Seismic Vibration Control of Wind Turbine Towers with Bidirectional Tuned Bellow Liquid Column Damper

To address the vibration issues of wind turbine towers, this paper proposes a bidirectional tuned bellow liquid column damper (BTBLCD). The configuration of the proposed BTBLCD is first described in detail, and its energy dissipation mechanism is derived through theoretical analysis. A refined dynamic model of the wind turbine tower equipped with the BTBLCD is then developed. The vibration energy dissipation performance of the BTBLCD in multiple directions is evaluated through two-way fluid-structure coupling numerical simulations. Finally, a 1/10 scaled model of the wind turbine tower is constructed, and the energy dissipation performance of the BTBLCD is validated using a shaking table test. The results show that the vibration energy dissipation performance of the BTBLCD outperforms that of the bidirectional tuned liquid column damper (BTLCD) in multiple directions. The shaking table test and dynamic response analysis demonstrate a maximum reduction of 61.0% in acceleration and 47.9% in displacement response. Furthermore, the vibration control and energy dissipation performance of the BTBLCD are influenced by the direction and amplitude of vibrations. This study contributes to the development of more effective and versatile vibration mitigation strategies for wind turbine tower structures in various engineering scenarios.