In this work, the feasibility to perform substructuring technique with experimental data is demonstrated. This investigation examines two structures with different additional mass‑loads, i.e. transmission simulators (TSs). The two structures are a single blade and the hub together with two blades from an Ampair 600 wind turbine. Simulation data from finite element models of the TSs are numerically decoupled from each of the two structures. The resulting two structures are coupled to each other. The calculations are made exclusively in the frequency domain. A comparison between the predicted behavior from this assembled structure and measurements on the full hub with all three blades is carried out. The result is discouraging for the implemented method. It shows major problems, even though the measurements were performed in a laboratory environment.

Dynamic Substructuring is a powerful tool for simplification of the analysis of complex structures and it has been well established along the years in analytical calculations by means of the Craig-Bampton technique. Recently, a new branch of substructuring, the Experimental Dynamic Substrucuring, appeared as a promising field of research for the engineering community. This area presents several intrinsic difficulties, evincing a need to develop the traditional substructuring methods towards obtaining better results using the experimental approach. In this scenery, the Transmission Simulator technique emerges as an instrument for potential improvement of the achieved results. This work represents a study on the use of the Transmission Simulator technique in the analysis of an Ampair A600 wind turbine blade subjected to loads at the interface to the hub, and it is a part of the benchmarking studies of SEM (Society of Experimental Mechanics). The work consisted of collecting experimental data via vibration tests of a single blade connected to different sizes of transmission simulators. After that, a mathematical representation of the blade was obtained via subtraction of the effect of the transmission simulators via substructuring technique. The computed model was subsequently coupled to a model of the remainder of the wind turbine (the hub plus two blades), and the results were compared to data acquired in tests of the whole assembly. The final findings did not reflect the theory prospects and further investigation is necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of the used methodology.