KINEMATICAL ANALYSIS OF A NOVEL TRANSMISSION MECHANISM WITH STEADY-SPEED OUTPUT FOR VARIABLE SPEED WIND TURBINES

For the usage in variable speed wind turbines, a novel transmission mechanism with steady-speed output is proposed in this study. The proposed mechanism, named as independently controllable transmission (ICT), can produce a required angular velocity at the output shaft, which is independently manipulated by a controller and does not depend on the angular velocity of the input shaft. By applying the ICT mechanism to the variable speed wind power systems, the turbine fluctuation can be overcome and a constant speed can be provided for the input shaft of the generator. The ICT mechanism is fundamentally composed of two sets of planetary gear trains and two sets of transmission-connecting members. Four prototypes of the ICT mechanisms are installed to experiment their kinematical characteristics and to demonstrate their feasibility of engineering application.