Stochastic gust model for design calculations of wind turbines

A new probabilistic method has been developed in order to determine the long-term distribution of the extreme response of wind turbines. The probabilistic method relies on the quick determination of the response to a single gust, with a given amplitude, by means of the so-called constrained simulation. A constrained simulation corresponds to the addition, in a special manner, of turbulence and a deterministic part (which resembles the autocorrelation function of turbulence). The stochastic gusts produced in this way has been denoted NewGust and are, in a statistical sense, not distinguishable from gusts selected from a (very long) stochastic time series, with the same amplitude. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.