Simulation of sail wind power station with pneumatic spring integration

Abstract

This study investigates the dynamic behavior of a sail wind power station (SWPS) equipped with a pneumatic spring for passive damping. Building upon a previously validated six-degree-of-freedom parallel manipulator design, a detailed simulation model was established in MATLAB Simulink/Simscape to assess system performance under variable wind loads. The model incorporates the pneumatic spring in various configurations (parallel with the main spring, in series, and in a full-system parallel arrangement) to evaluate its effect on suppressing oscillations and on energy conversion efficiency. The results indicate that integrating the pneumatic spring in parallel significantly decreases the oscillation amplitude and the time required for oscillations to settle, while simultaneously stabilizing the power output. In contrast, placing the pneumatic spring in series has a negligible effect, whereas the full-system parallel configuration introduces impulse-like transient behavior. These findings confirm that a pneumatic spring can serve as a viable passive alternative to active damping systems in SWPS designs. Such an approach has the potential to enhance system reliability while simplifying control requirements for wind energy harvesting in turbulent conditions.