Emergency Braking System for the Wind Turbine

E.A. Sirotkin, A.S.Martyanov, E.V. Solomin, S.V. Kozlov

South Ural State University
Chelyabinsk, Russia
sirotkinea@susu.ru

Abstract – The need for an emergency braking system for the
wind turbine is discussed in this paper. This system should be
installed as the addition to general control system. To solve the
problem of emergency braking we proposed electromechanical
device. It is equipped by electric and manual drives. The
assembly with small outline dimensions transmits large braking
torque value due to the specific kinematic set of parts and
waveform gear reduction unit. The drive specific feature is the
possibility of integration into existing wind turbines without
major structural changes. We developed the system of electric
brake actuator on the base of the functional diagram. We also
made the analysis of the system stability using the Mikhailov
criterion by plotting the characteristic equation hodograph of the
third order.
installation of horizontal-axis type, however recently due to a
number of advantages [7] the power plants of vertical-axis type
become more and more popular. Figure 1 shows the structure
of a wind power plant with vertical axis of rotation [8]. The
main advantages of such systems are independence of
operation on the wind direction, self start at relatively low wind
speeds and no infrasound, which has a negative impact on the
environment [9,10]. The wind rotates the rotor of wind turbine
which in turn rotates the generator shaft, thereby converting
kinetic energy of the incoming wind flow into electrical
energy. Vertical-axis wind turbines are more suitable for
montage and servicing because the generator and other
electrical equipment can be placed on the ground surface.

Keywords – renewable energy sources, wind turbine, emergency

braking system, control system.

I. INTRODUCTION
It is considered that hydrocarbon resources are subject to
lack in the most exporting countries during the current Century
according to different estimates [1]. Of course, the modern
generation is not seriously wondering about the resource crisis,
however, skeptical analysts of British Petroleum Corporation
state that oil resources in Russia may dry up in the next 30 – 50
years [2]. In addition, the situation of the collapse of prices on
the World fuel market, which occurred in 2015 and has started
growing only in 2016, shows that the investment in energy
commodities can be very risky, and in the short period of time
is unprofitable. Conversely, the shares of such multibillion
corporations – manufacturers of large wind turbines, as Vestas,
Siemens, Nordex show steady growth. Thus just now it is
necessary to pay sufficient attention to the development of
alternative energy sources, especially in Russia. Undoubtedly,
over the last decade the country has experienced significant
positive changes in the legislative framework of the ideological
attitudes in respect of renewable energy [3,4], but nevertheless
there is a lack in scientific and technological development of Fig. 1. Vertical axis wind turbine
the "green" generation.
Considering the climatic conditions of the most territory of II. NEED FOR A BRAKING SYSTEM
Russian Federation, wind power is one of the appropriate types
The available aerodynamic power is in cubic dependence
of renewable energy [5]. Moreover it is promising to
on the speed of the wind flow, thereby increasing the wind
implement a small-scale wind generation at non-electrified
speed twice the power flow increasing up eight times. Based on
areas where there is a great number of small local settlements
the international practice of wind turbines usage it is known
and industrial facilities which do not require large capacity.
that at wind speeds above 15-25 m/sec there is a high
Wind turbines are used to convert kinetic wind flow energy probability of the blades destruction and overheating of the
into electrical energy. Turbines are divided into two main electric generator [11]. Basically the rotor rotation frequency
types: vertical-axis (VAWT) and horizontal-axis (HAWT) [6]. should be either stabilized or rotor should be stopped. Also at
The most widespread in the World belongs to traditional high frequency of rotation vibrational fluctuations may occur,
which adversely affects the functioning of all components of
This study was awarded by RF Ministry of Education and Science under
Subsidy Agreement # 14.577.21.0154 of 28.11.2014 (Unique Identifier of
Agreement RFMEFI57714X0154)
assembly and especially moving parts – bearings, rotor parts
and elements of braking devices [12]. To prevent the impact of
these negative factors, it is necessary to equip the wind turbines
with control systems and ballast power resistors. There are few
publications about newly developed ways of power control by
electric generator [13-15]. But in practice the usage of wind
power equipment for braking of wind rotor by generator is still
not verified in full remaining a fairly high risk of overheating
of the windings of electrical machine [16] or even its failure.
Thus anyway the turbines should be equipped by some
emergency braking system control.
III. EMERGENCY BRAKING SYSTEM
To solve the problem of rotor slowing down or stopping we
propose the integration of the electromechanical braking device
into the assembly of 3 kW vertical-axis wind rotor. As shown
in figure 2 the kinematic unit is installed on the hub. This unit
consists of a cam mechanism, gearbox and actuator.
Fig. 2. Electro-mechanical braking unit
Between the hub and the mast flange there are two
intermediate parts – wave gear with the cam unclasping unit
and drive units. In this case both the electric and mechanical
drives are applied. Manual mechanical drive is also needed and
implemented into the assembly because of the safety
requirements when using the wind power installation at critical
sites [17]. Mechanical torque transmission is accomplished
with a flexible cable running from the base fitting inside the
mast, and fixed in the upper point on the mounting washer. The
actuator is also mounted on the docking washer from the
opposite side of the manual actuator. Both actuators are
engaged with the wave gear with a transmission ratio of 1:3.
The ratio of the wave gear is 1:120. This reducer type is
selected in the base of design considerations, since no other
hollow shaft design would not allow transmitting the rotation
with sufficiently high reduction coefficient. The hole is also
necessary to conduct cables from generator to the base of the
mast. Output shaft gear rotation is transmitted to the cam
mechanism, which consists of a helical drive plate, three cams
and guide box. On the sole of cams, there are combs, which
move in the axial direction when sliding along the spiral collar
disk cams. Thus, when the cams move from the center to the
periphery, their friction faces may touch the contact inner wall
of the rotating hub. The result is the sliding friction which
causes the braking of the spinning rotor until its complete stop.
When the weather conditions will become normal, the
controller will submit the appropriate command to the barking
system to return the cams to their original positions. It is
obvious that the pressing force of the cams contacting the wall
of the mast will generate the braking torque. Due to the high
total transmission ratio (1:360) the process of pressing the
pawls contacting the wall will be quite smooth, and this will
allow using a low-power electric drive, which will significantly
reduce its size. For better understanding of the design of
electromechanical braking figure 3 shows the kinematic chart
of the braking system.
Fig. 3. The kinematic chart of the braking system
To control the motor any regular microcontroller can be
used. However sensors should be installed for monitoring the
dynamic parameters of the wind turbine. In general it is enough
to have three main types of sensors to measure: frequency of
rotation, generator temperature and vibration of the mast. This
set of sensors allows determining the most emergency cases.
Next it is required to determine the structural sequence of
modules in control system which is presented in figure 4.
Fig. 4. The functional control scheme of the braking unit
All components of the control system have some inertia.
Therefore the control process may be unstable or located on the
border of stability. Taking into account that the wind load on
the rotor has a stochastic behavior, there is a risk of the control
system overshooting. To exclude the mentioned negative
factors it is necessary to use the appropriate feedback testing
system. Obviously the microcontroller, electrical actuators,
sensors and other electronic and electrical components of the
control system have some coefficients of inertia. But the
magnitude of these coefficients will be negligible comparing
with the inertia of the mechanical links of the cam gear and
block. These values can be neglected by calculation. Thus, we
get the characteristic equation of the system of the third order:
 D( p )  a 0 p 3  a1 p 2  a 2 p  a3 .  Re(ω2) = –73. The intersection of the locus with the axis Jm
occurs at:
To determine the stability of systems of the third order two
criteria are used – Vyshnegradsky and Mikhailov methods 
Re (  )  0.308  4448.22  0 ,
[18]. In our case to obtain a generic template for calculation of
the system stability the Mikhailov criterion is preferred,
because it has a graphic display of calculation results, while the
criterion of Vyshnegradsky works with the long mathematical 1
 0.308  2
arrays. The A.V. Mikhailov criterion implies the analysis of the 1     8.3 10  2 ,
characteristic equation which can be written in the following  4448.2 
form [19]:

D( j )  Re (  )  jJ m (  ) ,  J m ( 1 )  0.522 .

where Re(ω) – the valid part obtained from the components of Now let’s choose positive values of roots, since ω changes
equation (1) which contains even degree (jω), аnd Jm(ω) from 0 to ∞. For graphing we will set a series of values
consequent members with odd degree. Each value ωi 0 < ω < ∞ and calculate the according values Re(ω) и Jm(ω).
corresponds to vector on the complex plane which has the Table below shows the locus of the characteristic equation in
coordinates Re(ωi) и Jm(ωi). If we will vary the value of ωi from figure 5.
0 to ∞, then the end of the vector will circumscribe the curve
on the complex plane – Mikhailov hodograph. If the system is TABLE I. LOCUS OF THE CHARACTERISTIC EQUATION IN FIGURE 5
stable then the locus starts at ω = 0 on the real positive
semiaxis. With unlimited increase ω consistently goes around ω 0 5·10-2 8·10-2 10-1 2·10-1 … ∞
Re 0.308 –10.8 –28.16 –44.17 –177.6 … –∞
the origin counterclockwise through n quadrants of the
Jm 0 2.67 3.08 2.47 –17.99 … –∞
complex plane, where n – the order of the characteristic
equation [19]. If the hodograph passes through the origin, it
shows that the system is on the stability boundary [20].
Let us determine the control system characteristic
polynomial with the coefficients for each of the system blocks:

D(p)  3824.5 p 3  4448.2 p 2  63.03 p  0.308 . 

By substituting of p = jω in (1) we will get characteristic

vector D(jω):

D(p)  a0 ( j )3  a1 ( j ) 2  a3 ( j )  a3 . 

Then we separate the real and imaginary component of

vector D(jω) and get (2). The intersection of the locus with the Fig. 5. The Mikhailov hodograph for the characteristic third order equation
axis Re occurs when Jm(ω):
On the base of the Mikhailov hodograph we can consider
the stability of the system, since the curve is consistently
J m (  )    ( 63.03  3824.52 )  0  around an origin point counterclockwise and the arrow goes
through 3 quadrants of the complex plane.
It is known that the metal friction pairs, for example, steel,
1  0 , bronze have some temperature limitations 400...600⁰С. This is
because at high thermal loads the coefficient of friction is
sharply reduced, and there is a risk of seizure of the rubbing
surfaces. Assuming that the braking process of the rotor of the
63.03 wind power plant will amount to 600 sec at frequency of
2   0.128 . rotation 200 rpm, will be allocated 230400 J of thermal energy.
3824.5
The initial temperature of all surfaces is set to 20 degrees
Celsius as shown in figure 6.
Thus the first point of intersection with ω1 = 0 corresponds
to Re(ω1) = 0, the second point on ω2 = 0,128 corresponds to

Fig. 6. The parameter task of the heat load.
As a result of thermal analysis, it was found that after 600
seconds of continuous braking, the highest temperature is 150
degrees Celsius as shown in figure 7. However, this calculation
is thermostatic (to simplify). We can assume that the dynamic
calculation of the temperature at the friction contact of the wall
will be evenly distributed over the entire surface by the rotation
process and will be the average of the temperature value in the
static analysis. Also note that the external surface of the
structure will be cooled due to the incident flow of the wind.
Fig. 7. The results of the thermal analyses.
IV. CONCLUSION
The advantage of the researched electromechanical
emergency braking device is high reliability and availability for
integration in the fabricated wind turbines without major
structural changes. The braking mechanism has a long lifetime
and satisfactory degree of maintainability. In addition, the
system will have a low cost compared to the costs that may
arise from aftermath.
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