Test Rig Design and Presentation for a Hydraulic Yaw System

The design and development of a hydraulic yaw system for multi MWturbines is presented and the concept explained. As part of the development of the new concept a full scale test rig for a 5 MW wind turbine has been designed and constructed. The test rig is presented along with its unique design features. The design process is outlined to give insight in the design criteria driving the design. Loads and yaw demands are based on the IEC 61400-1 standard for wind turbine design, and the loads for this examination are extrapolated from the FAST aero elastic design software. The concepts are based on a 5 MW offshore turbine. After the system presentation, measurement results are presented to verify the behavior of the system. The loads to the system are applied by torque controlled electrical servo drives, which can add a load of up to 3 MNm to the system. This gives an exact picture of the system dynamics under real conditions. The behavior of the system is analyzed with regard to 20 years of operation. This is for example done by applying loads from different design load cases, e.g. normal turbulence, extreme turbulence and different fault scenarios on the turbine.
The paper first presents an introduction with the current state of the art and problem description, followed by a system description, where the system is designed and dimensioned. Based on the design, results from the test rig are presented and analyzed. Finally a conclusion summing up the design, model and test results is given.