Electromechanical and Structural Loading Effects of Virtual Synchronous Generator Control in Doubly Fed Induction Generator Wind Turbines

Virtual synchronous generator (VSG) control changes electromagnetic torque in doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) wind turbines and can redistribute structural loading. This study couples Fatigue, Aerodynamics, Structures, and Turbulence (FAST) v8.16 with MATLAB/Simulink to compare vector control and VSG control with current-aligned protection. A six-unit electrical equivalent is coupled to one flexible WindPACT 1.5 MW turbine through consistent coordinate, speed, torque, and power-base mappings. Load-step responses illustrate transient electromechanical coupling, and three paired turbulent realizations at a nominal wind speed of 9 m/s quantify short-term fatigue loading. The 1 Hz damage-equivalent loads (DELs) are evaluated over 60–120 s using unbinned rainflow counting without mean-stress correction. Relative to vector control, VSG changes the mean DEL by −4.43% for tower fore–aft, −0.06% for tower side-to-side, +24.76% for drivetrain torque, +1.88% for blade flapwise, and −0.67% for blade edgewise loading. Numerical-resolution and initial-state checks show that the smaller differences require cautious interpretation. The results identify a trade-off between tower fore–aft and drivetrain loading for complete control implementations under the evaluated conditions.