Enhancing wind turbine energy efficiency: Tribo-dynamics modeling and shape modification

The performance of wind turbine gearbox planetary bearing systems directly influences the turbine's reliability, energy production efficiency, and economy. However, the lack of a comprehensive model to accurately predict the dynamic meshing load of helical gears and temperature effects hinders a deeper understanding of the transient performance of gearbox planetary sliding bearings. Additionally, research on shape modification for gearbox planetary sliding bearings remains inadequate. This study develops a comprehensive tribo-dynamics model that considers the dynamic meshing forces of helical gears and temperature effects. The model's effectiveness is validated by the concordance between experimental data from a full-size test bench and simulation results on oil film thickness and temperature. Transient simulation analysis indicates insufficient lubrication, high-temperature rise, and severe contact that reduce electricity production efficiency and reliability, all of which occur at bearing axial edges. Therefore, three modified bearing designs (super-elliptical, trapezoidal, and quadratic shapes) are introduced, and their improved performance is thoroughly compared. The super-elliptical design increases the minimum oil film thickness by 2.60 μm. The trapezoidal design reduces cumulative friction energy losses by 4.34 %. Each modified design successfully reduces the edge wear and oil temperature. The underlying enhancing mechanisms are revealed to be oil film uniform redistribution and lubrication states' alteration. This work can contribute to the reliability, electricity production efficiency, and economy of global wind turbines and support the achievement of net-zero emission goals.