Fraunhofer´s test bench for rotor blade bearings of up to 6.5 meters in diameter has been commissioned at the institute’s Hamburg facility. The accelerated tests – simulating 20 years of service in six months of testing – will increase the reliability of large rolling bearings and help to develop new calculation methods and designs.In laboratory testing seven hydraulic cylinders simulate rotor blade movement and rotor rotation during wind turbine operation, with all the load cycles that represent the load on the rolling bearing.
The first significant test objects weigh around 9,500 kg each and are part of the HAPT (Highly Accelerated Pitch Bearing Test) research project funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi): eight bearings with a nominal diameter of five meters will undergo tests of function and fatigue between now and the summer 2021. This project in collaboration with the Institute of Machine Elements, Engineering Design and Tribology (IMKT) of Leibniz University Hannover and the IMO Group aims to develop methods for the accelerated testing of rotor blade bearings.
