Determination of Wind Turbine Main Bearing Load Distribution

Kock, Stefan; Jacobs, Georg; Bosse, Dennis

doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1222/1/012030

Cited by 11 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…More recently, FEMs have been used to understand load and pressure distributions about WTMBs. In Kock et al (2019) this is done with the aim of understanding the effect contributed by elasticity in the MB housing along with the applied load and bearing clearance. Their results indicate that the elastic surroundings lead to more rollers under load and hence a lower maximum load, indicating that housing elasticity should be modelled to avoid errors.…”

Section: Finite-element Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A review of wind turbine main bearings: design, operation, modelling, damage mechanisms and fault detection

et al. 2020

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This paper presents a review of existing theory and practice relating to main bearings for wind turbines. The main bearing performs the critical role of supporting the turbine rotor, with replacements typically requiring its complete removal. The operational conditions and loading for wind turbine main bearings deviate significantly from those of more conventional power plants and other bearings present in the wind turbine power train, i.e. those in the gearbox and generator. This work seeks to thoroughly document current main-bearing theory in order to allow for appraisal of existing design and analysis practices, while also seeking to form a solid foundation for future research in this area. The most common main-bearing setups are presented along with standards for bearing selection and rating. Typical loads generated by a wind turbine rotor, and subsequently reacted at the main bearing, are discussed. This is followed by the related tribological theories of lubrication, wear and associated failure mechanisms. Finally, existing techniques for bearing modelling, fault diagnosis and prognosis relevant to the main bearing are presented.Published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Academy of Wind Energy e.V.

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Section: Finite-element Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A review of wind turbine main bearings: design, operation, modelling, damage mechanisms and fault detection

et al. 2020

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“…Bearing clearance is assumed to be 0 since this parameter most directly influences the internal load distribution rather than overall reaction force. The bedplate is assumed to be rigid in this model, which, from previous work (Kock et al, 2019;Wang et al, 2020a), can be expected to provide conservatively higher bearing unit reaction force results than if bedplate flexibility were included. 1 A fixed support was added to the base of the bearing housing to represent the connection to the bedplate, and the connection between the low-speed shaft and the gearbox was modelled by three body-to-ground spring connections in the horizontal, vertical, and axial directions.…”

Section: Dsrb Fe Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The study concludes that flexibility in the bedplate leads to a reduction in loading and fatigue experienced by MBs when compared to the rigid case. Kock et al (2019) use high-fidelity FE models to investigate MB internal load distributions and contact pressures when considering variations in elasticity about the bearing circumference and clearance values. Their findings indicate that bearing housing elasticity strongly influences the number of rolling elements under load and the maximum forces experienced by rolling elements.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Constructing fast and representative analytical models of wind turbine main bearings

2021

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Abstract. This paper considers the modelling of wind turbine main bearings using analytical models. The validity of simplified analytical representations used in existing work is explored by comparing main-bearing force reactions with those obtained from higher-fidelity 3D finite-element models. Results indicate that there is good agreement between the analytical and 3D models in the case of a non-moment-reacting support (such as for double-row spherical roller bearings), but the same does not hold in the moment-reacting case (such as for double-row tapered roller bearings). Therefore, a new analytical model is developed in which moment reactions at the main bearing are captured through the addition of torsional springs. This latter model is shown to significantly improve the agreement between analytical and 3D models in the moment-reacting case. The new analytical model is then used to investigate load characteristics, in terms of forces and moments, for this type of main bearing across different operating points and wind conditions.

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“…We also agree that more literature pertaining to wind turbine main bearings would strengthen this piece of work and this will be included in the updated manuscript. This will include [1][2][3][4][5][6], below, among others.…”

Section: Responsementioning

confidence: 99%

Response to Reviewer 1

Stirling¹

2020

Preprint

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Thank you for taking the time to study this paper and provide valuable constructive criticism which we believe has helped develop and strengthen this work. I have laid out all of your comments below and responded each of them in turn. Some comments touch upon the overall goal of this work and so the opening of the response has been written to clarify the main goals and overall narrative of the paper. Having received feedback on the paper we now realise that this was not outlined clearly enough in the original manuscript and so we will also be making this clearer in the updated paper. If more information is required or we have misinterpreted any of your comments, then C1 WESD Interactive comment Printer-friendly version Discussion paper please don't hesitate to get in contact and we will be happy to provide extra information to remedy this. Best regards, James Stirling (Lead author) Review Comments and Author Response Opening: Recent work which has demonstrated important and unusual load behaviours in wind turbine main bearings has used simplified analytical representations of the drivetrain. Such simple representations will be necessary if this type of analysis is to be performed for large numbers of load cases, incorporated into fleet wide wind turbine digital twin models, used in wind farm simulation software or as part of industry standard BEM programs such as Bladed or FAST. Analytical models of these type are therefore important and already utilised in some instances. However, to date a detailed assessment of how effectively these models represent wind turbine drivetrain load reaction at the main bearing (including different bearing types) has not yet been carried out and it is therefore important to scrutinise the validity of these models and where they might apply. comment Printer-friendly version Discussion paper analysis of a 10-MW medium-speed drivetrain for offshore wind turbines, Wind Energy,

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Determination of Wind Turbine Main Bearing Load Distribution

Cited by 11 publications

References 6 publications

A review of wind turbine main bearings: design, operation, modelling, damage mechanisms and fault detection

A review of wind turbine main bearings: design, operation, modelling, damage mechanisms and fault detection

Constructing fast and representative analytical models of wind turbine main bearings

Response to Reviewer 1

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