Site-specific assessment of wind turbine design requires verification that the individual wind turbine components can survive the site-specific wind climate. The wind turbine design standard, IEC 61400-1 (third edition), describes how this should be done using a simplified, equivalent wind climate established from the on-site distribution functions of the horizontal mean wind speeds, the 90% quantile of turbulence along with average values of vertical wind shear and air density and the maximum flow inclination. This paper investigates the accuracy of fatigue loads estimated using this equivalent wind climate required by the current design standard by comparing damage equivalent fatigue loads estimated based on wind climate parameters for each 10 min time-series with fatigue loads estimated based on the equivalent wind climate parameters. Wind measurements from Boulder, CO, in the United States and Høvsøre in Denmark have been used to estimate the natural variation in the wind conditions between 10 min time periods. The structural wind turbine loads have been simulated using the aero-elastic model FAST. The results show that using a 90% quantile for the turbulence leads to an accurate assessment of the blade root flapwise bending moment and a conservative assessment of the tower bottom for-aft bending moment and low speed shaft torque. Currently, IEC 61400-1 (third edition) neglects the variation in wind shear by using the average value. This may lead to a nonconservative assessment of blade root flapwise fatigue loads, which are sensitive to wind shear. The results in this paper indicate that using a 75% quantile for the wind shear at each wind speed bin leads to an appropriate, but conservative, assessment of the fatigue loads. However, care should be taken when using this approach for components where low or negative wind shears can lead to large fatigue loads. This is the case for some drivetrain components where a lower quantile may be required.
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June 2016
Research-Article
Wind Climate Parameters for Wind Turbine Fatigue Load Assessment
Henrik Stensgaard Toft,
Henrik Stensgaard Toft
Department of Civil Engineering,
Aalborg University,
Sofiendalsvej 11,
Aalborg SV 9200, Denmark
e-mail: hst@civil.aau.dk
Aalborg University,
Sofiendalsvej 11,
Aalborg SV 9200, Denmark
e-mail: hst@civil.aau.dk
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Lasse Svenningsen,
Lasse Svenningsen
EMD International A/S,
Niels Jernes Vej 10,
Aalborg 9220, Denmark
Niels Jernes Vej 10,
Aalborg 9220, Denmark
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Wolfgang Moser,
Wolfgang Moser
Nordex Energy GmbH,
Langenhorner Chaussee 600,
Hamburg 22419, Germany
Langenhorner Chaussee 600,
Hamburg 22419, Germany
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John Dalsgaard Sørensen,
John Dalsgaard Sørensen
Department of Civil Engineering,
Aalborg University,
Sofiendalsvej 11,
Aalborg SV 9200, Denmark
Aalborg University,
Sofiendalsvej 11,
Aalborg SV 9200, Denmark
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Morten Lybech Thøgersen
Morten Lybech Thøgersen
EMD International A/S,
Niels Jernes Vej 10,
Aalborg 9220, Denmark
Niels Jernes Vej 10,
Aalborg 9220, Denmark
Search for other works by this author on:
Henrik Stensgaard Toft
Department of Civil Engineering,
Aalborg University,
Sofiendalsvej 11,
Aalborg SV 9200, Denmark
e-mail: hst@civil.aau.dk
Aalborg University,
Sofiendalsvej 11,
Aalborg SV 9200, Denmark
e-mail: hst@civil.aau.dk
Lasse Svenningsen
EMD International A/S,
Niels Jernes Vej 10,
Aalborg 9220, Denmark
Niels Jernes Vej 10,
Aalborg 9220, Denmark
Wolfgang Moser
Nordex Energy GmbH,
Langenhorner Chaussee 600,
Hamburg 22419, Germany
Langenhorner Chaussee 600,
Hamburg 22419, Germany
John Dalsgaard Sørensen
Department of Civil Engineering,
Aalborg University,
Sofiendalsvej 11,
Aalborg SV 9200, Denmark
Aalborg University,
Sofiendalsvej 11,
Aalborg SV 9200, Denmark
Morten Lybech Thøgersen
EMD International A/S,
Niels Jernes Vej 10,
Aalborg 9220, Denmark
Niels Jernes Vej 10,
Aalborg 9220, Denmark
1Corresponding author.
Contributed by the Solar Energy Division of ASME for publication in the JOURNAL OF SOLAR ENERGY ENGINEERING: INCLUDING WIND ENERGY AND BUILDING ENERGY CONSERVATION. Manuscript received August 2, 2015; final manuscript received March 14, 2016; published online April 5, 2016. Assoc. Editor: Yves Gagnon.
J. Sol. Energy Eng. Jun 2016, 138(3): 031010 (8 pages)
Published Online: April 5, 2016
Article history
Received:
August 2, 2015
Revised:
March 14, 2016
Citation
Stensgaard Toft, H., Svenningsen, L., Moser, W., Dalsgaard Sørensen, J., and Lybech Thøgersen, M. (April 5, 2016). "Wind Climate Parameters for Wind Turbine Fatigue Load Assessment." ASME. J. Sol. Energy Eng. June 2016; 138(3): 031010. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4033111
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