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Study on accelerated life tests for main shaft bearings in wind turbines

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Abstract

This paper focused on a 2.1 MW wind turbine main shaft bearing as the research object and analyzed its reliability under actual working conditions for three years. An accelerated life test for the main shaft bearing in a wind turbine with an amplified load was carried out depending on the reference value of the radial dynamic load rating. The test was conducted for 140 days. The bearing did not show any noticeable damage at the end of the test, which shows that the bearing could be reliable for three years. To prove the correctness of the ALT, a finite element model of the main shaft bearing was created in ABAQUS to obtain the contact stress in both the actual working conditions and the accelerated test conditions. The calculation results were transferred to FE-SAFE to calculate the fatigue life. Finally, a comparison between the theoretical and simulation acceleration factors validated the rationality of the experimental design.

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Abbreviations

A1 :

Serial number of the acceleration sensor 1

A2 :

Serial number of the acceleration sensor 2

AF :

Acceleration factor

α :

Contact angel

B :

Bearing width

b :

Fatigue strength index

C or :

Radial static load rating

C r :

Radial dynamic load rating

c :

Ductility index

D :

Outer ring outer diameter

d :

Inner ring outer diameter

E :

Young’s modulus

F a :

Axial load

F e :

Equivalent dynamic load

F k :

Equivalent dynamic load under the kth load

F m :

Average effective equivalent dynamic load

F r :

Radial load

L s :

Bearing life cycles value

l :

Roller length

N :

Total number of cycles

N f :

Number of cycles

N k :

Number of cycles experienced under the kth load

n s :

Service speed

n t :

Test speed

Q max :

The max normal load coinciding with the force direction

Q ψ :

Normal load borne by the rotation angle ψ from the direction in which the radial force is applied

S :

Survival probability

T1 :

Serial number of temperature sensor 1

T2 :

Serial number of temperature sensor 2

t s :

Average life time under the service condition

t t :

Average life time under the accelerated life test condition

Z :

Number of rollers in each row

Δγ max :

Shear strain amplitude

Δε n :

Principal strain amplitude

σ b :

Tensile strength

σ ′ f :

Fatigue strength coefficient

ξ :

Dimensionless coefficient of bearing type

ε′f :

Fatigue extension coefficient

μ :

Poisson’s ratio

ψ :

The angle of rotation from the direction in which the radial force is applied

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support provided by the National Key R&D Program of China (2019YFB200500303). The authors also greatly appreciate the help offered by the High Performance Computing Center of Nanjing Tech University, who generously provided their computational resources.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Digital Manufacturing for Industrial Equipment and Control Technology, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, 210009, China

    Sheng Jin, Jie Chen & Mingjun Guo

  2. Luoyang LYC Bearing Co., Ltd., Luoyang, Henan Province, 471000, China

    Hanjie Dong & Xinghui Xie

  3. State Key Laboratory of Aviation Precision Bearings, Luoyang, Henan Province, 471000, China

    Hanjie Dong & Xinghui Xie

Authors
  1. Sheng Jin
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  2. Hanjie Dong
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  3. Jie Chen
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  4. Xinghui Xie
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jie Chen.

Additional information

Jie Chen received her Ph.D. degree from Nanjing University of Science and Technology, China, in 2005. She is currently a Distinguished Professor at the Nanjing Tech University. Her research interests are in the areas of test and control theory, equipment fault diagnosis, prognostics health management, and technology on huge bearings.

Sheng Jin received his B.S. degree from the Jiangsu Normal University, China, in 2019. He is currently working towards his M.S. degree in the School of Mechanical and Power Engineering, Nanjing Tech University. His current research interests are on the reliability of bearings in wind turbines and methods of dimensional analysis.

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Jin, S., Dong, H., Chen, J. et al. Study on accelerated life tests for main shaft bearings in wind turbines. J Mech Sci Technol 36, 1197–1207 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-022-0116-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-022-0116-8

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