A monitoring system for wind turbines subjected to combined seismic and turbulent aerodynamic loads

Research to date has mainly focused on structural analysis and design of wind turbines considering turbulent aerodynamic loading. The combined effects of wind and seismic loading have not been studied by many researchers. With the recent expansion of wind turbines into seismically active regions research is now needed into the implications of seismic loading coupled with turbulent aerodynamic loading. This paper proposes a monitoring procedure for onshore horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWTs) subjected to this combined loading regime. The paper examines the impact of seismic loading on the 5-MW baseline HAWT developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). A modified version of FAST, an open-source program developed by NREL, is used to perform the dynamic analysis.