Performance Improvement Mechanism and Vibration Dissipation of Ungrounded Pendulum Tuned Mass Damper Inerter for Wind Turbine Towers

By means of the simpler configuration and frequency-tuning pattern, the pendulum-tuned mass damper (PTMD) installed inside the tower has been broadly developed and improved, aiming to enhance its damping effect and reduce the physical mass together. In this work, the inerter element is integrated into the PTMD to develop a novel dashpot for wind-induced vibration control of wind turbine towers, which is the so-called pendulum-tuned mass damper inerter (PTMDI) in this paper. Based on fixed-point theory, the analytical optimum design parameters of PTMDI are obtained to achieve the best system tuning. The influence of inerter location on the PTMDI control effect is explored, and a closed-form formula for determining the effectiveness of the inerter is proposed in terms of the expression of the dynamic magnification factor. Based on the investigation of a 5[Formula: see text]MW wind turbine, the proposed formulations and criteria are validated. Selecting the appropriate location and equivalent mass of the inerter can reduce the weight of the tuned mass of conventional PTMD by over 60%.