Fault detection in wind turbine transmission systems via finite frequency observers

This paper addresses fault detection for wind turbine transmission system (WTTS) subject to actuator stuck faults and wind disturbances. Taking into account the frequency domain characteristics of such faults and disturbances, a modified observer is designed in terms of finite frequency (FF) performance indices that have detection performances superior to some formerly proposed ones. With the generalized Kalman–Yakubovich–Popov (GKYP) lemma and the Lyapunov theory, the FF performance indices are related to linear matrix inequalities (LMIs), and parametrization of the corresponding FF modified observer is completed by convex optimization under LMI constraints. One typical advantage of the modified observer is that fault and disturbance signals in distinctive FF domains can be dealt with simultaneously. This makes the residual system sensitive to actuator stuck faults and robust against external wind disturbances. Simulations are included to show that the design method achieves fault detection performances better than those of the entire frequency observers.