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Why Wind Turbine Gearboxes Fail

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244 views

Why Wind Turbine Gearboxes Fail

wind turbine

Uploaded by

asantonyraj
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Why Wind Turbine Gearboxes Fail

Doug Herr General Manager AeroTorque Corporation


David Heidenreich Chief Engineer - AeroTorque Corporation

Despite great efforts to improve the wind turbine gearbox designs, analysis, manufacturing, lubrication systems, control systems, etc., wind
farm operators still suffer costly gearbox repairs and replacements multiple times in the life of their wind turbines. Why?

The NREL Gearbox Reliability Collaborative has answered some of


the key whys to this question. Most gearbox failures do not
begin as gear failures or gear-tooth design deficiencies. The
observed failures appear to initiate at several specific bearing
locations under certain conditions, which may later advance into the
gear teeth as bearing debris and excess clearances cause surface
wear and misalignments. 1
Bearing experts agree that the deterioration of the rollers generally
starts with micropitting, also called grey staining or frosting. This

consists of microscopic cracks only a few microns deep (about


.0001 inches). Individually these cracks are too small to be visible.
As they accumulate they appear as grey stains on the roller surface.
Eventually the bearing roller starts to shed its cracked and weakened
surface losing a small bit of its precision tolerance. Furthermore,
this contaminates the oil with microscopic super hard steel particles
most of which are too small to be filtered out. Why does grey
staining begin? Typically it is a breakdown of the oil film that
separates the rollers from the races.

Bearing rollers showing pitting and spalling damage.

Why do the rolling elements of the bearing break through the oil film and contact the races?
Even in a properly designed and lubricated gearbox, oil film
breakdown can occur during transient events that can cause
concentrated loading and skidding of the bearing rollers on
the races.
Instrumentation on wind turbine gearboxes have measured the
movement of gears, shafts, and even the rollers of the bearings to
find the root cause. The data shows the gears and shafts shifted
rapidly, and the bearing rollers are skewed during transient torsional

reversals in the drive system. The load zone of the bearing shifts
almost 180 degrees. Concentrated edge loading on the skewed
rollers can break through the oil film. Slower unloaded rollers must
accelerate rapidly as they suddenly become loaded, causing
skidding that magnifies the surface stress on the skewed rollers. In
some bearing locations the load zone may simultaneously shifts
axially 180 degrees, adding axial skidding and impact loading to the
overstressed rollers.

Why are wind turbine drive systems subject to torsional reversals?


There are many potential transient load events in their operation that
can cause the drive system to rapidly go through a torsional
reversal. Such events can include:
Grid loss
Grid faults
High wind shutdowns
Wind gusts
Curtailments

Other Emergency stops


Generator short circuits
Resonant vibration
Control malfunctions
Crowbar events

Although these torsional reversals are infrequent, they can be very


severe. Older type stall controlled two speed wind turbines with
blade tip braking are subject to these same infrequent severe torque
reversals. In addition they see reversals during normal blade tip
braking, contactor engagements, and downshifting.

Why cant controls protect the gearbox from torsional reversals?


600
1,500
20
1,000

15

500

RPM

Torque (kNm)

Wind turbines have large


rotating masses in the
blades and generator that
are subject to a variety of
transient loads. Trying to
use controls alone to
ensure against all the
potential causes of
torsional reversals would
be difficult and expensive.

10

-500
5
-1,000

-1,500

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45

Time (s)

Severe torsional reversals during a high wind shut down on a 2.0 megaWatt pitch controlled turbine.
(Measured utilizing AeroTorques WindTM torque monitoring system.)

Dont torque limiters prevent damage during torsional reversals?


Common torque limiters set at 150% to 180% of the wind
turbines rated torque do provide some protection against
severe forward torque spikes (where the bearing rollers are
in position to take the load). However, that same slip torque
level in reverse is high enough to damage the skewed and
skidding rollers during sudden torque reversals.

25

500
20

400

300
15
200

RPM

Torque (kNm)

AeroTorque has developed the WindTC Torsional Control


product with the ability to set the reverse slip torque much
lower than forward.

600

100
10
0

-100

-200

-300

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

Time (s)
w/o Torque Limiter
with Torque Limiter

FWD Torque Setting


Speed w/o Torque Limiter

REV Torque Setting


Speed with Torque Limiter

Two nearby wind turbines during a torque reversal event. One equipped
with AeroTorque WindTC (blue line) and the other without (red line)

Rated Torque

Prolonging life of the entire wind turbine drive system


The AeroTorque WindTC retrofitted onto the generator shaft can
prolong gearbox life and can benefit the entire drive system from the
fibers in the rotor blades to the winding insulation in the generator
rotor. By controlling the levels of reverse torque stress, the fatigue
life of all the drive system components can be extended. See chart
below. Even in modern pitch controlled turbines there is a growing

150%
100%
0

?
No
Torque
Limiter

awareness of a link between emergency stops frequency and the life


of gearboxes and blades. The WindTC with its unique ability to
set the reverse torque lower than the forward torque provides a
simple, lean, economical retrofit solution to transient torsional
reversals. It has a potential to significantly improve the ROI of
todays and tomorrows wind farms.

180%
Torque
Limiter
at 150%

-100%
-150%

?
Comparison of maximum forward and reverse torque loads that a turbine drive
system can be subject to no torque limiter vs. conventional torque limiter vs. WindTC

Footnote:
1
Improving Wind Turbine Gearbox Reliability Conference Paper, NREL/CP-500-51548, May 2007, from the
National Renewable Energy Lab, authored by Walt Musial, Sandy Butterfield, and Brian McNiff
For more information, contact AeroTorque at [email protected] or 330-239-4933, ext. 148.

Wind TC
Reverse
at 40%

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