The Influence of Housing Arrangement and Interference on Preload and Theoretical Lifetime of a System of Taper Roller Bearings of a High Speed Shaft of a Wind Turbine Gearbox

Abstract

A system of two taper roller bearings can carry loads with a high ratio of axial load to radial load. Such a system was proposed for a wind turbine gearbox following the poor durability of original bearing design with the aim of increasing durability. Because of size limits, a proposed system is composed of two different taper roller bearings. Standard manufacturers’ catalogues do not provide information on recommended preload or clearance conditions or the durability as a function of pre-load. That was the reason why durability was calculated on the basis of software provided by one of the manufacturers. The analysis presented in the paper shows the relationship between bearing fits, preload values, and the theoretical durability of the bearing.