Abstract:As the demand for wind energy continues to grow at exponential rates, reducing operation and maintenance (OM) costs and improving reliability have become top priorities in wind turbine (WT) maintenance strategies. In addition to the development of more highly evolved WT designs intended to improve availability, the application of reliable and cost-effective condition-monitoring (CM) techniques offers an efficient approach to achieve this goal. This paper provides a general review and classification of wind turbine condition monitoring (WTCM) methods and techniques with a focus on trends and future challenges. After highlighting the relevant CM, diagnosis, and maintenance analysis, this work outlines the relationship between these concepts and related theories, and examines new trends and future challenges in the WTCM industry. Interesting insights from this research are used to point out strengths and weaknesses in today's WTCM industry and define research priorities needed for the industry to meet the challenges in wind industry technological evolution and market growth.

Models are crucial in the engineering design process because they can be used for both the optimization of design parameters and the prediction of performance. Thus, models can significantly reduce design, development and optimization costs. This paper proposes a novel equivalent electrical model for Darrieus-type vertical axis wind turbines (DTVAWTs). The proposed model was built from the mechanical description given by the Paraschivoiu double-multiple streamtube model and is based on the analogy between mechanical and electrical circuits. This work addresses the physical concepts and theoretical formulations underpinning the development of the model. After highlighting the working principle of the DTVAWT, the step-by-step development of the model is presented. For assessment purposes, simulations of aerodynamic characteristics and those of corresponding electrical components are performed and compared.

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