Electric load damper for damping torsional oscillation

摘要

An electric load damper assembly includes a synchronous generator (10) operable to provide a plurality of phases (A-C) of electrical output in response to a mechanical input from a rotating shaft (16). An electric load damper (12) includes a phase leg (50a-f) for each of the plurality of phases. Each phase leg includes a resistive load (52), a snubber (54) and at least one solid state switch (56, 58). The at least one solid state switch is in parallel with the snubber, and the at least one solid state switch and snubber are collectively in series with the resistive load. A controller (40) is operable to receive a signal indicative of a rotational speed oscillation of the synchronous generator, and is operable to selectively reduce a torsional oscillation of the shaft by diverting electrical current from the synchronous generator through the resistive load of each of the plurality of phases in response to the signal exceeding a predefined threshold.