Whenever we have the opportunity to look at damaged bearings, we as scientists love to do so. Be it the bearings we tested in our own lab or bearings directly from the field, it is always exciting to see what…
Part 3: Rapid testing of blade bearings – The first endurance run. In Part 1, I introduced the idea of an accelerated endurance run for blade bearings, which would consist of all wear-inducing cycles in direct succession. In Part 2,…
The deformation under load and the load distribution within the bearing are of great significance for the design of large rolling bearings such as rotor blade bearings. FE models are indispensable when it comes to determining the load distribution and…
Part 2: Rapid testing of blade bearings – from the desk to the test bench The first milestones on our journey to a blade bearing test are described in part 1. In mid-2013, we submitted a project outline with the…
Part 1: Rapid testing of blade bearings – but how? Back in 2013, the Fraunhofer IWES was still only a fairly small Fraunhofer institute and many of the test benches which would later shape the image of the institute were…
Predicting the fatigue lifetime of rotor blade bearings is a particularly difficult task as the use of existing calculation methods requires a comprehensive understanding of the systems and the methods are scarcely validated for the unique blade bearings with their extraordinary load situations.
The operating conditions for rotor blade bearings of wind turbines differ significantly from most industrial applications. At Fraunhofer IWES, this has led to the development of the world’s most comprehensive testing technology for blade bearings.An interview with Christian Broer Christian,…
Getting to grips with research: The time my research project involved a hammer and screwdriver – a somewhat different kind of experience report. As a research associate at the Fraunhofer IWES, my day-to-day work involves the simulation of large rolling…
