Online Gearbox-Load-Monitoring to Increase Gearbox Reliability

Abstract

Failures    of    Gearboxes    within    Offshore-Windpark-Applications    lead    to    long    downtimes    and    high    repair/replacement costs. The strategic goal for Offshore-Windturbines is to avoid gearbox failures at all. This goal is  only  then  realistic  if  the  real  loads  and  forces  are  measured in real time at high frequencies by the gearbox. The  paper  will  report  about  a  Mechatronic  gearbox-prototype of the 1,5 MW-class with integrated contactless load-sensors,     analytic     electronics/software     and     a     highspeed  fieldbus-interface  for  communication  with  the  turbine  controller.  The  full  integration  of  mechanics,  electronics, software and communication.