Wind turbine collapse in Ireland

[Longinthetooth]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-30671607

 

[Duwe6]

Neighbor reported a banging sound. Sounds like an overspeed problem. If the blades are not 'feathered' on windy days, they will catch so much wind that it is a toss-up as to whether the blades & hub fail, or the tower buckles.

 

[Triangled]

No observed troubles with the others it seems. I am sure the engineers will be checking them out.

 

[ornerynorsk]

That does look like an overspeed failure. I saw one similar to it in Germany years ago. They really come unglued in spectacular fashion.

It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.

 

[msquared48]

They're glued together? No wonder they fail!

Mike McCann, PE, SE (WA)

 

[ornerynorsk]

Well, technically, yes!!! At least the blades are, anyway (composite)

It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.

 

[waross]

From a few years back:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqEccgR0q-o

Bill
--------------------
"Why not the best?"
Jimmy Carter

 

[maripali]

The rotor with the blades have quite large inertia moment of a mass. So when rotor have broken such reason tries to stop the blades rotating. Then there is growing up very large rotating moment of inertia to column of the wind turbine. And there is not required the hi speed of the blades that to make broken column as a match. It is enough to stop quickly the rotor.

 

[racookpe1978]

As the blades flail about (and fail about) if they clip the tower, the impact damage can dent (distort) the tower walls enough to cause that to also fall down under the eccentric rotor and hub loads. The blades on almost all new turbines are aimed to be upwind of the tower, so normal wind forces push them back towards the tower. An overspeed or blade failure throws them in the wrong direction to save the tower.

 

[JStephen]

Various more recent stories indicate problem resolved and back in service, without a lot of specific detail:

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/n...after-collapse-of-giant-turbine-30990568.html