Mainshaft Bearings: Bearing Arrangements, Failure Trends and Technology Advancements
(Room Paradise)
28 Feb 17
3:10 PM
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3:35 PM
Five different main bearing arrangements are common in wind turbines: 3-point mount, 4-point mount, and direct mount arrangements are used in gear drive turbine, and narrow and spread mount arrangements are used in direct drive turbines. Each of these arrangements has advantages and disadvantages, leading to a variety of documented bearing damage modes. The shortcomings of spherical roller bearings (SRB) in the main shaft position of a 3-point mount wind turbine have been widely observed in the industry. Problems with the 4-point mount arrangement are beginning to become more common, particularly with the rear position bearing. Although less common in the U.S., direct mount gear drive turbines designs also experience damage to the mainshaft bearings, as do both of the direct drive arrangements. For each of these turbine main bearing arrangements, we will examine the advantages and disadvantages of the design, explore the observed bearing failure modes, review upgraded technologies, and discuss maintenance strategies to detect, delay, or prevent damage modes.