Common failure modes and solutions of wind turbine gearbox bearings

Common failure modes:

The selection and application of planet carrier bearings are related to the design of the main shaft. At present, the common planet carrier bearing is a cylindrical roller bearing with full complement of rollers. If the main shaft bearing uses spherical roller bearings, whether it is a 3-point support design for a single spherical roller spindle bearing or a 4-point support design for two spherical roller spindle bearings, because the spherical roller bearing is radial and axial With the existence of clearance, when the fan is braking or in other working conditions where the axial load changes direction alternately, the main shaft and the planet carrier connected behind it may move in the axial direction. At this time, if a cylindrical roller bearing is used as the planet carrier bearing, because the inner and outer rings have a certain relative displacement space in the axial direction, the axial movement from the main shaft will be transmitted to the cylindrical roller bearing of the planet carrier, and if If the amount of play is large enough, it will cause an impact on the cylindrical roller bearing. Moreover, since the inner ring gear and the reduction case body are connected as one body, the planetary gear and the planet carrier move axially together, which will also cause tooth surface wear on the planetary gear.

 Solution:

Timken recommends the use of single-row tapered roller bearings straddle, and the effect of axial movement of the main shaft on the planetary gears is solved by pre-tightening the tapered roller bearings. Moreover, the load-bearing area of ​​the preloaded tapered roller bearing has been optimized, which reduces the raceway stress, improves the rigidity of the planetary gear train, and can withstand the extra axial force transmitted to the planet carrier end of the gearbox.

HIGH SPEED GEARBOX TILTING PAD BEARING