Design and Dynamic Control of Wind Turbines

A special issue of Machines (ISSN 2075-1702). This special issue belongs to the section "Electrical Machines and Drives".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2024) | Viewed by 2874

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
School of Electronics Engineering, Kyungpook National University, 80 Daehakro, Bukgu, Daegu 41566, Korea
Interests: control; wind turbines/farms; condition monitoring; modeling; estimation; prediction; neural network

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Guest Editor
School of Mechanical Engineering, Pusan National University, 2, Busandaehak-ro 63beon-gil, Geumjeong-gu, Busan 46241, Republic of Korea
Interests: aerodynamic design of wind turbine blades; wind energy prediction and harvesting; drag reduction using active/passive flow control techniques; computational fluid dynamics (CFD); environmental fluids dynamics; modeling wind flow over bluff bodies; visualization and image processing techniques (PIV/PTV)

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Guest Editor
Department of Ocean System Engineering, Jeju National University, 102 Jejudaehak-ro, Jeju-si 63243, Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, Korea
Interests: dynamic analysis of floating offshore wind turbine; floating body dynamics; mooring analysis; computational fluid dynamics (CFD); wave energy converters

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Wind energy plays a critical role in meeting the global energy demand while maintaining an eco-friendly and clean approach. To make wind energy more economically viable, modern wind turbines are becoming bigger and taller, thereby increasing their maximum power rating. Improving the cost-effectiveness of such large turbines (e.g., capacity factor and reliability) and reducing their environmental impact (e.g., noise) are the key goals of the ongoing research.

The challenges impeding the achievement of these goals are significant, requiring outstanding research and innovation in various areas, including aerodynamics, controls and structures, to name a few. This Special Issue will consider any papers on research topics relating to the "design and dynamic control of wind turbines". Topics of interest for publication include, but are not limited to:

  • Wind energy prediction for wind farms;
  • Wind turbine aerodynamics and aeroelasticity;
  • Aerodynamic efficiency and the upscaling of wind turbines;
  • Design of low-noise-emission airfoils;
  • Noise control and environmental impact;
  • Control and modeling of fixed and floating wind turbines;
  • Wind farm control;
  • Anomaly detection and compensation;
  • Design and analysis of foundations and support structures;
  • Loadings on fixed and floating wind turbine structures;
  • Wave–structure interaction/soil–structure interaction;
  • Innovative tower design concepts.

Dr. Sung-ho Hur
Prof. Dr. HeeChang Lim
Dr. Yoon-Hyeok Bae
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • wind energy
  • energy prediction
  • blade and rotor
  • wind turbine upscaling
  • noise
  • control
  • modeling
  • floating wind
  • structure
  • tower

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

43 pages, 14102 KiB  
Article
On the Integrity of Large-Scale Direct-Drive Wind Turbine Electrical Generator Structures: An Integrated Design Methodology for Optimisation, Considering Thermal Loads and Novel Techniques
by Magnus Bichan, Pablo Jaen-Sola, Daniel Gonzalez-Delgado and Erkan Oterkus
Machines 2024, 12(4), 277; https://doi.org/10.3390/machines12040277 - 21 Apr 2024
Viewed by 1265
Abstract
With the rapid expansion of offshore wind capacity worldwide, minimising operation and maintenance requirements is pivotal. Regarded as a low-maintenance alternative to conventional drivetrain systems, direct-drive generators are increasingly commonplace for wind turbines in hard-to-service areas. To facilitate higher torque requirements consequent to [...] Read more.
With the rapid expansion of offshore wind capacity worldwide, minimising operation and maintenance requirements is pivotal. Regarded as a low-maintenance alternative to conventional drivetrain systems, direct-drive generators are increasingly commonplace for wind turbines in hard-to-service areas. To facilitate higher torque requirements consequent to low-speed operation, these machines are bulky, greatly increasing nacelle size and mass over their counterparts. This paper therefore details the structural optimisation of the International Energy Agency 15 MW Reference Wind Turbine rotor through iterative Parameter and Topology Optimisation and the inclusion of additional structural members, with consideration to its mechanical, modal, and thermal performances. With temperature found to have a significant impact on the structural integrity of multi-megawatt direct-drive machines, a Computational Fluid Dynamics analysis was carried out to map the temperature of the structure during operation and inform a consequent Finite Element Method analysis. This process, novel to this paper, found that topologically optimised structures outperform parametrically optimised structures thermally and that integrated heatsinks can be employed to further reduce deformation. Lastly, generative design techniques were used to further optimise the structure, reducing its mass, deformation, and maximum stress and expanding its operating envelope. This study reaches several key conclusions, demonstrating that significant mass reductions are achievable through the removal of cylinder wall geometry areas as well as through the implementation of structural supports and iterative parametric and topology optimisation techniques. Through the flexibility it grants, generative design was found to be a powerful tool, delivering further improvements to an already efficient, yet complex design. Heatsinks were found to lower generator structural temperatures, which may yield lower active cooling requirements whilst providing structural support. Lastly, the link between the increased mass and the increased financial and environmental impact of the rotor was confirmed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Design and Dynamic Control of Wind Turbines)
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20 pages, 4813 KiB  
Article
Establishing the Importance of Operating Temperature in the Structural Integrity of Large-Scale Direct-Drive Wind Turbine Generators
by Magnus Bichan, Andrew Jack and Pablo Jaen-Sola
Machines 2023, 11(8), 780; https://doi.org/10.3390/machines11080780 - 27 Jul 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 881
Abstract
Direct-drive generators are recognised for their low maintenance compared with conventional drivetrains, largely due to their fewer working parts. However, consequent to low-speed operation, these machines necessitate large diameters and are subject to rigorous stiffness requirements. Significant internal and external forces influence structural [...] Read more.
Direct-drive generators are recognised for their low maintenance compared with conventional drivetrains, largely due to their fewer working parts. However, consequent to low-speed operation, these machines necessitate large diameters and are subject to rigorous stiffness requirements. Significant internal and external forces influence structural integrity, so to design them efficiently, consideration of all operating parameters is imperative. Therefore, through Finite Element Analysis, this paper sets out to quantify the influence of each operating parameter on the integrity of a parametrically optimised rotor structure under established operating conditions and introduces operating temperature to the current models. An environmental impact analysis of the optimised rotor structure and cost analyses of both the optimised and unaltered structures are carried out simultaneous to the design process. We find the use of parameter optimisation alone to be insufficient for rotor structures of this scale due to high increased mass and costs of manufacture. A significant finding from this study is that the thermal effects on large-scale direct-drive generator structures may be vastly underestimated and have a much greater influence on structural integrity than first thought. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Design and Dynamic Control of Wind Turbines)
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