An open-source framework for the uncertainty quantification of aeroelastic wind turbine simulation tools

Abstract

The uncertainty quantification of aeroelastic wind turbine simulations is an active research topic. This paper presents a dedicated, open-source framework for this purpose. The framework is built around the uncertainpy package, likewise available as open source. Uncertainty quantification is done with a non-intrusive, global and variance-based surrogate model, using PCE (i.e., polynomial chaos expansion). Two methods to handle the uncertain parameter distribution along the blades are presented. The framework is demonstrated on the basis of an aeroelastic stability analysis. A sensitivity analysis is performed on the influence of the flapwise, edgewise and torsional stiffness of the blades on the damping of the most critical mode for both a Bladed linearization and a Bladed time domain simulation. The sensitivities of both models are in excellent agreement and the PCE surrogate models are shown to be accurate approximations of the true models.