Wind Turbine Roller Bearing With Adapter Ring for Higher Load Capacity
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Solution Overview
Problem
Wind turbine blade bearings experience premature failure due to high operational loads, leading to costly replacements and downtime, with existing solutions failing to provide sufficient load capacity, rigidity, and service life, especially in restricted installation spaces.
Innovation Solution
A large roller bearing design incorporating an adapter ring that extends one of the rings axially, allowing for a larger radial installation space and accommodating more rolling elements or additional rows, thereby enhancing load capacity, rigidity, and service life without altering the connection situation with the rotor hub and blade.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the installation space between rotor hub and rotor blade is restricted, then the bearing design is constrained, but load capacity and service life are insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The adapter ring extends the bearing arrangement in the axial direction, utilizing the unused axial space between the rotor hub and rotor blade. This dimensional extension allows accommodation of larger rolling elements and multi-row configurations without increasing radial footprint, thereby improving load capacity and service life within the constrained installation space.
Solution Approach 2:
The bearing system is divided into modular components: the original bearing and the adapter ring with additional rolling elements. This segmentation allows the bearing capacity to be increased by adding more rolling elements in series along the axial direction, enabling progressive enhancement of load capacity without redesigning the entire bearing system.
2Force
If blade bearings are subjected to high operational loads, then load capacity must be increased, but premature failure occurs due to overload
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple bearing rows are combined within the adapter ring structure, with rolling elements arranged in series along the axial direction. This merging of multiple load-bearing paths increases the total load capacity while distributing operational loads across more rolling elements, thereby improving operational stability and preventing premature failure due to overload on individual elements.
3Force
If rolling elements are made larger to increase load capacity, then more space is required, but installation space is limited
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of increasing rolling element size in the radial direction (which would exceed installation space limits), the design transitions to the axial dimension by arranging multiple rows of rolling elements along the axial direction of the adapter ring. This allows larger total load capacity through increased quantity of rolling elements rather than individual size, fitting within the constrained radial installation space.
4Force
If additional rolling elements or rows are added to increase load capacity, then bearing complexity increases, but installation and assembly become more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The bearing system is segmented into the original bearing and a separate adapter ring module. This segmentation allows the complex multi-row bearing structure to be manufactured and pre-assembled as a modular unit, simplifying installation by reducing the number of assembly steps on-site while maintaining high load capacity through the integrated multi-row design within the adapter ring.
Data Source
AI summary
A large roller bearing has an inner ring and an outer ring, raceways for rolling elements received between these raceways, a first and a second end face. First fastening means extend from the first to the second end face, wherein each of the first fastening means is aligned with a bore of a first connecting element. An adapter ring extends from the outer or inner ring axially toward the first or a second connecting element. The adapter ring has a first and a second end face, and second fastening means extend from its first to its second end face, and each second fastening means is aligned with a bore of a second connecting element. Third bores are spaced apart from one another, wherein each of the third bores is aligned at the first end face of the adapter ring with a bore of the outer ring or the inner ring.