A review of failure modes, condition monitoring and fault diagnosis methods for large-scale wind turbine bearings

Fault Tree Analysis of floating offshore wind turbines

Despite constant expansion and engineering progress, wind turbines still present unexpected failures of heavy duty mechanical components drastically affecting the cost of energy. Among the most prevalent tribological failures in wind turbine rolling element bearings, a peculiar rolling contact fatigue mode has been associated to broad subsurface three-dimensional branching crack networks bordered by white etching microstructure, and thus named White Etching Cracks (WEC). Compared to conventional microstructural alterations, WECs tend to develop at moderate loads and cycles eventually leading to premature failures that remain unpredictable using fatigue life estimations. Far from being generic to specific manufacturers, WECs occur in various industrial applications, for various bearing types, components, lubricants, steels grades and heat treatments. As WEC occurrences present no common evident denominator, they remain delicate to reproduce on laboratory test rigs without prior artificial hydrogen charging, so that no consensus on WEC formation mechanisms have been confirmed yet. In this study, a thorough tribological analysis of WEC formation mechanisms has been led. Expertise protocols have been established to best reveal and observe WECs that commonly develop at unconventional locations versus the contact area. First analysis of WEC reproductions on standard rolling element bearings either hydrogen precharged or kept neutral have signified that artificial hydrogen charging, commonly employed to apprehend the failure mode, results in similar WEC morphologies but tends to alter WEC tribological initiation. In consequence, WEC reproductions in remarkably different configurations but without hydrogen charging have been compared in order to propose a better understanding of WEC surface-affected formation mechanisms: first, initiation via tribochemical hydrogen permeation at nascent steel surfaces formed either directly at the raceway or at surface microcracks flanks and second, propagation by local hydrogen embrittlement at crack tips function of the stress state. An extensive root cause analysis have then been led suggesting that WEC may be associated to various combinations of macroscopic operating conditions that often interact and come down to similar tribological parameters including high sliding energy thresholds, specific lubricant formulations and tribochemical drivers such as water contamination and/or electrical potentials. Further investigations on a minimalist twin-disc fatigue tribometer have provided additional evidence that WEC influent drivers are non-self-sufficient, supporting that WEC formation mechanisms rely on a subtle equilibrium between tribo-material, tribo-mechanical and tribo-chemical drivers that all should be mastered to design efficient and durable countermeasures.

Tribological analysis of White Etching Crack (WEC) failures in rolling element bearings

Recent studies suggest that wind shear and the resulting pitch moments increase bearing loads and thereby contribute to premature wind turbine gearbox failure. In this paper, we use momentum-based modeling approaches to predict the pitch moments from wind shear. The non-dimensionalized results, which have been validated against accepted aeroelastic results, can be used to determine thrust force, pitch moment and power of a general rotor as a function of the wind shear exponent. Even in extreme wind shear (m = 1), the actual thrust force and power for a typical turbine (R* < 0.5) were within 8% and 20% of the nominal values (those without wind shear), respectively. The mean pitch moment increased monotonically with turbine thrust, rotor radius and wind shear exponent. For extreme wind shear (m = 1) on a typical turbine (R* = 0.5), the mean pitch moment is ~25% the product of thrust force and rotor radius. Analysis of wind shear for a typical 750 kW turbine revealed that wind shear does not significantly affect bearing loads because it counteracts the effects of rotor weight. Furthermore, even though general pitch moments did significantly increase bearing loads, they were found to be unlikely to cause bearing fatigue. Analyses of more common low wind-speed cases suggest that bearing under-loading and wear are more likely to contribute to premature bearing failure than overloading and classical surface contact fatigue. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Effects of wind shear on wind turbine rotor loads and planetary bearing reliability

This paper presents the practical design, analysis, and experimental testing results and encountered issues for a 5.67:1 Halbach rotor magnetic gear with a ferromagnetic back support. Testing results for both a Halbach rotor magnetic gear with rectangular modulation supports and a bridgeless circular modulation support rod design is evaluated. The presented magnetic gear design is shown to be capable of operating with a peak torque of 189 Nm and an active region torque density of 279.3 Nm/L.

Experimentally Testing a Halbach Rotor Coaxial Magnetic Gear With 279 Nm/L Torque Density

Wind turbine gearboxes are not always meeting 20-year design life. Premature failure of gearboxes increases cost of energy, turbine downtime, unplanned maintenance, gearbox replacement and rebuild, and increased warranty reserves. The problem is widespread, affects most Original Equipment Manufacturers, and is not caused by manufacturing practices. There is a need to improve gearbox reliability and reduce turbine downtime. The topics of this presentation are: GRC (Gearbox Reliability Collaborative) technical approach; Gearbox failure database; Recorded incidents summary; Top failure modes for bearings; Top failure modes for gears; GRC test gearbox; Bearing nomenclature; Test history; Real damage; Gear sets; Bearings; Observations; and Summary. 5 refs.

Wind Turbine Gearbox Failure Modes - A Brief (Presentation)

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Wind Turbine Gearbox Failure Modes - A Brief (Presentation)