Gear fatigue damage for a 500 kW wind turbine exposed to increasing turbulence using a flexible multibody model

Abstract

This paper investigates gear tooth fatigue damage in a 500 kW wind turbine using FLEX5 and own multibody code. FLEX5 provides the physical wind eld, rotor and generator torque and the multibody code is used for obtaining gear tooth reaction forces in the planetary gearbox. Dierent turbulence levels are considered and the accumulated fatigue damage levels are compared. An example where the turbulence/fatigue sensitivity could be important, is in the middle of a big wind farm. Interior wind turbines in large wind farms will always operate in the wake of other wind turbines, causing increased turbulence and therefore increased fatigue damage levels. This article contributes to a better understanding of gear fatigue damage when turbulence is increased (e.g. in the center of large wind farms or at places where turbulence is pronounced).