Wind Turbine Tribology

Abstract

Wind power is of increasing interest in society due to its prospects as an environmentally friendly source of renewable energy. The use of wind turbines to extract electrical energy from wind can be dated back to the late-1800s, with the 12 kW windmill generator by Charles Brush, as well as the mid-1900s, with the 1250 kW Smith-Putnam wind turbine. Developments in the wind industry were encouraged by the oil crisis in 1973. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2012.