Vibration prevention for your wind turbine

There are of course many considerations when setting up your wind turbine at home or in your business. This could include the positioning of your turbine, the mounting height of your turbine, how many obstructions there are to the wind flow and many more! One of the most important considerations that TESUP has not mentioned much in the past is the importance of reducing the vibration of your turbine to reduce the potential for damage within your wind turbine system and keep your turbine running well for many years to come. There are many reasons why a wind turbine might vibrate and even more ways in which to stop this vibration. We will cover a few of these in today’s blog.

What about turbulence?

So why is wind turbine vibration a major issue, how does it form and why can it cause damage to your turbine? There are a few main sources of vibration in the turbines. A particularly pronounced source of vibration for bladed horizontal axis turbines (think similar to the Magnum 5) is the interaction of wind with the turbine blades. As the wind passes over the blades it is imparted with a sideways velocity and begins to spin, forming eddy currents behind the blade. This phenomenon is better known as turbulence.

As the eddy currents form, changes in the pressure of the air around the turbine blades start to develop. The pressure drops in the centre of the eddy current causing the blade to be pulled backwards slightly towards the centre of the eddy current. The eddy current then disperses, removing the pressure that was just present, allowing the blade to spring back to its original position. As the blades themselves are made from strong materials the blade bounces back (similar to a ruler held over the table and pushed down). This springing back causes small vibrations in the blade which travel throughout the turbine.

A type of bladeless turbine that converts these eddy vibrations into useful movement. (https://www.inceptivemind.com/vortex-bladeless-wind-turbines-generate-electricity-vibration/18413/)

Balancing....

These vibrations generally do not c