As journal bearings have proven their advantages in several other heavy industries, Winergy started to develop the technology as an alternative to common roller bearings in 2010.
By introducing journal bearings into its gearboxes Winergy says it sets another milestone for wind turbine drive technology. Bearings are the critical wear parts of wind gearboxes because they are exposed to high loads in operation and therefore have a significant impact on the overall gearbox reliability. As journal bearings have proven their advantages in several other heavy industries, Winergy started to develop the technology as an alternative to common roller bearings in 2010.
Journal bearings deliver:
- Nearly no wear
- Reduced noise and vibrations
- Higher efficiency at lower costs
Since March 2013 a 2 MW gearbox prototype with journal bearings has been in operation in a Vestas V90 turbine in Sweden. After the testing period of two and a half years the bearings performed as expected: They show no wear in operation and idling and run 100% reliable. Due to these results and the proven advantages, the wind industry shows great interest in the journal bearing technology. Throughout 2016 and 2017 Winergy will deliver additional gearbox prototypes with journal bearings to major customers.
The journal bearing technology is available in Winergy gearboxes and for the HybridDrive.
The gearbox described in the Windpower Engineering and Development article below uses journal bearings in the flex pin:
“NREL readies new wind-turbine drivetrain for commercialization”
June 21, 2016 Paul Dvorak : 0 Comments
No doubt journal bearings have proven superior to roller bearings here. But the illustrations show the planet gears, which must have some means of adjusting themselves to avoid unacceptable distortions in the meshes.
The flex pin was invented for this problem, but they use roller bearings. I wonder whether journal bearings would work in a flex pin.
The illustrations show a solid journal bearing extending the width of the gear. This arrangement would be very stiff, not flexible like the flex pin. It seems that this would bring back the problem of planet gear misalignment, which is probably more serious than any problem with roller bearings.