source: IKERLAN

CS1 Novel pitch bearing design concept

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A pitch bearing is a component that connects the rotor hub and the rotor blade. The bearing allows the required oscillation to control the loads and power of the wind turbine.

  • The new pitch bearing design must fulfil the loading, environmental and structural specifications defined for future larger wind turbines: higher static capacity, longer lifetime and longer fatigue loading requirements are expected.
  • Final Rolling Contact Fatigue (RCF) failure mode validation will be performed on the 1,5 MW test bench at LAULAGUN´s facilities. Other major failure modes will also be analysed and validated during the development of the component in order to verify the results obtained by hybrid testing implemented during INNTERESTING.
source: SIEMENS

Currently the most common pitch bearing concept is the Four-point contact (4PC) bearing design, widely used in the wind industry.

In the last years 3 Row Roller (3RR) bearings have gained an increasing presence in the sector

Future bearing concept
But in any case, a bearing concept for supporting higher loading conditions is needed for future wind turbines.