A proposed criteria to identify wind turbine drivetrain bearing loads that induce roller slip based white-Etching cracks

Abstract

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WhiteWind: White Etching Crack (WEC) Bearing Failures in Wind Turbine: Cooperative Research and Development, CRADA Number CRD-18-00758 (Final Report)

“…A 1-month return period of the maximum contact was chosen as the limiting load criteria for the WEC-inducing slip, as an example. The V52 requires about a 40% higher load than observed in simulations for this WEC criteria to hold, whereas the GE 1.5SLE requires an 18% higher load than observed in the data set for this WEC criteria to hold [7,8]. The damage criteria of the predicted 1-month extreme contact load can be continuously tracked using real-time measurements with updated simulations to determine if it exceeds a threshold load value, which is indicative of WEC onset.…”

“…The gearbox speed was measured using a speed sensor, strain gauges were used for measuring the shaft torque, and laser sensors were used to measure the shaft horizontal and vertical displacements. These measured quantities were then used for estimating the bearing roller slip using an analytical model [7,8], based on another model for a different bearing type. This model assumes rigid-body, in-plane motion of the bearings and neglects the effects of bearing radial clearance and fluid lubrication.…”

Wind Turbine Drivetrain Reliability and Wind Plant Operations and Maintenance Research and Development Opportunities

“…The importance of steel microstructure, heat treatment, lubricant composition, and electrical current is also becoming more understood (Ščepanskis, Gould, and Greco 2017;Gould and Paladugu et al 2019;Roy et al 2019;Gould et al 2021). Recent evidence does indicate bearing failures due to WECs can be reduced through implementation of several countermeasures (Jensen, Heuser, and Petersen 2021); however, design life calculations are still under development and require further verification Leung, Voothaluru, and Neu 2021;Natarajan et al 2021). Pertinent research questions are:…”