Reliability Analysis of Repower 5M Wind Turbine
Keywords:
Reliability analysis, Wind turbine analysis, The Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA), Fault tree analysis, The Failure Modes, FTA Block DiagramAbstract
The following paper presents a reliability analysis of REpower’s 5M wind turbine. The 5M turbine, with a 5 megawatts power rating
and 126 metre rotor diameter, is one of the world’s largest and most powerful wind turbines. The turbine has been designed for both
on-shore and off-shore application, and when utilized in a wind farm, can provide outputs similar to a conventional power plant. A
number of reliability and maintainability tools were used throughout the paper to assess the turbines reliability characteristics. These
include a Failure Mode and Maintenance analysis (FMMA), a Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA), a Failure Mode Effect and
Criticality Analysis (FMECA), a Hazard and Operability Analysis (HAZOP), and a Fault Tree Analysis (FTA). Following the
identification of the various failure modes associated with the 5M turbine, an investigation into a particularly mode was carried out
using Finite Element Analysis (FEA). Please note, throughout this paper, the wind turbine is deemed to have failed if it is incapable of
producing electricity.
