Approximate Floquet Analysis of Parametrically Excited Multi-Degree-of-Freedom Systems with Application to Wind Turbines

General responses of multi-degrees-of-freedom (MDOF) systems with parametric stiffness are studied. A Floquet-type solution, which is a product between an exponential part and a periodic part, is assumed, and applying harmonic balance, an eigenvalue problem is found. Solving the eigenvalue problem, frequency content of the solution and response to arbitrary initial conditions are determined. Using the eigenvalues and the eigenvectors, the system response is written in terms of "Floquet modes," which are nonsynchronous, contrary to linear modes. Studying the eigenvalues (i.e., characteristic exponents), stability of the solution is investigated. The approach is applied to MDOF systems, including an example of a three-blade wind turbine, where the equations of motion have parametric stiffness terms due to gravity. The analytical solutions are also compared to numerical simulations for verification.