Wind Power Technology Services 

The Mechanical Engineering Division of Southwest Research Institute® (SwRI®) has been involved in the design, analysis, testing and problem resolution of energy industry machinery for more than 50 years. With this background, Institute staff have developed expertise in machinery dynamics, thermal and fluid systems, and aerodynamic performance. SwRI engineers regularly apply this expertise using both commercially available and custom-engineered tools such as finite element analysis (FEA) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) codes, as well as field and laboratory-based data acquisition tools and instrumentation.

Because the Institute is an independent organization, SwRI is uniquely positioned to provide third-party design audits, due diligence studies, prototype development and testing, and failure analysis. Our technical depth and breadth can be a valuable asset to smaller organizations that cannot afford the technical staff required for prototype development, and to larger organizations that cannot meet their engineering requirements with existing staff.

SwRI is particularly suited to contribute to the wind power industry, providing a variety of services for manufacturers, owners and entrepreneurs.

Using CAD, CFD and FEA, SwRI engineers have developed client concepts into a prototype reality, up to and including wind tunnel performance testing.

Prototype Design and Testing

• Prototype development from concept to actual hardware
• Instrumentation development and integration
• Design analysis (FEA, CFD, etc.)
• Test planning, operation and reporting
• Wind tunnel testing of prototype (up to 4 m diameter)

SwRI engineers have performed torsional dynamic analysis of utility-scale wind turbine drive trains including the main input shaft, gearbox and generator components. Torsional analysis is important for avoiding resonant conditions throughout the entire speed range.

Torsional Vibration Analysis

• Drivetrain modal analysis
• Forced response analysis
• Transient shock event analysis
• Wind spectrum analysis

Metallurgical and root cause failure analyses are performed by SwRI engineers for a variety of energy industry machinery including gear box components, bearings and turbine blades.

Field Vibration Troubleshooting

• Drivetrain vibration
• Bearing failures
• Gearbox failures
• Strain measurement telemetry

SwRI field engineers have applied the same expertise in machinery diagnostics and problem analysis to utility-scale wind turbines as is regularly applied to other energy industry machinery, including instrumentation, data acquisition, data analysis, system modeling and problem resolution.

Bearing and Gearbox Failure Analysis

• Metallurgical examination for failure mode
• Root cause failure analysis (RCFA)

SwRI engineers make adjustments to instrumentation installed on a prototype wind turbine assembly. The turbine has instrumentation to measure the blade strain and generator power as well as flow visualization features for testing in a full-scale wind tunnel facility.

This flyer was published in May 2009. For more information about Wind Power Technology Services, contact Jeff Moore, Ph.D., (210) 522-5812, David Ransom, P.E., (210) 522-5281, or Harold R. Simmons, P.E., Phone (210) 522-2557, Mechanical Engineering Division, Southwest Research Institute, P.O. Drawer 28510, San Antonio, Texas 78228-0510.

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