tip element in the fore-aft
∫
Qj = PNj (r, t)𝜙j dr, j = 1, 2, 3 (43) direction are 1.03 m and − 0.27 m, respectively, and there-
0 fore the maximum amplitude of displacement is equal to
1.3 m. It should be noted that due to the complete similar-
R ity of the blades, their dynamic behaviors are similar in
∑
3

∫
Q4 = PNj (r, t)dr (44) the long run.
j=1
0
Next, the rotor equations of motion in the presence of
NESs are solved separately, by the Runge–Kutta method.
The stiffness and damping coefficients of the nonlinear
absorber installed on the blades are considered according
4 Equations of motion to [44], and the NES’s mass is assumed to be equal to 2%
of the rotor mass, and its location is considered as the
After calculating the kinetic and potential energy and using farthest feasible distance from the blade root, i.e., r = 0.8R.
Euler–Lagrange's equation, the equations of motion of the Sensitivity analysis is performed on the stiff-
wind turbine rotor are obtained according to Eq. (45): ness and damping coefficients of the NES in the
r a n g e o f 1.6 × 10−4 < k < 1.6 × 108 ( N / m ) a n d
̃ q̃̈ + C̃ q̃̇ + K̃ q̃ = Q
M ̃ (45)
48 × 10−6 % < 𝜁 < 48 % and the NES optimal parameters
where M̃ , C̃ , and K̃ are the mass, the damping coefficient, are obtained. As it is shown in Figs. 10 and 11, the maxi-
and the stiffness coefficient matrices, and Q ̃ is the non- mum amount of vibration mitigation and the minimum
conservative loads matrix, whose details are provided in amplitude of displacement is 0.76 m and occur when
Appendix. stiffness and damping coefficient are 1.6 × 10−2.5 N/m and
48 × 10−0.5 %, respectively.
Therefore, according to Fig. 12, the tip element of the
5 Parameters of the system first wind turbine blade experiences 0.54 m (42%) reduc-
tion in amplitude of displacement from 1.3 to 0.76 m,
As mentioned above, in this study, the effects of the bista- when highly efficient nonlinear energy sink is utilized.
ble NESs on the dynamic behavior of the upper sections of Using Eqs. (31) and (32), and assuming ratio of
the NREL 5 MW offshore wind turbine has been studied. absorber mass to primary mass ( 𝜇 ) equals to 2%, and
knowing natural frequency of primary system p0, kabs and
𝜉abs can be calculated. Therefore, the stiffness coefficient
Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering (2024) 46:272 Page 9 of 15 272

Table 1  Wind turbine properties

[48] Gross properties Rating 5 MW
Rotor diameter 126 m
Hub height 90 m
Cut-in, rated, cut-out wind speed 3 m/s, 11.4 m/s, 25 m/s
Cut-in, rated rotor speed 6.9 rpm, 12.1 rpm
Blade Length 61.5 m
Mass 17,740 kg
Second moment of inertia 11,776 kg ­m2
1st edgewise mode natural frequency 1.08 Hz
1st flapwise mode natural frequency 0.68 Hz
1st mode damping ratio (edgewise and flapwise) 0.48%
Nacelle + hub Nacelle mass 240,000 kg
Hub mass 56,780 kg
Hub diameter 3m
Tower Height above ground 87.6 m
Overall (integrated) mass 267,650 kg
1st fore-aft mode natural frequency 0.324 Hz
1st side-side mode natural frequency 0.312 Hz
1st fore-aft(side-side) modal damping ratio 1%

of the linear absorber is obtained equal to 62.6 KN/m, and

its damping coefficient is equal to 3.6 KN s/m.
The equations of motion of wind turbine rotor in the
presence of optimal linear absorber are solved, using the
Runge–Kutta method. The maximum amplitude of dis-
placement of the 1st blade tip element is 0.86 m, as shown
in Fig. 13.
The cumulative displacement diagram of the first blade
tip element alone, in the presence of a nonlinear energy
sink, and an optimal linear absorber are shown in Fig. 14.
For a better understanding, the maximum recorded coor-
dinates of the nacelle during out-of-plane vibration of the
wind turbine rotor are presented in Table 2. These points
are located on the left and right side of the static bal-
ance point, and are the extremum values in the graphs of
Figs. 9, 12, 13 and 14. As can be seen, the highly efficient
nonlinear energy sink is very effective in reducing the
blade vibration amplitude compared to the optimal linear
absorber. Utilizing highly efficient nonlinear sink causes a
greater reduction in the amplitude of displacement of the
first blade tip element than optimal linear absorber.

7 Conclusions

In this research, the vibrations of the rotor blades of a

wind turbine and their vibrations mitigation due to the use
of a type of nonlinear energy sink called highly efficient
nonlinear energy sink were studied. For this purpose, the
equations of motion are extracted using the energy method
Fig. 6  Mode shape of the blades and the Lagrange's equation, and the wind load on the
 272 Page 10 of 15 Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering
Fig. 7  Wind velocity at the tip element of the 1st blade
Fig. 8  Applied out-of-plane load on the first blade
blades is derived using blade element momentum (BEM)
method based on the velocity diagram produced by Turb-
Sim software. The equations of motion are solved by the
Runge–Kutta method and MATLAB software. Then, an
NREL five-megawatt offshore wind turbine is chosen as
a case study to reduce its vibration by applying the men-
tioned methodology. The following can be stated as the
results of the research:
(a) The highly efficient nonlinear energy sink reduces the
maximum amplitude of the displacement of wind tur-
bine blades to a suitable extent, so that its value in the
turbine specified in this paper decreases up to 42% in
comparison to its value when the blades rotate alone.
(b) The optimal linear absorber decreases the maximum
amplitude of displacement of the 5 MW NREL wind
turbine blades up to 34% of the initial values. Consider-
(2024) 46:272
ing the above item, it is clear that the highly efficient
nonlinear energy sink works better than the optimal
linear absorber in mitigating the blades’ vibration.
(c) Sensitivity analysis confirmed that determining the
correct values of stiffness and damping coefficients of
the nonlinear energy sink has a significant effect on its
performance, as selecting inappropriate coefficients not
only does not reduce the vibration amplitude, but also
increases it.
With the purpose of improving the results, in future stud-
ies, the effect of bistable NES on the full model of the differ-
ent wind turbine geometries in various wind velocities will
be conducted as an extension of this work.
Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering (2024) 46:272 Page 11 of 15 272

Fig. 9  Out-of-plane displacement of the 1st blade tip element

Fig. 10  The amplitude of

displacement of the blade tip
element versus NES stiffness
and damping coefficients

Appendix where:
R
⎡ m1 0 0 m14 ⎤
̃ 1 = ⎢⎢ 0 ∫
m1 0 m14 ⎥ m1 = m(r)𝜑21 dr (A2)
M
m14 ⎥⎥ (A1)
⎢ 0 0 m1 0
⎣ m14 m14 m14 m4 ⎦
272 Page 12 of 15 Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering (2024) 46:272

Fig. 11  The amplitude of displacement of the blade tip element versus NES a stiffness coefficient b damping coefficient

Fig. 12  Out-of-plane displacement of the 1st blade tip element during the NES connection

R
⎡ kb.fp 0 0 0⎤

∫
m14 = m(r)𝜑1 dr (A3) ⎢ 0 kb.fp 0 0⎥
K̃ 1 = ⎢
kb.fp 0 ⎥⎥ (A5)
0 ⎢ 0 0
⎣ 0 0 0 k4 ⎦
m4 = 3m0 + Mnac (A4)
kb,fp = kfp + kge,fp + kgr,fp cos 𝜓j (A6)
m0 is a single blade mass.
Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering (2024) 46:272 Page 13 of 15 272

Fig. 13  Out-of-plane displacement of the 1st blade tip element during the linear absorber connection

Fig. 14  Out-of-plane displacement of the 1st blade tip element alone, with NES, and linear absorber

Table 2  First blade tip element position

⎡ cb.fp 0 0 0⎤
Blade Coordinate in the left side 1.03 m ⎢ 0 cb.fp 0 0⎥ (A7)
C̃ 1 = ⎢
Coordinate in the left side − 0.27 m
⎢ 0 0 cb.fp 0 ⎥⎥
Amplitude of displacement 1.3 m ⎣ 0 0 0 c4 ⎦
Blade with NES Coordinate in the left side 0.72 m
Coordinate in the left side − 0.04 m
Amplitude of displacement 0.76 m Funding The authors did not receive support from any organization
Blade with Linear absorber Coordinate in the left side 0.81 m for the submitted work.
Coordinate in the left side − 0.05 m
Amplitude of displacement 0.86 m
 272 Page 14 of 15 Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering
Declarations
Conflict of interest The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare
that are relevant to the content of this article.
References
1. Lee J, Zhao F (2022) GWEC global wind report 2022. Global
Wind Energy Council, Brussels
2. Gamesa S (2019) SG 14–222 DD offshore wind turbine. Siemens
Gamesa Renewable Energy, Spain
3. de Azevedo HD, de Arruda Filho PH, Araújo AM, Bouchonneau
N, Rohatgi JS, de Souza R (2017) Vibration monitoring, fault
detection, and bearings replacement of a real wind turbine. J Braz
Soc Mech Sci Eng
4. Stol K, Balas M, Bir G (2002) Floquet modal analysis of a tee-
tered-rotor wind turbine. J Sol Energy Eng
5. Park J-H, Park H-Y, Jeong S-Y, Lee S-I, Shin Y-H, Park J-P (2010)
Linear vibration analysis of rotating wind-turbine blade. Curr
Appl Phys
6. Adhikari S, Bhattacharya S (2011) Vibrations of wind-turbines
considering soil-structure interaction. Wind Struct
7. Inoue T, Ishida Y, Kiyohara T (2012) Nonlinear vibration analy-
sis of the wind turbine blade (occurrence of the superharmonic
resonance in the out of plane vibration of the elastic blade). J Vib
Acoust
8. Zhou X, Huang K, Li Z (2018) Geometrically nonlinear beam
analysis of composite wind turbine blades based on quadrature
element method. Int J Non-Linear Mech
9. Wang S, Huang Y, Li L, Liu C, Zhang D (2017) Dynamic analysis
of wind turbines including nacelle–tower–foundation interaction
for condition of incomplete structural parameters. Adv Mech Eng
10. Avila SM, de Brito JL (2021) Dynamic analysis of onshore wind
turbines including soil–structure interaction. J Braz Soc Mech Sci
Eng
11. Soong T, Spencer Jr B (2002) Supplemental energy dissipation:
state-of-the-art and state-of-the-practice. Eng Struct
12. Lackner M, Rotea M, Saheba R (2010) Active structural control of
offshore wind turbines. In: 48th AIAA aerospace sciences meeting
including the new horizons forum and aerospace exposition
13. Sarkar S, Chakraborty A (2019) Development of semi-active
vibration control strategy for horizontal axis wind turbine tower
using multiple magneto-rheological tuned liquid column dampers.
J Sound Vib
14. Van Wingerden J-W, Hulskamp A, Barlas T, Houtzager I, Ber-
see H, van Kuik G, Verhaegen M (2010) Two-degree-of-freedom
active vibration control of a prototyped “smart” rotor. IEEE Trans
Control Syst Technol
15. Zuo H, Bi K, Hao H (2019) Mitigation of tower and out-of-plane
blade vibrations of offshore monopile wind turbines by using mul-
tiple tuned mass dampers. Struct Infrastruct Eng
16. Stewart GM, Lackner MA (2014) The impact of passive tuned
mass dampers and wind–wave misalignment on offshore wind
turbine loads. Eng Struct
17. Hemmati A, Oterkus E, Barltrop N (2019) Fragility reduction of
offshore wind turbines using tuned liquid column dampers. Soil
Dyn Earthq Eng
18. Alkmim MH, Fabro AT, de Morais MV (2018) Optimization of
a tuned liquid column damper subject to an arbitrary stochastic
wind. J Braz Soc Mech Sci Eng
19. Chen J, Georgakis CT (2013) Tuned rolling-ball dampers for
vibration control in wind turbines. J Sound Vib
20. Aghayari J, Safarpour P, Rahi A, Bab S (2022) Modeling and
dynamic analysis of a full flexible shaft–disk–blades system
(2024) 46:272
with nonlinear energy sinks (NESs) using modified SAFE dia-
gram. J Braz Soc Mech Sci Eng
21. Zuo H, Bi K, Hao H (2017) Using multiple tuned mass damp-
ers to control offshore wind turbine vibrations under multiple
hazards. Eng Struct
22. Chen D, Huang S, Huang C, Liu R, Ouyang F (2021) Passive
control of jacket–type offshore wind turbine vibrations by single
and multiple tuned mass dampers. Mar Struct
23. Jahangiri V, Sun C (2022) A novel two dimensional nonlinear
tuned mass damper inerter and its application in vibration miti-
gation of wind turbine blade
24. Sarkar S, Fitzgerald B (2022) Fluid inerter for optimal vibration
control of floating offshore wind turbine towers. Eng Struct
25. Hu Y, Wang J, Chen MZ, Li Z, Sun Y (2018) Load mitigation
for a barge-type floating offshore wind turbine via inerter-based
passive structural control. Eng Struct
26. Zhang R, Zhao Z, Dai K (2019) Seismic response mitigation of
a wind turbine tower using a tuned parallel inerter mass system.
Eng Struct
27. Zhang Z, Høeg C (2021) Inerter-enhanced tuned mass damper
for vibration damping of floating offshore wind turbines. Ocean
Eng
28. Sun C (2018) Mitigation of offshore wind turbine responses under
wind and wave loading: considering soil effects and damage.
Struct Control Health Monit
29. Dai K, Huang H, Lu Y, Meng J, Mao Z, Camara A (2021) Effects
of soil–structure interaction on the design of tuned mass damper
to control the seismic response of wind turbine towers with gravity
base. Wind Energy
30. Lin G-L, Lu L-Y, Lei K-T, Liu K-Y, Ko Y-Y, Ju S-H (2021) Experi-
mental study on seismic vibration control of an offshore wind
turbine with TMD considering soil liquefaction effect. Mar Struct
31. Gendelman O, Manevitch L, Vakakis AF, M’closkey R (2001)
Energy pumping in nonlinear mechanical oscillators: part I—
dynamics of the underlying Hamiltonian systems. J Appl Mech
32. Al-Shudeifat MA (2014) Highly efficient nonlinear energy sink.
Nonlinear Dyn
33. Bergeot B, Berger S (2023) Fast-slow analysis of passive mitiga-
tion of self-sustained oscillations by means of a bistable nonlinear
energy sink
34. Chen Y, Qian Z, Chen K, Tan P, Tesfamariam S (2019) Seismic
performance of a nonlinear energy sink with negative stiffness and
sliding friction. Struct Control Health Monit
35. Chen Y-Y, Qian Z-C, Zhao W, Chang C-M (2020) A magnetic
Bi-stable nonlinear energy sink for structural seismic control. J
Sound Vib
36. Wierschem NE, Hubbard SA, Luo J, Fahnestock LA, Spencer BF,
McFarland DM, Quinn DD, Vakakis AF, Bergman LA (2017)
Response attenuation in a large-scale structure subjected to blast
excitation utilizing a system of essentially nonlinear vibration
absorbers. J Sound Vib
37. Al-Shudeifat MA, Wierschem N, Quinn DD, Vakakis AF, Berg-
man LA, Spencer Jr BF (2013) Numerical and experimental inves-
tigation of a highly effective single-sided vibro-impact non-linear
energy sink for shock mitigation. Int J Non-linear Mech
38. Nucera F, Iacono FL, McFarland DM, Bergman L, Vakakis A
(2008) Application of broadband nonlinear targeted energy trans-
fers for seismic mitigation of a shear frame: experimental results.
J Sound Vib
39. Wang J, Wang B, Liu Z, Zhang C, Li H (2020) Experimental and
numerical studies of a novel asymmetric nonlinear mass damper
for seismic response mitigation. Struct Control Health Monit
40. Wierschem NE, Luo J, Al-Shudeifat M, Hubbard S, Ott R, Fah-
nestock LA, Quinn DD, McFarland DM, Spencer Jr B, Vakakis
A (2014) Experimental testing and numerical simulation of a
Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering
six-story structure incorporating two-degree-of-freedom nonlin-
ear energy sink. J Struct Eng
41. Gendelman OV, Sapsis T, Vakakis AF, Bergman LA (2011)
Enhanced passive targeted energy transfer in strongly nonlinear
mechanical oscillators. J Sound Vib
42. Zuo H, Zhang J, Yuan GK, Zhu S (2022) Wind‐and sea wave‐
induced response mitigations of offshore wind turbines using track
nonlinear energy sinks. Struct Control Health Monit
43. Zuo H, Zhu S (2022) Development of novel track nonlinear energy
sinks for seismic performance improvement of offshore wind tur-
bine towers. Mech Syst Signal Process
44. Daghighi M, Rahmani Hanzaki A, Shahgholi M, Bab S (2022)
Out-of-plane vibration mitigation of wind turbine blade using
highly efficient nonlinear energy sink. Amirkabir J Mech Eng
45. Mattei P-O, Côte R (2022) Optimisation of a dynamic absorber
with nonlinear stiffness and damping for the vibration control of
a toy model for floating offshore wind turbine
46. Staino A, Basu B (2013) Dynamics and control of vibrations in
wind turbines with variable rotor speed. Eng Struct
47. Sun C, Jahangiri V (2018) Bi-directional vibration control of off-
shore wind turbines using a 3D pendulum tuned mass damper.
Mech Syst Signal Process
(2024) 46:272 Page 15 of 15 272
48. Staino A, Basu B, Nielsen SR (2012) Actuator control of edgewise
vibrations in wind turbine blades. J Sound Vib
49. Jonkman J, Butterfield S, Musial W, Scott G (2009) Definition of
a 5-MW reference wind turbine for offshore system development.
National Renewable Energy Lab.(NREL), Golden, CO (United
States)
50. Den Hartog JP (1985) Mechanical vibrations. Courier Corporation
51. Jonkman BJ, Buhl Jr ML (2006) TurbSim user's guide. National
Renewable Energy Lab.(NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
52. Wendler R, Calderón-Muñoz WR, LeBoeuf R (2016) Energy-
based iteration scheme of the double-multiple streamtube model
in vertical-axis wind turbines. Acta Mechanica
Publisher's Note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to
jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds
exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the
author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted
manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of
such publishing agreement and applicable law.