An experimental study on the performance and fatigue life of pitch bearing for wind turbine

초록

We evaluated the performance and fatigue life of a pitch bearing for multi-megawatt wind turbine. The test pitch bearing was a fourpointcontact ball bearing of internal-gear type designed to meet all specifications required for wind turbine pitch bearings. The tests useda test rig capable of reproducing the operational environment of pitch bearings, and the test items were selected on the basis of the actualoperational conditions of the pitch bearing: a performance test to investigate friction torque and stiffness characteristics under extremeloads, and a fatigue life test to investigate friction torque and raceway surface temperature characteristics under fatigue loads. As test results, the friction torque of the pitch bearing was within the theoretically expected range, and stiffness characteristics also coincidedwell with the known trend for ball bearings. In addition, the raceway surface temperature barely changed in the operational temperaturerange; thus, it can be concluded that the pitch bearing has worked satisfactorily without losing its functionality under the regulatedextreme and fatigue loading conditions.

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