Abstract
Over the last decades, the use of wind power as a source of renewable power has increased, while the Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCoE) of wind power has fallen. In order to further drive down the LCoE, there is an increasing interest to monitor key turbine quantities in order to improve maintenance procedures and decrease downtime. In this paper, we focus on the indirect detection of one such key quantity, the torque load on the gearbox. In order to avoid expensive direct torque sensors, we study the potential of strain gauges installed on the gearbox housing as virtual torque sensors. Our results verify that the strain response is repeatable, torque-driven and predictable; which are the most important conditions for using the sensors in virtual load sensing. Next, we compare the measured strain response to simulated strain results obtained from a physics-based model. The model consists of a static FE model of the gearbox housing and a torsional model of the shafts and gears in the drivetrain. An optimisation approach selects the FE model node where the simulated strain best matches the measured strain. We conclude that the studied strain gauges are promising for model-based virtual sensing of the torque on the gearbox.
Zusammenfassung
Im Lauf der letzten Jahrzehnte hat die Nutzung der Windkraft als Quelle erneuerbarer Energie zugenommen, während die Stromgestehungskosten („Levelized Cost of Electricity”, LCoE) der Windkraft gesunken sind. Um die LCoE weiter zu senken, besteht ein zunehmendes Interesse daran, wichtige Schlüsselgrößen der Windenergieanlagen zu überwachen, um die Wartungsverfahren zu verbessern und Ausfallzeiten zu verkürzen. In diesem Beitrag konzentrieren wir uns auf die indirekte Erfassung einer solchen Schlüsselgröße, der Drehmomentbelastung des Getriebes. Um teure direkt-messende Drehmomentsensoren zu vermeiden, untersuchen wir das Potenzial von Dehnungsmessstreifen (DMS), die auf dem Getriebegehäuse als virtuelle Drehmomentsensoren installiert sind. Unsere Ergebnisse bestätigen, dass das Dehnungssignal wiederholbar, drehmomentgesteuert und vorhersagbar ist; dies sind die wichtigsten Voraussetzungen für den Einsatz der DMS als virtuelle Drehmomentsensoren. Weiterhin vergleichen wir das gemessene Dehnungssignal mit simulierten Dehnungssignalen, die von einem physikalischen Modell stammen. Das Modell besteht aus einem statischen FE-Modell des Getriebegehäuses und einem Torsionsmodell der Wellen und Zahnräder im Antriebsstrang der Windenergieanlage. Ein Optimierungsansatz wählt denjenigen Knoten des FE-Modells aus, bei dem das simulierte Dehnungssignal am besten mit dem gemessenen übereinstimmt. Wir schließen daraus, dass die untersuchten DMS vielversprechend für die modellbasierte virtuelle Erfassung des Drehmoments am Getriebe sind.
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Acknowledgements
This research is supported by the Flanders Innovation & Entrepreneurship Agency within the V6LoadS project in cooperation with the Center for Wind Power Drives and ZF Wind Power. The Center for Wind Power Drives is acknowledged for providing the measurement data considered in this paper, in the context of the joint V6LoadS project. Furthermore, the Research Fund KU Leuven is gratefully acknowledged for its support.
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Bosmans, J., Kirchner, M., Croes, J. et al. Validation of a wind turbine gearbox strain simulation model in service to virtual sensing. Forsch Ingenieurwes 87, 107–117 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10010-023-00635-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10010-023-00635-0