Design and performance evaluation of hinge type pitch control system in small-size wind turbine

Abstract

The present study is about pitch control system of a small wind turbine using hinge mechanism. Small wind turbines generally apply stall control method or breaking equipment over the rated wind speed by reason of price or efficiency. However we perform pitch control applying the hinge mechanism which is simpler than that of medium and large size wind turbines. The hinge mechanism is a kind of linkage. It is composed of a rotation motion part, a linear motion part and a connection part. Pitch angle is controlled by the rotation parts which are connection to blades. In order to determine relationship between the hinge links and pitch angle, kinematic analysis is performed. Also, we derive design specifications of the actuator which drives the hinge mechanism by the Jacobian analysis. Simulation using MATLAB analyses forces and velocities of the hinge type pitch control system. Finally, as applying it to a 20 kW small wind turbine, the performances are evaluated by wind tunnel test.