Active vibration suppression of elastic blade structure: Using a novel magnetorheological layer patch

Abstract

This research study proposes a new active control structure to suppress vibrations of a small-scale wind turbine blade with attached magnetorheological fluid patch actuated by an electromagnet. The blade structure is manufactured by an aluminum extrusion machine considering the airfoil data of SH3055 which is designed for use on a small wind turbine. An interaction model between the magnetorheological patch and the electromagnetic actuator is derived and a force characterization is realized. A norm-based multiobjective H-2/H-infinity controller is designed using the state-space model of the elastic blade element. The H-2/H-infinity controller is experimentally implemented under the steady-state aerodynamic load conditions. The results of experiments show that the magnetorheological layer patch is effective for suppressing vibrations of the blade structure and robust against parametric uncertainty.