Advantages on monitoring wind turbine nacelle oscillation.

Nacelle oscillation monitoring, where accelerometers are mounted on the nacelle frame, is integral part of modern condition monitoring systems towards holistic and consistent health assessment of wind turbines. It enables detection of abnormal behavior associated to increased stresses and vibrations on blades, tower and drive train components, which may jeopardize their working condition. The present paper deals with the comparison and analysis of vibration signals from wind turbines subjected to various failure modes and operating conditions, such as blade misalignment, pitch malfunction, ice accretion, damaged blade tips and yaw system defects. Theoretical analysis of nacelle movement at down wind and lateral direction is presented along with field results from multi megawatt wind turbines. Additionally the paper discusses the employment of nacelle accelerometers for cross reference of drive train defects, where propagation of vibrations from a drive train component to the nacelle frame usually indicates a late stage failure. This cross correlation is particularly beneficial towards accurate and consistent fault severity assessment.