SAMCEF for Wind Turbines selected by ALSTOM

Liège, Belgium, February 2011. Alstom chooses SAMCEF for Wind Turbines (S4WT), SAMTECH's professional product for advanced dynamic analysis and certification of Wind Turbines.

The purchase of S4WT is the natural result of the confidence of Alstom in SAMTECH's software solutions and the final choice for S4WT was further consolidated through the outcome of validation campaigns that proved the accuracy of S4WT when comparing numerical results with experimental measurements. In fact, Alstom evaluated in depth several well-known software systems for aero-elastic load computations and Multi-Body-System analysis.

The possibility to include the most complex mechanical models in one detailed aero-elastic wind turbine model, accurate results and a reduced learning time were the features which convinced ALSTOM to select S4WT.

The S4WT solver SAMCEF Mecano was used for the first time in a wind turbine context in Alstoms Wind business 10 years ago. As early as in the year 2000, the first non-linear dynamic SAMCEF Mecano model of a 600 kW wind turbine power train was set up. Successful experimental validation was performed on that model and triggered a long-term relationship between the two companies in the domain of advanced dynamic simulation of wind turbines.

Further collaboration, including intensive validation campaigns, resulted in the set up of advanced aero-elastic S4WT models of several Alstom Multi-Mega Watt class wind turbines. Several key features for accurate modeling of wind turbines have been added to the software over time to match the needs of todays wind industry and make S4WT the most complete platform on the wind turbine simulation market.

The collaboration between Alstom and SAMTECH will continue in several industrial domains including the simulation of offshore wind turbines and the evaluation of innovative Mechatronical Systems for active damping.

About SAMCEF for Wind Turbines 

20 years experience in the modeling of large flexible machines and more than 10 years expertise in Wind Energy have been concretized into S4WT, SAMTECHs platform dedicated to Wind Turbine simulation. This expertise was built through partnerships with most of the major players in the Wind industry, including Alstom.

S4WT can be used at different levels in the wind turbine engineering process, which cover the computation of global design loads for certification, the evaluation of dynamics of complex flexible mechanisms using the Multi-Body Simulation capabilities of S4WT and finally the stress assessment of structural component design using the Finite Elements features of S4WT. The S4WT software package is delivered with pre-defined IEC-61400 design load cases and parameterized start up models which include as well the most common gearbox based power train concepts, as well as advanced direct drive wind turbine models.

About SAMTECH 

SAMTECH is a European leading provider of Computer Aided Engineering software. Founded in 1986, SAMTECH develops and markets the general-purpose Finite Element Analysis code SAMCEF, the Multi-Disciplinary Optimization platform BOSS quattro and the Open CAE Integration Framework CAESAM. These core engineering software tools answer to a wide range of industrial needs from the preliminary phases of design to the most advanced verification analyses.

The software technology of SAMTECH has an unsurpassed reputation for its quality and reliability. It has been adopted by many major companies across all engineering disciplines as an integral part of their design process. SAMTECH Group has direct offices in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, China, Japan and US for technical support, sales and services, plus a network of technically advanced distributors in other markets. SAMTECH software tools are interoperable with major CAD systems available on the market. SAMTECH is certified to ISO9001: 2000 quality standards.

Visit http://www.samtech.com for details on SAMTECH Products/Services.