Wind turbines operating in cold climate are exposed to periods of icing which lowers the plantprofitability by affecting the annual production. The loss of production has two components:The first (and most important) component is reduced power during operation due to disturbedaerodynamic properties of the blades. The second component is increased standstill. During this thesis project, methods to estimate production losses of a wind farm due to icinghave been developed, as well as a software tool to facilitate the use of these methods and thepresentation of the results. A method based on common metrological data and availableproduction data was desired, as modelling ice-related losses is expensive and may be inaccurate. The methods developed are based on using measured data for each turbine, such as activepower, temperature, wind direction and wind speed, and through this data describe theindividual turbine’s performance during different conditions. Production losses were thenestimated by comparing actual and expected power output (for the given wind speed). Thethesis then expanded on this basic concept by using reanalysis and mesoscale modelled data,which offers greater variety in the way estimating the losses may be performed, as well as theoption to derive losses for periods not covered by the production data. It was also important to develop a flexible and portable method that could incorporate newseasons of data or estimate losses for different wind farms with a completely differentconfiguration of turbines. The methods are developed using data from a wind farm in northern Sweden, consisting of 40Vestas V90 turbines and constructed a few years ago. It was found that eastern position in the wind farm and turbine altitude correlates with higherice-related losses, and that easterly winds relate to higher such losses than westerly winds. Thelosses during operation were estimated to 6.4 % of annual possible production and stops due toicing to 2.1 % of the total time. The losses figures are comparable to an earlier study performedin 2011 based on the same wind farm. The possibility of anti- or deicing systems for the wind farm and the profitability of such aninvestment should be further investigated as the wind farm is expected to continue operation fortwenty years or more.

Management system for enhancing transfer of knowledge in wind power industry has not received sufficient research attention in recent times. In some cases, the wind power plant owner does not control the management system for operation and maintenance activities. Most of these wind power plants are under contract and rely upon the turbine vendor to perform most of the maintenance works and subsequently share their experience at the initial stage of operation. This research investigates the management system for the operations and maintenance activities of the offshore wind plant in Lillgrund. The research also explores the type of learning method that was adopted by the wind turbine vendor (Siemens) to transfer the operation and maintenance knowledge to the operator and owner (Vattenfall) within the speculated period. It was realized that in the next one year, the Vattenfall would be in full control of the operations and maintenance activities of the offshore wind power plant in Lillgrund. The co-management arrangement will give Siemens a good reputation and gainful experience in the wind power industry. The arrangement is achievable due to Siemens strategy to strive for constructive and long-standing relationships with their customer, based on trust, respect, and honesty. Vattenfall on the other hand, is aiming to be the partner of choice for their suppliers at the same time as best serving their internal customers. The provision for the training during the co-management period enables Siemens to strengthen their relationship with Vattenfall in this industry. In addition, Siemens also maintain close relationship with their customers and develop a large part of their portfolio, frequently on site. Vattenfall improves profitability and value creation, as a fundamental prerequisite for continued growth. The management systems of Vattenfall can be related to professional bureaucracy, this is due to the fact that it was organized to accommodate Siemens experts. Vattenfall benefits from the co-management activities of the operation and maintenance of the Lillgrund wind power plant for a specific period of time. The outcome of the research work has proven that there is an effective time-dependent proportionality for a gradual transfer of the technical knowledge of operation and maintenance from Siemens Wind AB to the Vattenfall personnel. The research started from the perspective of the maintenance method by Swedish standard for wind power, and the way things are being carried out in a more practical way in Lillgrund plant.

Wind energy accounts for 9.1% of the total energy capacity in Europe. Recent studies have raised critical questions regarding the dependability of current wind turbines. The statistical data reveals that gear box is the most critical component reducing dependability caused by increased failure rate, downtime, and high repair cost (J. Ribrant and L. Bertling, 2007). Gear box failures in wind farms reveal a staggering 19.4 % of downtime of operation (J. Ribrant and L. Bertling, 2007). A significant reduction in the failure rate has been observed in the recent years, but downtime of operation and high repair investment still remains a bottleneck. Wear is the most critical failure mode and a number of theories have been proposed in order to understand the system behavior of wear mechanism. The empirical and historical incident data shows that the lubrication system has the largest share of contribution of gearbox failures and wear rate. On other hand, a number of commercial lubrication system have developed to cope with wear mechanism, however, these systems have different capabilities and characteristics and needed to be assessed in a new life cycle perspective. The purpose of the thesis is to analyze the influence of lubrication system on the current problem of wear in Wind Turbine Gearbox and improve the existing lubrication system architecture. The research methodology adopted is System Engineering approach with architecture assessment tools. The expected result of the thesis is effective and efficient wind turbine gearbox lubrication system architecture and an efficient contractual process between lubrication system provider and purchaser.

Experimental research has been completed using a custom designed and built 4m diameter wind turbine in a university operated wind facility. The primary goals of turbine testing were to determine the power production of the turbine and to apply the particle image velocimetry (PIV) technique to produce flow visualization images and velocity vector maps near the tip of a blade. These tests were completed over a wide range of wind speeds and turbine blade rotational speeds. This testing was also designed to be a preliminary study of the potential for future research using the turbine apparatus and to outline it's limitations. The goals and results of other large scale turbine tests are also briefly discussed with a comparison outlining the unique aspects of the experiment outlined in this thesis. Power production tests were completed covering a range of mean wind speeds, 6.4 m/s to 11.1 m/s nominal, and rotational rates, 40 rpm to 220 rpm. This testing allowed the total power produced by the blades to be determined as a function of input wind speed, as traditionally found in power curves for commercial turbines. The coefficient of power, Cp, was determined as a function of the tip speed ratio which gave insight into the peak power production of the experimental turbine. It was found, as expected, that the largest power production occurred at the highest input wind speed, 11.1 m/s, and reached a mean value of 3080 W at a rotational rate of 220 rpm. Peak Cp was also found, as a function of the tip speed ratio, to approach 0.4 at the maximum measurable tip speed ratio of 8. Blade element momentum (BEM) theory was also implemented as an aerodynamic power and force prediction tool for the given turbine apparatus. Comparisons between the predictions and experimental results were made with a focus on the Cp power curve to verify the accuracy of the initial model. Although the initial predictions, based on lift and drag curves found in Abbot and Von Doenhoff (1959), were similar to experimental results at high tip speed ratios an extrapolation of the data given by Hoffman et al. (1996) was found to more closely match the experimental results over the full range of tip speed ratios. Finally PIV was used to produce flow visualization images and corresponding velocity maps of the chord-wise air flow over an area at a radius ratio of 0.9, near the tip of a blade. This technique provided insight into the flow over a blade at three different tip speed ratios, 4, 6 and 8, over a range of wind speeds and rotational rates. A discussion of the unique aspects and challenges encountered using the PIV technique is presented including: measuring an unbounded external flow on a rotating object and the turbulence in the free stream affecting the uniform seeding and stability of the flow.

The environmental and monetary cost of energy has renewed interest in horizontal-axis wind turbines (HAWT). One problem with HAWT design is turbulent winds, which cause cyclic loading and reduced life. Controlling short-term aerodynamic fluctuations with blade pitching or mechanical flaps is limited by the speed of actuation. The objective was to investigate using jet-flap-like fluidic actuators on the 'suction surface' of an aerofoil for rapid aerodynamic control. A NACA 0025 aerofoil was constructed for wind-tunnel experiments. The low Reynolds number (Re) flow was measured non-intrusively with particle image velocimetry (PIV). The jet showed limited effect compared to published work. The sharp trailing edge and distance to the jet were determined to be critical factors. At Re≈100000 the 'suction surface' jet sheet is less useful for control than the conventional 'pressure surface' sheet. The experiment suggests usage near the blade root on truncated aerofoils.

Submerged arc welding (SAW) is commonly used for fabricating large diameter linepipes, pressure vessels and wind turbine towers due to its high deposition rate, high quality welds, ease of automation and low operator skill requirement. In order to achieve high melting efficiency required for high productivity, best weld quality and good mechanical properties in manufacturing industries, the welding process parameters need to be optimized. In this study, the effect of SAW current and speed on the physical and mechanical properties of ASME SA516 Gr. 70 (pressure vessel steel) and ASTM A709 Gr. 50 (wind turbine tower steel) were investigated. Three welding currents (700 A, 800 A and 850 A) and four travel speeds (5.9, 9.3, 12.3 and 15.3 mm/s) were used to weld sample plates measuring 915 mm x 122 mm x 17 mm. The weld quality and properties were evaluated using weld geometry measurements, visual inspection, ultrasonic inspection, hardness measurements, optical microscopy, tensile testing, Charpy impact testing and scanning electron microscopy. It was found that the physical and mechanical properties of the weldments were affected by SAW parameters. Severe undercuts were found at high travel speed and welding current. Low heat input caused lack of penetration defects to form in the weldments. The welding process melting efficiency (WPME) achieved was up to 80%. The hardness of the coarse grain heat affected zone (CGHAZ) and the weld metal increased with travel speed. The toughness of both materials increased with increasing travel speed and welding current. The yield and tensile strengths of the weldments of SA516 Gr.70 and A709 Gr.50 steels were within the same range as those of their respective parent metals because all test specimens broke in the parent metals. Also, the parent metals of both steels had the highest fracture strain and percent elongation. The percentage elongation increased with travel speed but decreased with welding current.

In current years, renewable energy is an important topic due to the energy crisis and the environments protection issue. One of the renewable energies, wind power has the advantage of high popular rate, convenient, and clear. But there are disadvantages can be improved. The generator has a low quality of output because the variety of wind speed, and it needs electronic equipment to maintain the quality of energy output. According to the research results of Dr. Hwang, using the independently controllable transmission mechanisms that has a controllable output could improve the quality of generator output in Wind Turbines. In this study, the tests platform of independently controllable transmission mechanisms will be fabricated. And analysis the kinematics and dynamics by experimental results to demonstrate the feasibility in wind turbine applications of independently controllable transmission mechanisms.

Two parallel planetary gear trains design are proposed to construct a dual input transmission mechanism system used in small power wind turbine systems. The time varied input wind powers are applied in the system with specified speed and torque. The Dynamic power flow variation in gear pairs are modeled and simulated in this work. Results indicate the proposed planetary gear train system is feasible in wind turbine system. The effect of gear train parameters on the operation safety and life will also be studied. The dynamic torque equilibrium equations between meshed gear pairs are employed to model the dynamic torque flow in this proposed dual input gear system. The nonlinear behavior of a synchronous generator has also included in the modeling. The dynamic responses of the dual input transmission mechanism system are simulated by using the 4th order Runge-Kutta method. The effect of system parameters used in this wind turbine system, i.e. the wind speed, the magnetic flux synchronous generator, the inertia flywheels, on the output electrical power variation have investigated in this study. The strength analyses of gear pairs with the bending fatigue and surface durability consideration have also studied in this work.

Conventional three dimensional structural analysis methods prove to be expensive for the preliminary design of wind turbine blades. However, wind turbine blades are large slender members with complex cross sections. They can be accurately modeled using beam models. The accuracy in the predictions of the structural behavior using beam models depends on the accuracy in the prediction of their effective section properties. Several techniques were proposed in the literature for predicting the effective section properties. Most of these existing techniques have limitations because of the assumptions made in their approaches. Two generalized beam theories, Generalized Timoshenko and Generalized Euler-Bernoulli, for the static analysis based on the principles of the simple 1D-theories are developed here. Homogenization based on the strain energy equivalence principle is employed to predict the effective properties for these generalized beam theories. Two efficient methods, Quasi-3D and Unit Cell, are developed which can accurately predict the 3D deformations in beams under the six fundamental deformation modes: extension, two shears, torsion and two flexures. These methods help in predicting the effective properties using the homogenization technique. Also they can recover the detailed 3D deformations from the predictions of 1D beam analysis. The developed tools can analyze two types of slender members 1) slender members with invariant geometric features along the length and 2) slender members with periodically varying geometric features along the length. Several configurations were analyzed for the effective section properties and the predictions were validated using the expensive 3D analysis, strength of materials and Variational Asymptotic Beam Section Analysis (VABS). The predictions from the new tools showed excellent agreement with full 3D analysis. The predictions from the strength of materials showed disagreement in shear and torsional properties. Explanations for the same are provided recalling the assumptions made in the strength of materials approach.

In this study, atmospheric and turbulent flow solutions are obtained using meteorological flowfield and topographical terrain data in high resolution. The terrain topology of interest, which may be obtained in various resolution levels, is accurately modeled using structured or unstructured grids depending on whether high-rise building models are present or not. Meteorological weather prediction software MM5, is used to provide accurate and unsteady boundary conditions for the solution domain. Unsteady turbulent flow solutions are carried out via FLUENT with the help of several User Defined Functions developed. Unsteady flow solutions over topographical terrain of METU campus are computed with 25m x 25m x 15m resolution using structured grids. These FLUENT solutions are compared with the MM5 solutions. Also, the accuracy of the boundary layer velocity profiles is assessed. Finally, effects of surface roughness model extracted from MM5 for the region of interest is investigated. In addition, unsteady flow solutions over METU campus are repeated in presence of high-rise building models using unstructured grids with resolution varying from 5 meters around buildings to 80 meters further away. The study shows that unsteady, turbulent flow solutions can be accurately obtained using low resolution atmospheric weather prediction models and high resolution Navier-Stokes solutions over topographical terrains.