Chinese OEM and U.S. bearing manufacturer team up for turbines

The Timken Company and Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology Co., Ltd. have signed a memorandum of long-term strategic collaboration in the United States to cooperate on a range of technical services, products, and aftermarket support for the development, supply and maintenance of advanced wind-turbine components.

The memorandum’s three-year term extends and broadens an existing relationship between the two companies, with opportunity to multiply significantly their current collaboration. To support these efforts, Timken will develop additional capacity in China and at its other facilities focused on wind energy technology to support Goldwind’s expansion globally.

The memorandum reflects the highest level of collaboration between the companies, including the following Timken capabilities:

• Original-equipment design and engineering services;
• Testing at Timken’s new Wind Energy Research and Development Center scheduled to open in 2012
• Supply of bearings and adjacent power-transmission components
• Optimization of wind-turbine installations
• Field services and aftermarket lifecycle support for Goldwind’s growing installed base, including on-line intelligence monitoring systems, and
• Integrated supply-chain management and wind-farm sustainability services.

Goldwind and Timken executives said the memorandum reinforces their commitment to develop sustainable wind energy projects to strengthen the global balance of green power generation. The companies began collaboration on 1.5 MW wind turbines. In 2010, they signed an agreement valued at $26 million supporting development of additional, multi-megawatt projects.

Goldwind
www.Goldwindamerica.com

Timken Co.
http://www.timken.com/

How to recognize drivetrain defects

A Wind Turbine Drivetrain Diagnostics Simulator (WTDS) generates wind-turbine-drivetrain faults so users can learn to recognize signatures in a controlled environment. The setup lets users learn signatures of drivetrain component faults such as gear surface wear, cracks, chips, and missing teeth. By sharpening the skills of client analysts, the bench-top system, can minimize gearbox, bearings, and blade-mechanism failures thereby avoiding unexpected downtime and production loss. The system also shows bearing inner and outer race defects and bearing ball damage. And it shows signatures for gear backlash, eccentricity, and misalignment.

Distinguishing and recognizing drivetrain faults result in quicker field diagnostics and repair. The complete drivetrain consists of a two-stage planetary gearbox, a two-stage parallel-shaft gearbox with rolling or sleeve bearings, a bearing loader, a programmable magnetic brake, and a variable yaw-and-pitch scaled wind turbine. All elements of the WTDS maximize the number of drivetrain configurations to research gearbox dynamics and acoustic behavior by health monitoring, vibration-based diagnostic techniques, lubricant conditioning, or wear-particle analysis. It is rugged enough to handle heady loads and spacious enough for easy gear placement, setup, and installation of monitoring devices.

SpectraQuest Inc
www.spectraquest.com