Comparisons at Hansen’s 13MW Test Facility
Continuous up-scaling of wind turbine size into the multi-megawatt class, together with developments for offshore installation, means that there is a demand for new wind turbine configurations and technologies. High product reliability is a key factor in these developments, a requirement that is cascaded down to each component manufacturer in the supply chain. With a majority of currently installed wind turbines being gear driven, gearbox manufacturers are being challenged to deliver a drive system, at a high quality level, which will operate in a highly dynamic environment. Reliable drive train design requires good understanding of the gear unit and its dynamic behaviour, particularly in the operational conditions experienced in a wind turbine.
By Ben Marrant, Frederik Vanhollebeke and Joris Peeters, Hansen Transmissions, Belgium
Continuous up-scaling of wind turbine size into the multi-megawatt class, together with developments for offshore installation, means that there is a demand for new wind turbine configurations and technologies. High product reliability is a key factor in these developments, a requirement that is cascaded down to each component manufacturer in the supply chain. With a majority of currently installed wind turbines being gear driven, gearbox manufacturers are being challenged to deliver a drive system, at a high quality level, which will operate in a highly dynamic environment. Reliable drive train design requires good understanding of the gear unit and its dynamic behaviour, particularly in the operational conditions experienced in a wind turbine.
By Ben Marrant, Frederik Vanhollebeke and Joris Peeters, Hansen Transmissions, Belgium