Semiactive vibration control of offshore wind turbine towers with tuned liquid column dampers using H∞ output feedback control

This short paper addresses the problem of vibration in wind turbine towers. These structures are subject to winds and waves causing undesirable vibrations that affect the structure integrity and system performance. In order to mitigate the vibrations of the tower, a controllable tuned liquid column damper is placed on its top. We propose the use of H_∞ control techniques to formulate a control law. Furthermore, the controller uses output feedback to avoid the dependence on the knowledge of the states of the system. Simulation results illustrate the design procedure proposed in this paper.