Investigation of high-speed shaft bearing loads in wind turbine gearboxes through dynamometer testing
Abstract
Many wind turbine gearboxes require repair or replacement well before reaching the end of their design life. The most common failure is bearing axial cracks, commonly called white etching cracks (WECs), which typically occur in the inner raceways of the high-speed parallel-stage rolling element bearings. Although the root causes of WECs are debated, one theory is that they are related to routine dynamic operating conditions and occasional transient events prevalent in wind turbines that can result in high bearing stress and sliding of the rolling elements. Here, this paper examined wind turbine gearbox high-speed shaft bearing loads and stresses through modeling and full-scale dynamometer testing. Bearing outer race loads were directly measured and predicted using a variety of modeling tools in normal operations, misaligned conditions, and transient events particularly prone to bearing sliding. Test data and models of bearing loads were well correlated. Neither operational misalignment due to rotor moments nor static generator misalignment affected the bearing loads when compared with pure-torque conditions. Thus, it is not likely that generator misalignment is a causal factor of WECs. In contrast, during transient events, the bearings experienced alternating periods of high stress, torque reversals, and loads under the minimum requisite at highmore »
- Authors:
-
[1];
[1]
- National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States). National Wind Technology Center
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Wind and Water Technologies Office (EE-4W)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1409495
- Report Number(s):
- NREL/JA-5000-66889
Journal ID: ISSN 1095-4244
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC36-08GO28308
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Wind Energy
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 21; Journal Issue: 2; Journal ID: ISSN 1095-4244
- Publisher:
- Wiley
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 17 WIND ENERGY; axial crack; bearing load; gearbox; reliability; white etching crack
Citation Formats
Guo, Yi, and Keller, Jonathan. Investigation of high-speed shaft bearing loads in wind turbine gearboxes through dynamometer testing. United States: N. p., 2017.
Web. doi:10.1002/we.2150.
Guo, Yi, & Keller, Jonathan. Investigation of high-speed shaft bearing loads in wind turbine gearboxes through dynamometer testing. United States. https://doi.org/10.1002/we.2150
Guo, Yi, and Keller, Jonathan. Fri .
"Investigation of high-speed shaft bearing loads in wind turbine gearboxes through dynamometer testing". United States. https://doi.org/10.1002/we.2150. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1409495.
@article{osti_1409495,
title = {Investigation of high-speed shaft bearing loads in wind turbine gearboxes through dynamometer testing},
author = {Guo, Yi and Keller, Jonathan},
abstractNote = {Many wind turbine gearboxes require repair or replacement well before reaching the end of their design life. The most common failure is bearing axial cracks, commonly called white etching cracks (WECs), which typically occur in the inner raceways of the high-speed parallel-stage rolling element bearings. Although the root causes of WECs are debated, one theory is that they are related to routine dynamic operating conditions and occasional transient events prevalent in wind turbines that can result in high bearing stress and sliding of the rolling elements. Here, this paper examined wind turbine gearbox high-speed shaft bearing loads and stresses through modeling and full-scale dynamometer testing. Bearing outer race loads were directly measured and predicted using a variety of modeling tools in normal operations, misaligned conditions, and transient events particularly prone to bearing sliding. Test data and models of bearing loads were well correlated. Neither operational misalignment due to rotor moments nor static generator misalignment affected the bearing loads when compared with pure-torque conditions. Thus, it is not likely that generator misalignment is a causal factor of WECs. In contrast, during transient events, the bearings experienced alternating periods of high stress, torque reversals, and loads under the minimum requisite at high rotating speeds while showing indications of sliding, all of which could be related to the formation of WECs.},
doi = {10.1002/we.2150},
journal = {Wind Energy},
number = 2,
volume = 21,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Nov 10 00:00:00 EST 2017},
month = {Fri Nov 10 00:00:00 EST 2017}
}
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Works referenced in this record:
Planetary gear load sharing of wind turbine drivetrains subjected to non-torque loads: Planetary gear load sharing
journal, March 2014
- Guo, Yi; Keller, Jonathan; LaCava, William
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Material wear and fatigue in wind turbine Systems
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An updated review: white etching cracks (WECs) and axial cracks in wind turbine gearbox bearings
journal, March 2016
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The Influence of Sliding and Contact Severity on the Generation of White Etching Cracks
journal, October 2015
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Experimental investigation of bearing slip in a wind turbine gearbox during a transient grid loss event: High-speed stage bearing slip during grid loss event
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An analysis of premature cracking associated with microstructural alterations in an AISI 52100 failed wind turbine bearing using X-ray tomography
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A combined surface integral and finite element solution for a three-dimensional contact problem
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Investigation on the mechanisms of white etching crack (WEC) formation in rolling contact fatigue and identification of a root cause for bearing premature failure
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Works referencing / citing this record:
Data‐driven multiscale sparse representation for bearing fault diagnosis in wind turbine
journal, January 2019
- Guo, Yanjie; Zhao, Zhibin; Sun, Ruobin
- Wind Energy, Vol. 22, Issue 4
Wind turbine main‐bearing loading and wind field characteristics
journal, July 2019
- Hart, Edward; Turnbull, Alan; Feuchtwang, Julian
- Wind Energy, Vol. 22, Issue 11
Powering the 21st century by wind energy—Options, facts, figures
journal, September 2019
- Rohrig, K.; Berkhout, V.; Callies, D.
- Applied Physics Reviews, Vol. 6, Issue 3