Comparison of Drivetrain Vibration Response During Field Operation and on a Nacelle Test Bench

Nacelle test benches offer the chance to identify any possible issues in the system design before conducting mandatory field testing for type certification. This can potentially reduce costs and time to market. However, nacelle system testing is an abstraction of the real system, as several interactions and interfaces between the nacelle and its environment are absent. Consequently, this has initiated research studies in recent years to fully understand the influence of these abstractions on the device under test. Extensive research has been conducted on the recently completed project Testfeld BHV to understand the influence of abstractions on the vibration response of the drivetrain. In this project, the Adwen AD8-180 has been the wind turbine under study that was tested first at a nacelle test bench, followed by field tests at a site in Germany. This paper presents the findings of these studies with regards to the drivetrain vibration response during nacelle tests and field tests. The similarities and differences observed in the drivetrain vibration response are highlighted, and reasons that lead to deviations in the vibration response are discussed. Furthermore, the work also presents a simulative framework that can aid the test bench’s ability to predict the correct field-like drivetrain vibration response prior to field tests.