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US 7,822,560 B2Granted
Methods and apparatuses for wind turbine fatigue load measurement and assessment
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorDavid Lawrence LeMieux
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Techniques and apparatuses for wind turbine component fatigue load measurement and assessment are disclosed. In one embodiment the component is a tower, fore-aft and side-to-side signals from a two-axis accelerometer attached to a bedplate of a wind turbine are used to measure tower fatigue loads. A yaw axis azimuth position signal can also be used for tower fatigue load measurement and assessment.
Claims23
A method comprising:
- determining position of a wind turbine generator component within a nacelle with respect to a reference location also within the nacelle with one or more sensors coupled with the wind turbine generator component;
- receiving output signals from the one or more sensors with a turbine controller communicatively coupled with the one or more sensors;
- performing tower fatigue analysis with the turbine controller based on the output signals from the one or more sensors wherein results from the tower fatigue analysis comprise a spectral frequency analysis and further wherein the spectral frequency analysis is used to predict fatigue of a lower portion of the tower;
- and
- generating, with the turbine controller, a graphical user-readable output based on the fatigue analysis indicating fatigue life information.
2 more elements
An article comprising computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors to:
- determine position of a wind turbine generator component within a nacelle with respect to a reference location also within the nacelle with one or more sensors coupled with the wind turbine generator component;
- perform tower fatigue analysis based on output signals from the one or more sensors wherein results from the tower fatigue analysis comprise a spectral frequency analysis and further wherein the spectral frequency analysis is used to predict fatigue of a lower portion of the tower;
- and
- generate a graphical user-readable output based on the fatigue analysis indicating fatigue life information.
1 more element
An apparatus comprising:
- one or more sensors to detect a condition caused by movement of a component of a wind turbine generator within a nacelle, the one or more sensors to generate condition signals indicating the condition of the component;
- control circuitry coupled with the one or more sensors to receive the condition signals and to determine a position of a wind turbine generator component atop a tower based on the condition signals from the one or more sensors, to transform the determined position from a frame of reference corresponding to sensor locations to a frame of reference corresponding to a lower portion of the tower and to perform fatigue load analysis on the transformed position corresponding to the lower portion of the tower.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.