Windpoweredships,grainmills,waterpumps,andthreshingmachinesall exemplifythatextractionofpowerfromwindisanancientendeavour.Withthe evolutionofmechanicalinsightandtechnology,thelastdecadesofthe20th century,inparticular,sawthedevelopmentofmachineswhichefficientlyextractpower fromwind.Windturbinesisnowbeingusedasagenerictermformachineswith rotatingbladesthatconvertthekineticenergyofwindintousefulpower. Inthe20thcentury,earlywindturbinedesignsweredrivenbythreebasic philosophiesforhandlingloads:(1)withstandingloads,(2)sheddingoravoiding loads,and(3)managingloadsmechanically,electrically,orboth.Inthemidstofthis evolution,manywindturbinedesignssawthelightofday,includinghorizontalaxis andverticalaxisturbines.Turbinesthatspinabouthorizontalandverticalaxes, respectively,andareequippedwithone,two,threeormultipleblades. Modernturbinesevolvedfromtheearlydesignsandcanbeclassifiedastwoor threebladedturbineswithhorizontalaxesandupwindrotors.

Today,thechoice betweentwoorthreebladedwindturbinesismerelyamatterofatradeoffbetween aerodynamicefficiency,complexity,cost,noiseandaesthetics. Additionalkeyturbinedesignconsiderationsincludewindclimate,rotortype,generator type,loadandnoiseminimisation,andcontrolapproach.Moreover,currenttrends, drivenbytheoperatingregimeandthemarketenvironment,involvedevelopment oflowcost,megawattscaleturbinesandlightweightturbineconcepts.Whereas turbinesoperatingatconstantrotorspeedhavebeendominatinguptonow,turbines withvariablerotorspeedarebecomingincreasinglymorecommoninanattemptto optimisetheenergycapture,lowertheloads,obtainbetterpowerquality,andenablemore advancedpowercontrolaspects. 1.2Conceptualaspects Someearlywindturbinedesignsinclude multiplebladedconcepts.Theseturbinesare allcharacterisedbyrotorswithhighsolidity, i.e.theexposedareaofthebladesis

relativelylargecomparedtothesweptarea oftherotor. Figure11.Multiplebladedwindturbinesofvarious designs. Adisadvantageofsuchahighsolidityrotor istheexcessiveforcesthatitwillattract duringextremewindspeedssuchasin hurricanes.Tolimitthisundesirableeffect ofextremewindsandtoincreaseefficiency, modernwindturbinesarebuiltwithfewer, longer,andmoreslenderblades,i.e.witha