General Electric Company

Ryan Spencer Close

Bharat S Bagepalli

Paul Stephen DiMascio

Mark Edward Cardinal

Jignesh Govindlal Gandhi

Bradley Graham Moore

Eugenio Yegro Segovia

Aaron John Mashue

Alexander William Vossler

Thomas Ernst Dinjus

David Charles Korim

Mohan Muthu Kumar Sivanantham

Miguel Bartolome Lopez

Robert P Grimley

Aaron Janicz

Alvaro Jaime Calle Garrido

Gunther Auer

Alan Hamel

Robert J Dewey

Bernardo Adrian Movischoff

Robert Grimley

Jonathan Zalar

Pedro Luis Benito Santiago

Verma Gitesh

A yaw braking assembly of a wind turbine is presented. Accordingly, the yaw braking assembly includes a bedplate support frame having an annular flange defining a plurality of recesses formed into a lower-most annular surface of the annular flange and extending at least partially through an axial thickness of the annular flange. Each of the plurality recesses define an open exterior circumferential side. The yaw braking assembly also includes a plurality of brake pads which are positioned within the plurality of recesses and configured to engage at least one race of an adjacent yaw bearing. The yaw braking assembly further includes a plurality of actuators for driving the plurality of brake pads to engage the yaw bearing.

Yaw braking assembly of a wind turbine

A system for locating airflow modifiers for installation on wind turbine rotor blades may generally include a plurality of airflow modifiers, with each airflow modifier including a base defining an outer profile that differs from the outer profiles of the remainder of the airflow modifiers. The system may also include a blade shell defining an exterior surface. The base of each airflow modifier may be configured to be coupled to the exterior surface of the blade shell. In addition, the system may include an installation template provided on the exterior surface of the blade shell. The installation template may define a different installation location for each of the airflow modifiers. Moreover, the installation template may include a geometric feature at each installation location that at least partially matches the outer profile of the airflow modifier configured to be installed at such installation location.

System and method for locating airflow modifiers for installation on a wind turbine rotor blade

The present disclosure is directed to a system and method for protecting a rotary machine in a high noise environment. In one embodiment, the method includes a step of measuring a vibration signal during operation of the rotary machine. Another step includes modulating the vibration signal at a desired frequency to generate a modulated signal having a direct current (DC) value. The desired frequency varies as a function of an operational parameter of the rotary machine. The method also includes a step of filtering the modulated signal via one or more low-pass filters. Another step includes comparing an amplitude of the filtered signal to a threshold amplitude for one or more components of the rotary machine. The threshold amplitude is indicative of an imbalance within one or more components of the rotary machine. The rotary machine is then operated based on the comparison so as to protect the rotary machine from damage caused by the imbalance within the one or more components of the rotary machine.

System and method for protecting rotary machines

A method for repairing a hub pitch gear assembly. The method includes providing a ring assembly for adjusting a pitch angle of a wind turbine blade having a plurality of gear teeth. A segment of the ring assembly is removed, the segment including at least a portion of at least one gear tooth, to form a repair cavity. A repair segment configured to mate the repair cavity is provided and the repair segment is directed into the repair cavity and fastened in position. A repaired pitch gear assembly and wind turbine are also provided.

Hub pitch gear repair method

A method and device for measuring an amount of wear on a flank of a gear tooth is provided. The method includes positioning a template comprising a first template tooth adjacent a gear comprising a first gear tooth. The method also includes adjusting the position of the template in a rotational direction with respect to a known rotational reference point of the gear, adjusting the position of the template in an axial direction with respect to a known axial reference point of the gear, and adjusting the position of the template in a radial direction with respect to a known radial reference point of the gear. The method further includes measuring an extent of a gap between an edge of the first template tooth and an adjacent flank of the first gear tooth, wherein the gap corresponds to the amount of wear on the flank.

Method and device for measuring gear tooth wear

Growing community of inventors

Greenville, SC, United States of America

Ryan Spencer Close