CAUSE AND CONTRIBUTING FACTORS OF FAILURE OF GEARED WIND TURBINES, Part 1
Wind turbine on fire
The
geared wind turbines continue to be plagued by numerous gearbox (more
accurately the bearings within the gearbox), blade, mechanical,
weather-related (e.g. lightning), design and maintenance issues.
Just
yesterday Siemens announced that the wind projects are not viable
without heavy government subsidies. The failure of the bearings located
within the gearbox is the most significant problem associated with the
turbines This year, Siemens, a main manufacturer of wind turbines,
reported a charge of 48 million Euros for inspecting and replacing
defective main bearings in some onshore wind turbines. Structural and
mechanical failures (which can result in a tower collapse) are primarily
due to control system errors and lack of effective maintenance.
If
it was not for the government subsidizing of these systems, they would
have never been built that way. This blog addresses the major causes of
failure of wind turbines.
Wind
turbines generate electricity through the wind-induced rotation of two
to three aerodynamic blades located around a rotor. The rotor is
connected to the main shaft that is connected to a generator that in
turn spins to create electricity. We have seen wind turbines smaller
than 100 kW and as large as 6,000 kW. The wind turbines can generate
electricity to run a single piece of equipment (e.g. a water irrigation
pump) at a particular facility or can produce electricity for sale to a
power grid.
The
annual wind turbine capacity of the United States continues to grow
exponentially. This growth is fueled by investment tax credits, federal
goals of mandatory generation of electricity from renewable sources,
rising energy demand, and other factors.
The
biggest wind turbine manufacturers include General Electric, Vestas,
Siemens, Clipper, Mitsubishi, Suzlon, Alstom, and Gamesa.
Crews lift a blade assembly onto the nacelle of Gamesa's G9X-2.0-megawatt turbine at the NWTC.
The main components of a wind turbine system are:
· Tower, made from tubular steel, concrete, or steel lattice;
· Foundation for the turbine’s tower, nacelle and rotor blades;
· Nacelle; it houses the mechanical, electrical, electronic and other components of the turbine;
· Rotor Blades that rotate and cause the rotor to spin;
· Transformer;
· Generator that produces AC electricity from mechanical (rotational) energy; usually an induction generator;
· Rotor; it is formed by the blades and the hub;
· Brake that stops the rotor;
· Tail, but not all turbine types have tails;
· Gearbox that changes between the low and high gear shaft to increase the rotational speed to 1,000-1,800 rpm;
· Electronic control panel ;
· Shafts (low and high speed) connecting the rotor to the generator
· Blade power control system (controls the blade pitch and the yaw);
· Anemometer (wind speed control) and wind vane (wind direction control)
Anatomy of a wind turbine
A
commercial, utility-scale wind energy generation facility typically
consists of tens to hundreds of wind turbines capable of generating
hundreds of megawatts of renewable energy. In addition to the wind
turbines, other facilities associated with a wind farm project include
access roads, temporary crane paths, underground power collection lines,
aboveground generation tie lines (gen-tie), collector substations,
interconnection switch yard, several permanent and temporary
meteorological towers, and operations and maintenance building.
A 6,000-kW offshore wind turbine
The
useful life of these wind turbines is supposed to be 20 years. However,
the turbines have been plagued by numerous problems and this 20-year
life is rather a utopia than anything else. Gearboxes and bearings in
wind turbines, more than those in any other application, tend to fail
prematurely. In fact, at some wind projects, up to half of all bearings
inside the gearboxes fail within a few years.
There
are several reasons for this, including the poor understanding of gear
functioning during storms and gusty winds, relative immaturity of the
technology and industry, the rapid evolution of turbines to extra-large
sizes, poor understanding of turbine loads, and an emerging (and largely
unexplained) failure mode in turbine bearings called axial cracking.
Axial cracking in the gearbox of the wind turbine
The
fact that the manufacturers of the turbines provide only a two-year
warranty, is pretty good evidence of the reliability of this technology
at this time. For example, the catastrophic gear box failures appear to
be caused primarily by induced mechanical voltage straying through the
gearbox, pitting the bearings. This has happened, in some cases, within
18 months after the turbine was placed into service.
Insurance for Wind Farms and Turbines
Like
any piece of complex machinery operating under stress, turbines can
fail. They break. They develop faults. They are improperly constructed.
They are improperly maintained, and so on. And without the right care
and protection policy in place, the resultant claim can quickly spiral
out of control. For the owner and investor, this can lead to lost
revenue and operational downtime; at worse, it means absorbing an
increasingly daunting repair bill. We outline the top causes for turbine
failure and explain what to do when things go wrong.
Wind
farm insurance packages can include: construction insurance, physical
damage, and third-party liability insurance coverage for delays in
building of a wind farm, loss of earnings, and business interruption
once the operation is running. Specifically, wind turbine coverage can
compensate the policyholder for production losses if the wind farm’s
annual wind levels fall below forecast.
Based on our investigations, we list below the most commonly encountered causes of wind turbine failures:
· Bearings and Gearbox issues – this is the Achilles Heel of the Gear-Driven Turbine
· Lightning strikes
· Blade design, manufacturing and installation issues
· Mechanical Breakdown (generators and transformers, burning the windings due to overspeed, etc.)
· Hydraulic failures
· Wind turbine and wind farm electric systems
· Grid failures
· Nacelle fire
· Improper handling during transportation, construction and improper assembly
· Human error(s) in O&M, construction and design
· Turbine collapse
· Natural Catastrophic events
· Yaw motor events
· Poor O&M arrangements
· Axial Stress
· Foundation damage
· Icing
· Accumulation of bugs, dirt and other debris
· For offshore turbines, the power converter suffers from high failure rates
We will address these failure modes below.
Fires
In
a typical year we expect to see total losses – typically caused by a
fire – whereby the unit can no longer be repaired and is declared a
total loss. In these instances, the most common causes are internal
component failure or a buildup of material in lubricants. This can start
an escalating spiral of sequential events and a rather spectacular – if
not expensive – mechanical fire.
Fires are the second highest cause of catastrophic turbine failure
Extreme Weather
In
occasional circumstances, extreme weather is also responsible for
failure – whereby the wind speed and the elements simply become too much
for the engineering dynamics of the machine. Brakes fail, blades seize
up and the chain of events continues to make things worse.
Root Causes of Generator Failure
The main root causes of failure of generators at wind turbine sites include but are not limited to:
·
Failure to follow recommend maintenance practices regarding the
lubrication procedures, collector systems, etc.; mechanical or
electrical failure of bearing, rotor lead failures, cooling system
failures leading to excessive heat and fire.
· Lightning strikes, wind loading, weather extremes, lubricant contamination, thermal cycling, etc.
·
Misalignment and other improper installation, excessive vibration,
voltage irregularities, convertor failure, improper grounding, overspeed
that results in burning of the windings, etc.
·
Manufacturing and/or design failures, such as, loose components
(wedges, banding), inadequate electrical insulation, transient shaft
voltages, poorly designed/crimped lead connectors, rotor lead failures,
the presence of other components inside the nacelle that complicate
service, etc.
·
For generators that are less than 1,000-kW, the most common failure
mode is damage to rotor, following by stator, bearings, collector rings
and miscellaneous generator failures. For generators that are between
1,000- and 2,000-kW, the most common failure mode was associated with
the bearings, followed by collector rings, rotor, stator, cooling
system, rotor leads and miscellaneous failure modes. For generators that
were greater than 2,000-KW, the most common failure mode was associated
with bearings, followed by stator, stator wedge, rotor, rotor leads,
collector rings and miscellaneous failures.
Maintenance
is the critical factor affecting machinery life. Proper repairs are
also critical to the reliability and longevity of the turbine generator.
Damage to the generator windings due to over-speed and subsequent overheating of the windings
Then there are the gearbox and blade lightning strikes.
Again,
these create a spectacular display but also a spectacularly large loss –
with the resultant damage often requiring either extensive turbine down
time and a complex replacement or repair.
Blade Failure Modes
The
main causes of failure of turbine blades include: lightning strikes,
foreign object damage, poor design, material failure, power regulator
failure. A combined thermal and stress analysis of a lightning strike
model of typical wind turbine blade material (including E-glass
composite layups) shows that the fiberglass material immediately
surrounding the lightning attachment location becomes damaged due to
plastic deformation. Depending on the magnitude and number of lightning
strikes, the blade has the potential to fail under an extreme static
gust load, under fatigue, or a combination of the two.
Turbine blade damaged by lightning strike.
Accumulations
of bugs, oil, and ice on the blades will also reduce power as much as
40%. Regular cleaning of the blades has become a maintenance
requirement. Included in the hours of down time for cleaning the blades
is ice built-up when the ice causes the airfoil shape to be changed and
the turbine cannot produce power.
Broken wind blade
Bearing Failures - The Achilles Heel of Geared Wind Turbines
No
matter what type of turbine model, mainshaft bearings are common
failure points. The main reason: spherical roller bearings are not the
optimal bearing configuration. Large amount of radial internal clearance
(RIC) are needed to facilitate original bearing assembly at the
manufacturer. Although this simplifies the assembly at the turbine OEM,
this clearance is not well suited for handling axial loads. The proper
bearing configuration would be a pre-loaded tapered roller bearing, but
this would have increased both turbine assembly time, as well as
purchased cost.
As
a result of this configuration, the thrust from the wind causes the
mainshaft to move axially towards the gearbox until the clearance has
been absorbed, hence unseating the upwind row while the downwind row now
sees the majority of the load.
The
primary failure mode of the mainshaft bearing is macropitting
(spalling) of the downwind race. The unloaded upwind row will then skid
and skew as result of having no roller tractions, creating a second
failure mode of micropitting. The micropitting is also called ‘grey
staining’ or ‘frosting’.
This
consists of microscopic cracks only a few microns deep (about .0001
inches). Individually these cracks are too small to be visible. As they
accumulate they appear as grey stains on the roller surface. Eventually
the bearing roller starts to shed its cracked and weakened surface
losing a small bit of its precision tolerance. Furthermore, this
contaminates the oil with microscopic super hard steel particles most of
which are too small to be filtered out. Why does grey staining begin?
Typically it is a breakdown of the oil film that separates the rollers
from the races.
There
are many opinions in the public domain summarizing common indications
of specific operating conditions in conjunction with premature failures
in wind turbine applications:
·
periods of heavy and dynamic loads/torques – leading to vibrations and
rapid load changes (e.g. transient raceway stress exceeding 3.1 GPa,
heavy loads of 15,000 per year, impact loads). Such transient events can
include: grid loss, high wind shutdowns, wind gusts, curtailments,
control malfunctions, generator short circuits, resonant vibration, misc
emergency stops. Although these reversals are infrequent, they can be
severe.
·
depending on turbine type, additional radial and axial forces by the
rotor, axial motion of the main shaft – leading to dynamical loading,
higher stresses of gearbox components especially in the first stage
·
occasional connecting and disconnecting of the generator to/from the
power grid – leading to torque reversals and bouncing effects (which
e.g. can lead up to 2.5-4 times higher nominal torque and impact loads)
· rapid accelerations/decelerations and motions of the gearbox shafts
· misalignment, structural deformations (nacelle hub, housings)
·
lubricant compromise between needs of gears and bearings as well as
between low and high speed stages, insufficient oil drains and refill
intervals
·
harsh environmental conditions – possible large temperature changes and
consequently larger temperature differences between the bearing inner
ring and housing than expected when starting up, dust, cold climate,
moisture and salt water (especially for off-and near-shore turbines)
·
idling conditions – leading to low load conditions and risk of skidding
damage (adhesive wear) and wear in the low running stage
·
conflicting design needs, e.g. increasing rolling element size will
increase the load capacity but simultaneously increase the risk for
cage-and roller slip and sliding damage
As
stated above, bearings may fail due to other reasons not covered by
best practice standards and from other industrial experiences.
Statistical
evaluations of onshore and offshore wind turbines indicate clearly a
correlation between failure rate, wind speed and heavy and fluctuating
loads.
Metropolitan Engineering, Consulting & Forensics (MECF)
Providing Competent, Expert and Objective Investigative Engineering and Consulting Services
P.O. Box 520
Tenafly, NJ 07670-0520
Tel.: (973) 897-8162
Fax: (973) 810-0440
E-mail: metroforensics@gmail.com
We
are happy to announce the launch of our twitter account. Please make
sure to follow us at @MetropForensics or @metroforensics1
Metropolitan appreciates your business.
Feel free to recommend our services to your friends and colleagues.