Determining Mechanical Loads for Wind Turbines

Determining the mechanical loads a wind turbine experiences is a complex process that requires more than just a model of the mechanical system. To accurately predict maximum loads, deflections, and oscillations, the entire system must be modeled in one environment. Increasing the fidelity of the model by incorporating flexible bodies is important when examining the effects of vibrations on the system. Engineers must also have the ability to model custom components in order to innovate and to control the level of fidelity of the model.

The model of a complete wind turbine (including mechanical, electrical and hydraulic systems) will be used to show:

• How to build 3-D mechanical system models in the Simulink environment using multibody methods, and directly integrate them with models of hydraulic and electrical systems
• Two methods of incorporate flexible bodies into your model
• How to model custom physical components using the Simscape language
• Two methods for modeling the aerodynamic forces on the wind turbine, including the effects of induced velocity
• How to accelerate load testing by producing a standalone executable from the model and use it to run load tests on separate machines

These points will be illustrated with demonstrations using the model and the simulation software. Experience with MATLAB and Simulink is helpful, but not required to learn from this webinar.

You can download the model used in this webinar from MATLAB Central.

Note: Simulink Verification and Validation transitioned to Simulink Check, Simulink Coverage, and Requirements Toolbox in R2017b.