Synthesis and Analysis of an Independently Controllable Gear Train for Wind Turbines

The conversion of wind energy into a useful form of electrical power is rapidly and widely becoming popular as an alternative to the usage of fossil fuels. To improve the quality and reliability of a wind turbine, the issue of gear train technology has long been investigated in the continuing development of wind power industry. In this paper, an innovative, independently controllable gear drive that can be used to provide steady output speeds is proposed. With a prototype of this proposed transmission, kinematic/dynamic properties as well as power flow are verified to demonstrate feasibility of this gear system.Copyright © 2014 by ASME