Adaptive Control of Flutter Suppression of Wind Turbine Blade Using Microtabs

The control of aeroelastic response of a wind turbine blade is examined through theoretical and experimental studies. Motivated by the conventional trailing-edge flap control of flutter suppression, small-sized, low-cost, power-efficient microtabs are utilized as active flow control device, which is capable of affecting the flow over the blade to generate sufficient control force. The open-loop test of proposed model is presented by pole-zero analysis for flutter study and controllability detection. The designed Adaptive Controller responses well to the dynamics of the system via microtabs. The robustness and effectiveness of the controller are shown by good simulation performance within a wide range of aerodynamic loads in closed-loop experiments. The stability of the controller is proved theoretically by the given Adaptive Stability Theorem, which is also demonstrated by specified cases in details.