Vibration data acquisition and analysis for a small residential wind turbine

This paper describes an undergraduate student project where the vibration of a small residential wind turbine was investigated. The project was initiated due to the perception that, in cases, vibration from the turbine is excessive, transmitting structure-borne noise and vibration to the residence and adversely affecting marketability of the turbines. In the project, the wind turbine was driven by the output of a wind tunnel for a range of typical operating wind speeds. A three channel analyzer was used to acquire vibration data at various points and in various directions. Vibration data was acquired from the housing of the turbine and generator along with the supporting structure. From the vibration data, waterfall plots were created, revealing natural frequencies and forced frequency responses that are a function of turbine speed. The project answered some questions but left others unanswered. This paper describes the student work to acquire vibration data and the work to verify the results through hand calculations. This paper also outlines future work necessary to understand vibration associated with small residential wind turbines.