Wind Turbines
With wind turbines generating a growing fraction of the world’s energy, it is increasingly important to address the major engineering challenges associated with their design and operation to ensure the reliable delivery of clean, affordable energy.
As with any piece of rotating machinery, fatigue often causes early failure, requiring expensive repairs and unexpected down time. Wind turbines are no exception, and because of the massive size of these machines, the magnitude of the cyclic stresses exerted on the drive train is enormous. Variable wind speeds as a function of height off the ground, as well as gyroscopic forces stemming from yaw adjustments to keep the turbine facing wind are just some of the contributing factors towards reducing operating life.
Along with the necessary expertise, MSI has the advanced computational tools and the field testing experience required to solve these difficult engineering problems. MSI’s skilled staff can provide:
- CFD on simulated wind velocity fields to predict aerodynamic forces on turbine blades
- Modal analysis to calculate blade and structural natural frequencies,
- Rotordynamic and structural analysis of turbine, gearbox, and generator,
- Next generation predictive maintenance systems to uncover imbalance, misalignment, bearing, gear box, and structural issues before an unexpected failure puts a turbine out of commission,
- A well-proven method that combines advanced vibration testing techniques with computational analysis to resolve problems without employing expensive and time consuming “trial and error” problem solving approaches, and
- A pre-construction audit of the system on behalf of the equipment supplier(s), architect/engineering firm, or end-user to help ensure a trouble free start-up.
Have a novel concept for a new wind turbine design? MSI can perform a design analysis and optimization to maximize wind turbine efficiency and energy output before you invest in prototyping and testing.
Have a problem or want to reduce the risk of encountering a problem? MSI provides solutions.