A Novel Multibody System Methodology to Analyze the Imbalance Faults on the Wind Turbine

Abstract

Due to the increased size and capacity of multi-MW horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT), the dynamic loads caused by the mass imbalance and aerodynamic imbalance on the blade become more significant, further it will lead to increase in maintenance cost and reduce the lifetime of the HAWT. This study describes a Multibody System (MBS) method for analyzing the model shape, normal working condition, and imbalance error effect on the specific components by using the ADAMS and MATLAB-Simulink. A four-rigid-body element consists of six degrees of freedom is introduced for the purpose of describing the dynamic behaviour of the wind turbine with universal joint on the each side and the cylindrical joint connected in the center. Spring force is calculated from the Timoshenko theory also considered for the elastic behaviour between each body. The MBS model is completed by ADAMS. A basic working condition and control algorithm is created by the Simulink. Through this novel model, vibration phenomenon of the core components caused by the blade-imbalance can be evaluated mathematically