Investigation of dynamic drivetrain behaviour of a wind turbine during a power converter fault

Abstract

Damage in electrical components during operation of the drive train of wind turbines can lead to highly dynamic load situations. In particular, power converter components are affected by frequent damage, which leads to highly dynamic torque oscillations. As part of a national project, a research nacelle for a wind turbine was set up at the Center for Wind Power Drives (CWD) and examined with the help of a 4 MW test rig. This test rig allows the drive train of a wind turbine to be intensively investigated so that even the highly dynamic load conditions of a power converter fault could be studied. Among other tests, the fault case of a power converter short circuit was synthetically generated. This paper aims to give an insight into the investigation methodology, test setup and looks into the high speed shaft bearing of the gearbox during this load case in detail.