A high-load-bearing and lightweight wind turbine gearbox

Abstract

This utility model discloses a high-load-bearing and lightweight wind turbine gearbox, relating to the field of wind power equipment technology. It features significantly reduced weight, high load-bearing capacity, long lifespan, high reliability, excellent dynamic performance, low wind resistance, and superior heat dissipation, perfectly meeting the wind power industry's urgent needs for high-performance, lightweight, and high-reliability gearboxes. The gearbox includes an integrally molded housing. Two bearing seats are fixedly installed at both ends inside the housing, respectively for mounting the input shaft and output shaft. The area centered on the two bearing seats on the housing is a high-load-bearing zone, and the area between the two bearing seats is a low-load-bearing zone. The wall thickness of the high-load-bearing zone is greater than that of the low-load-bearing zone. A transition zone is provided between the high-load-bearing zone and the low-load-bearing zone. A first reinforcing rib is provided on the outer side of the housing at the bearing seats, and a second reinforcing rib is fixedly installed on the inner wall of the low-load-bearing zone.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model relates to the field of wind power equipment technology, specifically a high-load-bearing and lightweight wind turbine gearbox. Background Technology

[0002] As the core transmission component of wind turbine generators, the gearbox plays a crucial role in converting the low-speed, high-torque mechanical energy captured by the rotor into high-speed mechanical energy. With the trend of wind turbine generators becoming larger (single unit capacity exceeding 10MW), gearboxes need to withstand greater dynamic loads and complex alternating stresses. Their load-bearing capacity, reliability, and lightweighting level directly affect the overall performance and life cycle cost of the turbine.

[0003] Currently, most mainstream wind turbine gearboxes adopt a split cast iron housing structure, which presents the following technical bottlenecks:

[0004] 1. Excessive weight: Traditional cast iron materials have a high density (about 7.2g / cm³) and often adopt a uniform wall thickness design, resulting in material redundancy in low stress areas. The weight of the box body accounts for 20%-30% of the total weight of the tower top, significantly increasing the cost of the tower, foundation structure and hoisting.

[0005] 2. Low structural efficiency: The split-type box relies on bolt or welding, which creates weak points in rigidity and sealing risks at the connection points; the stress concentration in the bearing housing area is significant, and conventional local thickening solutions can easily lead to sudden changes in wall thickness and stress distortion; the low-stress area lacks effective lightweight structural design and passively relies on material stacking to ensure rigidity.

[0006] 3. Insufficient dynamic performance: Insufficient bearing support stiffness can easily cause shaft vibration, accelerate abnormal wear of gear meshing, and the natural frequency of the housing is easily coupled with the excitation frequency of the transmission system, which may lead to resonance risk.

[0007] 4. Lifespan and maintenance bottlenecks: When the bearings are directly fitted to the aluminum alloy housing, fretting wear leads to loss of fitting accuracy, insufficient heat dissipation causes the gear oil temperature to rise, and accelerates lubricant aging and component thermal fatigue.

[0008] Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop an innovative wind turbine gearbox structure that integrates lightweight, high rigidity, and fatigue resistance characteristics, and to break through the performance ceiling of traditional solutions through systematic design. Utility Model Content

[0009] The technical problem to be solved by this utility model is to overcome the defects of the existing technology and provide a high load-bearing and lightweight wind turbine gearbox with significantly reduced weight, high load-bearing capacity, long service life, good reliability, excellent dynamic performance, low wind resistance, and good heat dissipation, which perfectly meets the urgent needs of the wind power industry for high performance, lightweight and high reliability of gearboxes.

[0010] To solve the above-mentioned technical problems, the technical solution of this utility model is: a high-load-bearing and lightweight wind turbine gearbox, comprising an integrally formed housing, the housing comprising a cylindrical main body, with tapered cylindrical bodies extending from both ends of the cylindrical main body, flanges fixedly provided at the ends of the tapered cylindrical bodies, two bearing seats fixedly provided at both ends inside the housing, the two bearing seats being used to install the input shaft and the output shaft respectively, the area on the housing centered on the two bearing seats being a high-load-bearing area, the area between the two bearing seats being a low-load-bearing area, the wall thickness of the high-load-bearing area being greater than the wall thickness of the low-load-bearing area, a connecting transition area being provided between the high-load-bearing area and the low-load-bearing area, a first reinforcing rib being provided on the outer side of the housing at the position of the bearing seats, and a second reinforcing rib being fixedly provided on the inner wall of the low-load-bearing area.

[0011] Furthermore, the side wall of the housing extends into a boss to form a bearing seat, and a high-strength steel bushing that is interference-fitted with the bearing seat is embedded in the bearing seat.

[0012] Furthermore, the inner hole of the bushing is treated with laser shot peening to form a residual compressive stress layer with a residual compressive stress value > 400 MPa.

[0013] Furthermore, third reinforcing ribs radiate from both sides of the bearing seat toward the housing and the flange, respectively, and the other end of the third reinforcing ribs is fixedly connected to the inner wall of the housing and the flange, respectively.

[0014] Furthermore, the first reinforcing rib is arranged in a ring structure on the outer wall of the box.

[0015] Furthermore, an elliptical weight-reducing groove is provided on the side wall of the low load-bearing area of ​​the box. The weight-reducing groove is a recessed structure on the outer wall of the box and does not penetrate the box wall.

[0016] Furthermore, the second reinforcing rib includes multiple main ribs and auxiliary ribs. The main ribs are arranged around the axis of the box body, and the auxiliary ribs are arranged in a ring structure. The main ribs and the auxiliary ribs intersect to form a grid structure.

[0017] Furthermore, the base material of the enclosure is a cast aluminum alloy with grade A357-T6.

[0018] Furthermore, heat dissipation fins are fixedly provided on the outer surface of the casing.

[0019] Furthermore, the edges of the weight-reducing groove are flanged.

[0020] By adopting the above technical solution, this utility model has the following beneficial effects:

[0021] 1. A357-T6 aluminum alloy base material, variable wall thickness in high / low load-bearing zones, grid-like internal ribs in low load-bearing zones and elliptical weight-reducing grooves on the outer wall, significantly reducing the weight of the box body (30%-50%), reducing the load on the top of the tower, and reducing the cost of the tower, foundation and installation.

[0022] 2. Thickened wall in high load-bearing area, first reinforcing rib, second reinforcing rib and third reinforcing rib provide excellent local and overall rigidity, efficiently transmit and distribute bearing load, and ensure transmission stability;

[0023] 3. The one-piece casting and high-sealing structure eliminate the risk of leakage, significantly improve the wear resistance and fatigue resistance of the bearing housing, avoid stress concentration cracks, resist corrosion and wear, and greatly extend the service life;

[0024] 4. Heat dissipation fins are fixed on the outer surface of the gearbox to increase the heat dissipation area, help control the gearbox operating temperature, and ensure the performance of oil and components. Attached Figure Description

[0025] Figure 1 This is a structural schematic diagram of the high load-bearing and lightweight wind turbine gearbox of this utility model;

[0026] Figure 2 for Figure 1 The main view;

[0027] Figure 3 for Figure 2 A cross-sectional view along the AA direction.

[0028] Reference numerals: 1. Housing; 2. Bearing housing; 3. High load-bearing area; 4. Low load-bearing area; 5. Connection transition area;

[0029] 6. First reinforcing rib; 7. Second reinforcing rib; 8. Third reinforcing rib; 11. Cylindrical body; 12. Conical cylinder;

[0030] 13. Flange; 14. Heat dissipation fins; 15. Weight reduction groove; 21. Bushing; 71. Main rib; 72. Auxiliary rib. Detailed Implementation

[0031] To make the contents of this utility model easier to understand, the present utility model will be further described in detail below with reference to specific embodiments and accompanying drawings.

[0032] In this embodiment, a high-load-bearing and lightweight wind turbine gearbox is provided, including an integrally formed housing 1. The housing 1 includes a cylindrical body 11, with tapered cylindrical bodies 12 extending from both ends of the cylindrical body 11. Flanges 13 are fixedly provided at the ends of the tapered cylindrical bodies 12 on both sides of the housing 1. Two bearing seats 2 are fixedly provided at both ends inside the housing 1. The two bearing seats 2 are used to install the input shaft and the output shaft, respectively. A first reinforcing rib 6 is provided on the outer side of the housing 1 at the position of the bearing seats 2. The area on the housing 1 centered on the two bearing seats 2 is a high-load-bearing area 3, and the area between the two bearing seats 2 is a low-load-bearing area 4. The wall thickness of the high-load-bearing area 3 is greater than the wall thickness of the low-load-bearing area 4. A second reinforcing rib 7 is fixedly provided on the inner wall of the low-load-bearing area 4.

[0033] In this embodiment, the cylindrical body 11, the conical cylinder 12 and the flange 13 are made by an integral casting process, which can eliminate the potential strength weaknesses and sealing risks caused by the connection welds or bolt holes during connection, and significantly improve the overall connection rigidity, structural integrity and sealing performance.

[0034] In this embodiment, a transition zone 5 is provided between the high-load-bearing area 3 and the low-load-bearing area 4 to avoid deformation of the box 1 caused by abrupt changes in its thickness. This also improves the connection stability between the high-load-bearing area 3 and the low-load-bearing area 4, further enhancing the load-bearing capacity and stability of the box 1. The high-stress areas are specifically thickened to ensure load-bearing capacity, while the low-stress areas are thinned to reduce weight. The transition zone design effectively avoids stress concentration and deformation caused by abrupt changes in wall thickness, improving structural stability. Compared to traditional equal-thickness designs, this significantly saves material and reduces overall weight.

[0035] In this embodiment, a boss extends from the side wall of the housing 1 toward the axis to form a bearing seat 2, and a high-strength steel bushing 21 with an interference fit is embedded in the bearing seat 2. The steel bushing 21 greatly improves the hardness and wear resistance of the bearing mounting surface, effectively prevents direct wear between the shaft and the housing 1, ensures the bearing life, and guarantees the normal service life of the bearing. The inner hole of the bushing 21 is treated by laser shot peening to form a residual compressive stress layer with a residual compressive stress value >400Mpa. The residual compressive stress generated by laser shot peening significantly inhibits the initiation and propagation of fatigue cracks and greatly extends the service life of the key friction pair.

[0036] In this embodiment, the bearing housing 2 has third reinforcing ribs 8 radiating from both sides toward the housing 1 and the flange 13, respectively. The other end of the third reinforcing rib 8 is fixedly connected to the inner wall of the housing 1 and the flange 13, respectively. The third reinforcing rib 8 can form an efficient load transfer path, effectively distributing and transferring the bearing load to the main body of the housing 1 and the flange 13, thereby improving the bearing capacity of the bearing housing 2, improving its stability and support effect, and at the same time, improving the seismic resistance of the bearing housing 2, thus making the transmission process more stable and reliable.

[0037] In this embodiment, a first reinforcing rib 6 is provided on the outer wall of the housing 1 at the position of the bearing seat 2. The first reinforcing rib 6 is arranged in a ring structure on the outer wall of the housing 1. The first reinforcing rib 6 can greatly improve the local stiffness and deformation resistance at the bearing seat 2, thereby improving the load-bearing capacity of the housing 1.

[0038] In this embodiment, an elliptical weight-reducing groove 15 is formed on the side wall of the low-load area 4 of the housing 1. Its major axis is parallel to the axis of the housing 1. The weight-reducing groove 15 reduces the overall weight of the housing 1, and its elliptical structure reduces wind resistance. Specifically, to avoid stress concentration at the edge of the weight-reducing groove 15, which could lead to fatigue cracks under high vibration, the edge of the weight-reducing groove 15 is flanged, significantly improving local stiffness and fatigue strength. Furthermore, the weight-reducing groove 15 is a recessed structure on the outer wall of the housing 1, not penetrating the wall, ensuring the housing 1 is sealed and preventing oil leakage and foreign object ingress.

[0039] In this embodiment, the second reinforcing rib 7 includes multiple main ribs 71 and auxiliary ribs 72. The main ribs 71 are arranged around the axis of the box body 1, and the auxiliary ribs 72 are arranged in a ring structure. The main ribs 71 and auxiliary ribs 72 intersect to form a grid structure, which further improves the load-bearing capacity of the box body 1. Under the premise of ensuring the stiffness and strength of the low load-bearing area 4, the grid structure is used to achieve the maximum reinforcement effect with the least amount of material, and the weight is further optimized.

[0040] In this embodiment, the base material of the housing 1 is a cast aluminum alloy with grade A357-T6. Compared with traditional cast iron materials, it has a good strength-to-weight ratio, excellent casting fluidity, is suitable for complex shapes, and has a moderate cost. The inner wall of the housing 1 is subjected to hard anodizing treatment to improve wear resistance and corrosion resistance. At the same time, a wear-resistant coating, such as a PTFE composite coating, is sprayed on the outer surface to improve the wear resistance, weather resistance and certain self-lubricating properties of the outer surface.

[0041] In this embodiment, heat dissipation fins 14 are fixedly provided on the outer surface of the housing 1 to increase the heat dissipation area, promote the dissipation of heat to the environment, improve the overall heat dissipation capacity of the gearbox, and ensure that the oil temperature and component temperature are within a reasonable range.

[0042] The working principle and advantages of this utility model are as follows: The torque of the wind turbine main drive chain is input to the gearbox through the input shaft. After being amplified by the internal gear pair, it is transmitted to the generator through the output shaft. The input shaft and the output shaft are supported by bearings on the bearing seats 2 at both ends of the housing 1. The bearing seats 2 and the surrounding area are the high load-bearing area 3, bearing the most concentrated dynamic load. By thickening the wall, setting the external annular first reinforcing rib 6, embedding the high-strength steel bushing 21, laser shot peening the steel bushing 21, and the third reinforcing rib 8 radiating to the inner wall of the housing 1 and the flange 13, a strong support structure is constructed, which effectively distributes and transmits the bearing load to the entire housing 1 and the connecting flange 13. The area between the two bearing seats 2 is the low load-bearing area 4, bearing a relatively low load. By reducing the wall thickness, setting a grid-like second reinforcing rib 7 on the inner wall of the housing 1, and opening a flanged elliptical weight-reducing groove 15 on the outer wall of the housing 1, significant weight reduction in this area is achieved. The connecting transition zone 5 ensures a smooth transition between the high and low load-bearing zones 4, avoiding stress concentration and potential deformation caused by abrupt changes in wall thickness, and ensuring the overall stability of the structure. The gear meshing and bearing operation inside the gearbox generate heat. The heat dissipation fins 14 fixed to the outer surface of the housing 1 increase the contact area with ambient air, utilizing natural convection to more effectively dissipate heat and help maintain a suitable operating temperature inside the housing 1. High-strength cast aluminum alloy A357-T6 is used instead of traditional cast iron, significantly reducing the material's density and overall weight compared to cast iron housings 1 with equivalent load-bearing capacity—typically reducing weight by 30%-50%. This greatly reduces the load on the wind turbine tower top and lowers tower, foundation, and installation costs. In summary, this solution achieves significant weight reduction while maintaining or even improving load-bearing capacity, rigidity, and reliability through integrated molding, zoned load-bearing optimized variable wall thickness, multiple reinforced bearing seats 2 in key areas, high-efficiency force transmission structure reinforcing ribs, innovative lightweight design with flanged weight-reducing grooves 15, internal mesh ribs, and advanced materials and surface treatment technologies. Its advantages are prominently reflected in significant weight reduction, high load-bearing capacity, long service life, high reliability, excellent dynamic performance, low wind resistance, and excellent heat dissipation, perfectly meeting the wind power industry's urgent needs for high-performance, lightweight, and high-reliability gearboxes.

[0043] The specific embodiments described above further illustrate the technical problems, technical solutions, and beneficial effects of this utility model. It should be understood that the above descriptions are merely specific embodiments of this utility model and are not intended to limit this utility model. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc., made within the spirit and principles of this utility model should be included within the protection scope of this utility model.

Claims

1. A high-load-bearing and lightweight wind turbine gearbox, comprising an integrally formed housing (1), the housing (1) comprising a cylindrical body (11), conical cylindrical bodies (12) extending from both ends of the cylindrical body (11), and flanges (13) fixedly provided at the ends of the conical cylindrical bodies (12), characterized in that: The housing (1) has two bearing seats (2) fixedly installed at both ends inside. The two bearing seats (2) are used to install the input shaft and the output shaft respectively. The area on the housing (1) centered on the two bearing seats (2) is the high load area (3), and the area between the two bearing seats (2) is the low load area (4). The wall thickness of the high load area (3) is greater than the wall thickness of the low load area (4). A connection transition area (5) is provided between the high load area (3) and the low load area (4). A first reinforcing rib (6) is provided on the outside of the housing (1) at the position of the bearing seat (2). A second reinforcing rib (7) is fixedly provided on the inner wall of the low load area (4).

2. The high-load-bearing and lightweight wind turbine gearbox according to claim 1, characterized in that: The side wall of the housing (1) extends into a boss to form a bearing seat (2) and a high-strength steel bushing (21) that is interference-fitted with the bearing seat (2) is embedded in the bearing seat (2).

3. The high-load-bearing and lightweight wind turbine gearbox according to claim 2, characterized in that: The inner hole of the bushing (21) is treated with laser shot peening to form a residual compressive stress layer with a residual compressive stress value >400Mpa.

4. The high-load-bearing and lightweight wind turbine gearbox according to claim 1, characterized in that: The bearing seat (2) has third reinforcing ribs (8) radiating out from both sides toward the housing (1) and the flange (13), respectively. The other end of the third reinforcing ribs (8) is fixedly connected to the inner wall of the housing (1) and the flange (13).

5. A high-load-bearing and lightweight wind turbine gearbox according to claim 1, characterized in that: The first reinforcing rib (6) is arranged in a ring structure on the outer wall of the box (1).

6. A high-load-bearing and lightweight wind turbine gearbox according to claim 1, characterized in that: An elliptical weight-reducing groove (15) is provided on the side wall of the low load-bearing area (4) of the box (1). The weight-reducing groove (15) is a recessed structure on the outer wall of the box (1) and does not penetrate the box wall.

7. A high-load-bearing and lightweight wind turbine gearbox according to claim 1, characterized in that: The second reinforcing rib (7) includes multiple main ribs (71) and auxiliary ribs (72). The main ribs (71) are arranged around the axis of the box body (1), and the auxiliary ribs (72) are arranged in a ring structure. The main ribs (71) and the auxiliary ribs (72) intersect to form a grid structure.

8. A high-load-bearing and lightweight wind turbine gearbox according to claim 1, characterized in that: The base material of the box (1) is a cast aluminum alloy with grade A357-T6.

9. A high-load-bearing and lightweight wind turbine gearbox according to claim 1, characterized in that: The outer surface of the housing (1) is fixed with heat dissipation fins (14).

10. A high-load-bearing and lightweight wind turbine gearbox according to claim 6, characterized in that: The edges of the weight reduction groove (15) are flanged.

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