RELIABILITY OF MACHINE ELEMENTS IN WIND TURBINES

Worldwide electrical energy production generated by wind turbines grows at a rate of 30 percent. This doubles the total production every three years. At the same time the power of individual stations goes up by 20 percent annually. Whereas today the towers, rotors and drive trains have to handle 5 MW, in about six to eight years they might produce up to fifteen MW. As a consequence, enormous pressure is put on the wind turbine manufacturers, the component suppliers and the operators. And because prototype and field testing is limited by its expense, the design of new turbines demands thorough analysis and simulation. Looking at the critical components of a wind turbine this paper describes advanced design tools which help to anticipate failures, but also assists in optimizing reliability and service life. Development of the software tools has been supported by research activities in many universities