General Electric Company

General Electric Renovables Espana, S.l.

Dhanesh Chandrashekar Pathuvoth

Vidyashankar Ramasastry Buravalla

Biju Nanukuttan

Srikanth Samudrala

Adam Daniel Minadeo

William Max Gobeli

Sujan Kumar Pal

Prashanth Kumar Reddy Vaddi

Venkata Krishna Vadlamudi

Willem Jan Bakhuis

Rajanikanth Reddy Dasari

Mohan Kumar Lakshminarayana

Wenguang Pan

Abhijit Shivashankar

Frank Hinken

Sagar Vidya Meesala

A pitch assembly for a wind turbine includes a pitch bearing comprising an inner race, an outer race, and a plurality of gear teeth arranged on one of the inner race or the outer race. The pitch assembly further includes a pitch drive mechanism having a pitch drive motor and a primary pitch drive pinion. The primary pitch drive pinion is configured to rotate one of the inner race or the outer race of the pitch bearing about a pitch axis by engaging with a first set of the plurality of gear teeth. The pitch assembly also includes a secondary pinion engaging a second set of the plurality of gear teeth. The secondary pinion is constructed of a deformable material such that backlash is eliminated between the secondary pinion and the plurality of gear teeth, thereby minimizing micro-pitching of the pitch assembly.

Pitch assembly for a wind turbine having minimized micro-pitching

A method for monitoring damage of a slewing ring bearing of a wind turbine includes arranging at least one optical fiber sensor adjacent to or at least partially on at least one of an inner race or an outer race of the slewing ring bearing. Further, the method includes receiving, via a controller, signals from the at least one optical fiber sensor indicative of one or more changes associated with the slewing ring bearing. The method also includes comparing, via the controller, the one or more changes associated with the slewing ring bearing to a damage threshold. Moreover, the method includes implementing, via the controller, a control action when the one or more changes exceeds the damage threshold to prevent or minimize further damage from occurring to the slewing ring bearing.

System and method for monitoring damage of a bearing for a wind turbine

A method for detecting a failure condition in one or more components of a wind turbine is provided. The method includes actuating, via a controller, an impact device to generate a vibration having a vibration frequency and a vibration magnitude in the one or more components. The method further includes receiving data indicative of the vibration frequency and the vibration magnitude from a sensor communicatively coupled to the controller. The method further includes determining, via the controller, whether the data indicative of the vibration frequency and/or the vibration magnitude is outside of a predetermined vibration range for the one or more components.

System and method for detecting a failure condition in a component of a wind turbine

The present disclosure is directed to methods for manufacturing a wind turbine slewing ring bearing having an integral stiffener configured to resist deformation of the bearing under a load. More specifically, the present disclosure is directed to methods for manufacturing components of a slewing ring bearing (e.g., an inner, center, and outer race) using near-net-shape (NNS) ring rolling techniques. In particular, the present disclosure is directed to methods for manufacturing slewing ring bearing races, via NNS ring rolling, that are not restricted to conventional (e.g., generally square, rectangular, quadrilateral, trapezoid, quadrilateral) cross-sectional profiles that necessitate attachment of a separate, non-integral stiffener (e.g., a non-integral stiffening plate, stiffening ring, or stiffening assembly).

Method for manufacturing slewing ring bearing components having an integral stiffener

A method for reducing extreme loads acting on a component of a wind turbine includes measuring, via one or more sensors, a plurality of operating parameters of the wind turbine. Further, the method includes predicting at least one blade moment of at least one rotor blade of the wind turbine based on the plurality of operating parameters. The method also includes predicting a load and an associated load angle of the at least one rotor blade as a function of the at least one blade moment. Moreover, the method includes predicting a pitch angle of the at least one rotor blade of the wind turbine. In addition, the method includes generating a load envelope for the component that comprises at least one load value for the pitch angle and the load angle. Thus, the method includes implementing a control action when the load is outside of the load envelope.

System and method for improved extreme load control for wind turbine components

A bearing assembly for a wind turbine includes a bearing comprising an outer race, an inner race rotatable relative to the outer race, and a plurality of roller elements positioned within at least one raceway defined between the outer and inner races. Further, at least one of the outer race or the inner race defines a radial opening. The bearing assembly also includes at least one ball plug positioned within the radial opening of at least one of the outer race or the inner race. The ball plug(s) is removable such that the plurality of roller elements can be inserted between the outer and inner races. Moreover, at least a portion of the ball plug(s) has a tapered cross-section.

Ball plug retention for slewing ring bearing

The present disclosure is directed to a rotor blade assembly for a wind turbine. The rotor blade assembly includes a rotor blade having a blade root section and a rigid ring insert. The rotor blade has pressure and suction sides extending between leading and trailing edges. The blade root section includes an end face configured to attach the rotor blade assembly to a hub. Further, the blade root section includes a span-wise end portion defined by inner and outer circumferential components separated by a radial gap. The radial gap includes a first laminate material embedded between the inner and outer circumferential components at a first span-wise depth and a second laminate material embedded between the inner and outer circumferential components at a second span-wise depth. Thus, the rigid ring insert is disposed in the radial gap and embedded between the first and second laminate materials.

Ring insert for a wind turbine rotor blade

The present disclosure is directed to a pitch assembly for coupling a rotor blade to a hub of a wind turbine. In one embodiment, the pitch assembly includes a first pitch bearing having a first outer race and a first inner race rotatable relative to the first outer race via a first set of rolling elements, a second pitch bearing having a second outer race and a second inner race rotatable relative to the second outer race via a second set of rolling elements, and at least one spacer configured axially between and contacting the first and second pitch bearings. Further, at least a portion of the first pitch bearing and at least a portion of the second pitch bearing are axially aligned between the rotatable hub and the rotor blade in a generally span-wise direction.

Growing community of inventors

Bengaluru, India

Dhanesh Chandrashekar Pathuvoth