Wind Turbine Topologies

Rotor Speed: Constant or Variable

• Most rotors on grid-connected wind turbines have operated at a
nearly constant rotational speed, determined by the electrical
generator and the gearbox. In many turbines today, however, the
rotor speed is allowed to vary. Variable-speed rotors can be operated
at the optimum tip speed ratio to maximize power conversion in low
wind and at lower tip speed ratios in high winds to reduce loads in
the drive train. On the other hand, variable-speed rotors may require
more complicated and expensive power conversion equipment in the
drive train or electrical components of the wind turbine.
Design Tip Speed Ratio and Solidity
• The design tip speed ratio of a rotor is that tip speed ratio where the
power coefficient is a maximum. Selection of this value will have a
major impact on the design of the entire turbine. First of all, there is a
direct relation between the design tip speed ratio and the rotor’s
solidity (the area of the blades relative to the swept area of the
rotor).
• A high tip speed ratio rotor will have less blade area than the rotor of
a slower machine of the same diameter. For a constant number of
blades, the chord and thickness will decrease as the solidity
decreases. Owing to structural limitations, there is a lower limit to
how thin the blades may be. Thus, as the solidity decreases, the
number of blades usually decreases as well.
Tower Structure
• The tower of a wind turbine serves to elevate the rotor nacelle
assembly up into the air. For a horizontal axis machine the tower must
be at least high enough to keep the blade tips from touching the
ground as they rotate. In practice, towers are usually much higher
than that. Winds are nearly always much stronger as elevation above
ground increases, and they are less turbulent.
• Tower supports the rotor and nacelle of a wind turbine at the desired
height. The major types of towers used in modern turbines are lattice
tower, tubular steel tower and guyed tower.
• The lattice towers are fabricated with steel bars joined together
to form the structure as shown in the figure. They are similar to
the transmission towers of electric utilities.
• Lattice towers consume only half of the material that is required
for a similar tubular tower. This makes them light and thus
cheaper.
• Legs of these towers are spread widely as shown in the figure. As
the load is distributed over a wider area, these towers require
comparatively lighter foundation, which will again contribute to
the cost reduction.
- Lattice towers have several demerits.
- The major problem is the poor aesthetics as they may be visually
unacceptable to some viewers.
- Similarly, avian activities are more intense around the lattice
towers as the birds can conveniently perch on its horizontal bars.
This may increase the rate of avian mortality
- Lattice towers are not maintenance friendly.
• Due to these limitations, most of the recent
installations are provided with tubular steel
towers. These towers are fabricated by joining
tubular sections of 10 to 20 m length. The
complete tower can be assembled at the site
within 2 or 3 days. The tubular tower, with its
circular cross-section, can offer optimum
bending resistance in all directions.
• These towers are aesthetically acceptable
and pose less danger to the avian population.
• For small systems, towers with guyed
steel poles are being used. By
partially supporting the turbine on
guy wires, weight and thus the cost
of the tower can be considerably
reduced. Usually, four cables equally
spaced and inclined at 45o, support
the tower. As accesses to these
towers are difficult, they are not
popular with large scale installations.
However, guyed towers are in use
even with MW sized installations.
Rigidity: Flexible or Stiff
• Turbines with lower design tip speed ratios and higher solidities tend
to be relatively stiff. Lighter, faster turbines are more flexible. Larger
turbines are also more flexible than smaller turbines of a similar
design. Flexibility may have some advantages in relieving stresses, but
blade motions may also be more unpredictable.
Hub: Rigid, Teetering, Hinged Blades,
Gimballed
• rigid rotors: This means that the blades cannot move in the flapwise
and edgewise directions. The term ‘rigid rotor’ does include those
with variable-pitch blades, however.
• Gimballed : It uses a rigid hub, but the entire rotor nacelle assembly is
mounted on horizontal bearings so that the machine can tilt up or
down from horizontal. This motion can help to relieve imbalances in
aerodynamic forces.
• Teetering: That means that a portion of the hub is mounted on
bearings and can teeter back and forth, in and out of the plane of
rotation. The blades in turn are rigidly connected to the teetering
portion of the hub, so during teetering one blade moves in the
upwind direction, while the other moves downwind, usually in the
rotors of two-bladed turbines
• The hinges hub , allow the blades to move into and out of the plane
of rotation independently of each other. Since the blade weights do
not balance each other, however, other requirements must be made
to keep them in the proper position when the turbine is not running,
or is being stopped or started.
Power Curve Prediction
• Prediction of a wind turbine’s power curve is an important step in the
design process. It involves consideration of the rotor, gearbox,
generator, and control system. the method used in predicting the
power curve for a fixed-speed, fixed-pitch wind turbine is to match
the power output from the rotor as a function of wind speed and
rotational speed to the power produced by the generator, also as a
function of rotational speed.
• Where:
 Pgenerator is the generator power.
 g is the gearbox ratio.
 Prated is the rated generator power,
 nsync is the synchronous speed of the generator, and nrated is the speed
of the generator at rated power.
Climatic Factors Affecting Design

• For example, turbines for use in hot climates may need provisions for
extra cooling, whereas turbines for cold climates may require heaters,
special lubricants, or even different structural materials. Turbines
intended for use in marine climates need protection from salt, and
should be built of corrosion resistant materials wherever possible.
• turbines designed for more energetic or turbulent sites need to be
stronger than those in more conventional sites
Environmental Factors Affecting Design
• Four of the most commonly noted environmental impacts of wind
turbines are:
• Noise
• visual appearance
• effects on birds
• electromagnetic interference.
Site-specific Factors Affecting Design
• Difficulty in transport could also limit the size or weight of any one
component.
• Limited availability of expertise and equipment for installation and
operation would be of particular importance for machines intended
to operate singly or in small groups.
Wind Turbine Standards, Technical
Specifications, and Certification
Scaling Relations
loads
 The area moment of inertia for a shaft is:

The maximum deflection of a beam with a load at the end is

solid shaft the polar moment of inertia, J,

The area moment of inertia, I, for an annular ring is