FAST and Simulink-based simulation investigation of wind turbine faults

Abstract

This paper shows the application of simulations of investigation of wind turbines imbalance faults. Our proposed model of wind turbine is imitated both in normal and faulty conditions of wind turbine-based on TurbSim and FAST (fatigues, aerodynamics, structure and turbulences). The imbalance fault in furl is created by changing rotor furl and/or tail furl angle (with variation of +10°, +5° and -5° degree) apart from required position, which generate uneven direction of WT. Fast Fourier transform (FFT) is applied for transforming the time-domain simulation results of whole shaft torque of the wind turbine into frequency domain. For comparing the healthy and faulty operating scenarios of wind turbine, power spectrum density (PSD) plots are developed. Thereafter, energy entropy has been evaluated to compare both the conditions. Obtained results presents that created blade imbalance increases the energy level of the recorded signal. Our research work provides the online diagnosis of wind turbine faults through simulation investigation using FAST and Simulink.