The aeroelastic stability of a three-bladed wind turbine is considered with respect to classical flutter. Previous studies have shown that the risk of stall-induced vibrations of turbine blades is related to the dynamics of the complete turbine, for example does the aerodynamic damping of a rotor whirling mode depend highly on the tower stiffness. The results of this paper indicate that the turbine dynamics also affect the risk of flutter. The study is based on an eigenvalue analysis of a linear aeroelastic turbine model. In an example of a MW sized turbine, the critical frequency of the first torsional blade mode is determined for which flutter can occur under normal operation conditions. It is shown that this critical torsional frequency is higher when the blades are interacting through the hub with the remaining turbine, than when all blades are rigidly clamped at the root. Thus, the dynamics of the turbine has increased the risk of flutter.

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