Analysis of vibration monitoring data of an onshore wind turbine under different operational conditions

Abstract A wind turbine structure works under the complicated environment and its operational state is complex. In this study, the operational state of a 1.5 MW wind turbine and the vibration response of the tower have been monitored for a long time. The vibration characteristic of the wind turbine under different operational conditions is discussed in detail, and it was observed that the rated rotation speed condition has the highest vibration level. The Campbell diagrams of wind turbine both in the FA direction and SS direction are drawn based on the natural frequencies results, which are identified by data-driven stochastic subspace identification method. It was observed from the Campbell diagrams that when the rotation speed is close to the grid-connected rotation speed, the blade-passing frequency 3f (0.43 Hz) is equal to the fundamental frequency of wind turbine which will easily lead to the resonance. This phenomenon is confirmed by the time history diagrams of the operational condition and vibration speed of a certain startup process. Lastly, the relationship between first-order, second-order modal parameters and operational conditions of the wind turbine are discussed in detail respectively. The mean value of first-order natural frequency is affected slightly by the different operational conditions while the value of second-order natural frequency increases significantly with the increase of rotation speed. The work in this paper can help us to better understand the response of the wind turbine under different operational conditions, which can also lay the foundation for the structure design, modal validation and damage diagnosis of wind turbine.