Background Information
Wind Turbines -- Main Components
The diagram above illustrates the inner workings of a wind turbine. The main components that fail in our analysis are the blades, the generator, and the gear box.
Blade Failures
Blades often fail because of degradation of the gel coating on the blade, cracking, and
even because of lightening strikes.
This image shows the edge of a blade that has degraded over time.
The images above show blade damage from a lightening strike. As shown, the damage can be significant.
Generator Failures
Generator failures occur most often because of bearing failures. Some failures common to bearings are those caused by excessive loading, contamination, corrosion, and fluting.
The image above in the upper left shows bearing damage from excessive loading. The upper right-hand image shows damage from contamination. The lower left image is an example of bearing corrosion, and the lower-right is and example of bearing fluting.
Gearbox Failures
Gearbox failures also often occur because of bearing failures. Other than bearing failures, the reasons for gearbox failures include pitting, bending, scuffing, and breakage in the gears themselves.
The image above in the upper left shows a gear damaged by pitting. The upper right-hand image shows a gear that is damaged from bending. The lower left image is an example of gear scuffing, and the lower-right is and example of a broken gear.
