Modal testing the EOLE

Modal testing an immense and flexible wind turbine poses a number of problems. It requires innovative excitation techniques since the modal frequencies of this type of structure are quite low. Also, substantial energy must be input to the structure to obtain reasonable levels of response. In this paper, the results of the modal test of the 110 m tall EOLE wind turbine are presented which had a number of modal frequencies below 1.0 Hz. Step-relaxation and wind were used to excite the structure. 5 refs., 14 figs., 2 tabs.