Improvement of the pitch bearing load distribution by shape-optimized stiffening plates

Abstract

Due to a small cross-sectional dimension compared to their diameter, pitch bearings have a comparably low stiffness. Therefore, surrounding structures strongly influence the internal load distribution of the bearing. By the use of stiffening plates, the load situation of pitch bearings can be positively affected. With a gradient-based optimization procedure regarding contact force and contact angle distribution, an optimized plate shape is determined. This optimized shape provides at the same time a more equalized load distribution, while minimizing the effect of contact ellipse truncation.

Rating of a Pitch Bearing for a 1.5-Megawatt Wind Turbine

“…Large-diameter pitch bearing tests have been conducted to determine friction torque (González et al 2008;Han et al 2015;Menck et al 2022) and fatigue lives and wear characteristics (Handreck et al 2015;Becker et al 2017;Grebe et al 2018;He et al 2018;Schwack, Prigge, and Poll 2018;Fischer and Mönnig 2019;Schwack et al 2020;Schwack et al 2021;Song and Karikari-Boateng 2021). Other assessments have been made of the turbine controller characteristics Menck, Stammler, and Schleich 2020;Stammler et al 2020) and stiffening plates (Loriemi et al 2020). A model for false brinneling of cylindrical roller bearings subject to very small vibratory motions has also been proposed (Brinji, Fallahnezhad, and Meehan 2020).…”