Fatigue life analysis of double-row tapered roller bearing in a modern wind turbine under oscillating external load and speed

Abstract

Fatigue life analysis of roller bearing is usually performed for bearings under constant rotating speed and invariant loading conditions. For the bearings used in offshore floating direct-drive wind turbines, they often experience oscillating motions with varying loading patterns, for which the standard fatigue life analysis is not valid due to the presence of fluctuating loads. This paper presents the fatigue life analysis of a double-row tapered roller bearing under oscillating external load and speed conditions, which is used to support the main shaft of a large modern direct-drive wind turbine. First, a comprehensive quasi-static model of the double-row tapered roller bearing is developed for determining the internal load distribution of rollers. The contact pressure of rollers is then studied using an iterative scheme based on the elastic contact model. After that, the formulation of basic rating life of the double-row tapered roller bearing with oscillating external load and speed is given to calculate the fatigue life. Numerical simulations are carried out to investigate the effects of the oscillating load and speed, angular misalignment, and internal clearance on the fatigue life of the bearing.

Keywords

Fatigue life double row tapered roller bearing offshore wind turbine clearance angular misalignment oscillating load rotating speed

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