Published on January 2021 | Reliability

Computation of mechanical reliability for Sub- assemblies of 250 kW wind turbine through sensitivity analysis

Wind energy plays a significant role in the renewable energy scenario of the planet. The wind turbine systems have multipart components which are repairable. The failure characteristics of the onshore wind turbines rely on the terrain and climatic conditions. Although mountain passes and hill areas are highly suitable for wind turbine (WT) installations, there is a substantial uncertainty in the wind pattern because of the frequent changes in the direction and velocity of wind. It creates a rapid failure in different components of the wind turbine. It is an amazement that the failure rate has rapidly increased in normal operating period of the wind turbines that placed exactly in the mountain pass and hilly area due to the recurrent uncertainty in the wind. Hence there is an urgent need for improving the reliability in wind turbine. For diminishing the lifecycle cost of a wind turbine and failure, it is significant to evaluate the reliability for all individual components in all respects. This paper deals with sensitivity analysis for major components of wind turbine system and its sub systems such as rotor system, gear box, brake system, generator, hydraulic system and yaw system. The Reliability analysis was carried out successfully based on Weibull analysis and Sensitivity Analysis on constant speed and constant pitch wind turbines with a capacity of 250 kW over a span of 19 years for at Muppandal main pass, Tamil Nadu, India.