A system and method are provided for reducing vibrations and loads in one or more rotor blades on a rotor hub of a wind turbine when the rotor hub is in a locked or idling condition. An electronically tunable mass damper is attached to a fixed location on one or more of the rotor blades. The mass damper is maintained on the rotor blades during the locked or idling condition of the rotor hub. The method includes sensing movement of a mass component of the mass damper from vibrations or oscillations induced in the rotor blade. The mass damper is automatically tuned based on the sensed movements of the mass component by automatically varying an electrical characteristic of the mass damper.

A device component has a magnetorheological brake device with a static holder and with two brake components. A first brake component is rotationally fixedly to the holder and extends in an axial direction. A second brake component has a hollow, rotary part which is rotatable about the first brake component. An encircling gap between the first and second brake components is filled with a magnetorheological medium. The first brake component has a core of magnetically conductive material which extends in the axial direction. An electrical coil is wound axially around the core and spans a coil plane. A magnetic field of the coil extends transversely through the first brake component. A maximum outer diameter of the electrical coil in a radial direction within the coil plane is greater than a minimum outer diameter of the core in a radial direction transversely to the coil plane.

The invention includes systems having a cover attached to a frame, and a transmission unit with a rotational device connected to or part of the frame. The cover is mechanically connected to the at least one rotational device. A vibration dampening unit mechanically connected to the transmission unit such that translational movement (e.g. vertical movements) of the cover causes rotational movement of the rotational device. The rotational movement is, in turn, transmitted to the vibration dampening unit via the transmission unit. Preferably, the vibration dampening unit is a passive unit and also a resistance force modulated vibration dampening unit. The invention also includes methods for dampening vibrations on a load which includes converting translational movement of a load to rotational movement in a transmission unit, the transmission magnifies the displacement and speed of the rotational movement, and then transmitting the rotational movement to a vibration dampening unit, which dissipated the vibrational energy.

A system (1) for vibration management comprises a stator (24, 45); a rotor (26) being mounted rotatably with respect to the stator (24, 45) about a rotational axis (9); one or more active devices (41A-41C) adapted to apply forces and/or moments on the rotor (26) and/or on the stator (24, 45); at least two sensors (42) for measuring vibrational parameter values with respect to two or more different positions, particularly along the rotational axis (9); and a controller (44) adapted to provide control signals to the one or more active devices (41A-41C) based on the vibrational parameter values of the at least two sensors (42) and on the respective position.

Described in certain example embodiments herein is an electrical controller for a damper body assembly that stores a damping policy and instructions implementing a control method based on the policy. In certain embodiments, the controller receives a sensor output and transmits a signal to alter the contribution to a damping coefficient of the damper from each fluid mass as a function of the sensor output, policy, and control method. Described in several exemplary embodiments herein, are methods of using the electrical controller. Also described in several exemplary embodiments herein are damper body assemblies that can be controlled by the electrical controller, an actuation assembly, and methods of using the same.

An ultrasonic motor-based regulated variable-damping vibration isolator, includes a base, a magnetorheological damper, and an adapter plate. The magnetorheological damper is mainly used to support and deplete the energy of vibration; the magnetorheological damper includes an upper cavity, a lower cavity, a connecting ring, a permanent magnet, orifices, a magnetic permeable ring, an ultrasonic motor and the like; a magnetorheological fluid is stored in the upper and lower cavities defined by bellows. The magnetorheological damper uses the ultrasonic motor to drive the permanent magnet to rotate to adjust the overlap ratio of the permanent magnet and the orifices, that is, to adjust the number of the orifices entering the magnetic field of the permanent magnet, so as to change the damping intensity of the damper. After rotating in place, the ultrasonic motor can be powered off and self-locked.

A magnetically-coupled torque assist apparatus includes a movable (rotor) magnet configured to rotate about a rotor magnet axis extending through the rotor magnet, and a stationary (stator) magnet. The rotor magnet and the stator magnet have a gap therebetween. There is an equilibrium state position (ESP) of the rotor magnet where forces acting on the rotor magnet are balanced such that the rotor magnet is stationary about the rotor magnet axis. And when the rotor magnet is rotated from the equilibrium state position (ESP) to an elastically stressed state position (SSP), magnetic fields of the rotor magnet and the stator magnet generate a resultant magnetic force on the movable magnet that biases the movable magnet towards the equilibrium state position. In some embodiments, the stator and rotor magnets are configured to create a Halbach-effect magnetic field bloom, which contributes to the magnetic forces.

Energy conversion systems and methods are disclosed. In one aspect, the system is for converting or redirecting energy received by an impact to an automobile in a proximal direction into another type of energy. The system includes a body having a first engagement structure and an impact member configured to be installed within an outer perimeter compartment of the automobile to receive an impulse. The impact member having a second engagement structure and a third engagement structure. The second engagement structure being configured to engage with the first engagement structure of the body to facilitate the impact member translating in the direction relative to the body. The system further includes a converter having a fourth engagement structure, the fourth engagement structure being configured to engage with the third engagement structure of the impact member and convert the energy received by the impact member into another type of energy. The system may change or redirect a direction of a force vector associated with the received impulse.

A flywheel assembly for a renewable energy generation system includes a flywheel housing defining a cavity therein, a flywheel rotatably disposed within the cavity of the flywheel housing, where the flywheel is simultaneously formed from the same component as the flywheel housing, a magnetic levitation disk defining opposed upper and lower surfaces, the upper surface supporting the flywheel and the lower surface including a first plurality of magnets disposed thereon, and a base plate having a second plurality of magnets disposed on a surface thereof that is facing the first plurality of magnets, the second plurality of magnets having a polarity that is opposite of a polarity of the first plurality of magnets such that the magnetic force of the first and second plurality of magnets urges the magnetic levitation disk away from the base plate.

The invention relates to a method for actively balancing a rotor (1), comprising: providing a device with a rotor (1) that can be rotated around an axis of rotation and a mechanism (2) allocated to the rotor (1) for actively balancing, in which a magnetic fluid (7) is received in a fluid chamber (6) formed on the rotor (1), which partially fills the fluid chamber (6) and contains at least one of the following fluids: ferrofluid and magnetorheological fluid; holding the magnetic fluid (7) by means of a permanent magnetic field of a permanent magnet (5) arranged on the rotor (1) in an initial position in the fluid chamber (6); rotating the rotor (1) around the axis of rotation (3), and passing the fluid chamber (6) and permanent magnet (5) by an electrical exciter system with a fixedly arranged electromagnet (8) during the rotation of the rotor (1), wherein the permanent magnetic field of the permanent magnet (5) and an electromagnetic field of the electromagnet (8) here overlap in an activated state for active balancing purposes, so that the magnetic fluid (7) in the fluid chamber (6) performs a mass displacement proceeding from the initial position. Also created is a device with a rotor (1) and a mechanism (2) allocated to the rotor (1) for actively balancing the rotor (1).