THE OBJECTIVE IS TO VERIFY AVAILABLE COMPUTER PROGRAMMES FOR CALCULATING MECHANICAL LOADS IN MAJOR WIND TURBINE COMPONENTS. THIS WILL BE ACHIEVED BY COMPARING THE COMPUTED LOADS MUTUALLY AND BY COMPARING THEM WITH MEASURED LOADS.

FIVE TOPICS CAN BE IDENTIFIED IN THE WIND BENCHMARK EXERCISE (WBE) ON MECHANICAL LOADS.

A. PROBLEM DEFINITION.THE CONDITIONS OF THE LOAD CASES WILL BE ELABORATED. THE LOAD CASES ORDERED IN INCREASING DEGREE OF COMPLEXITY ARE :

A) STATIONARY BEHAVIOUR (A CONSTANT WINDSPEED AND/OR A PERIODIC VARIABLE WINDSPEED),
B) TRANSIENT BEHAVIOUR (E.G. DESIGN GUSTS, LOSS OF GENERATOR LOAD),
C) LONG TERM DYNAMIC BEHAVIOUR (FOR DETERMINING FATIGUE CHARACTERISTICS).

B. SURVEY OF COMPUTER PROGRAMMES. THE CHARACTERISTICS, OPTIONS AND FACILITIES OF THE COMPUTER PROGRAMMES OF THE PARTICIPANTS WILL BE OUTLINED.

C. SELECTION OF A WIND TURBINE, BASED ON SUITABILITY OF THE MEASURING EQUIPMENT, ROTOR CONCEPT AND PROPER DOCUMENTATION.

D. DEFINITION OF THE INPUT AND OUTPUT DATA. THE TURBINE GEOMETRY, THE AEROFOIL DATA AND THE PRECISE OPERATING CONDITIONS WILL BE DEFINED. FURTHERMORE THE LOCATIONS WILL BE DETERMINED WHERE MECHANICAL LOADS ARE TO BE COMPUTED.

E. PERFORMING CALCULATIONS AND COMPARISONS.