August 2023
ARTICLES
Greases for slow and steady wind-turbine bearings
In the ocean or on remote mountainsides, grease lubricants help slowly rotating wind-turbine main shaft bearings reliably support their huge loads year after year.
Wind turbines use the same types of mechanical components as other mechanical systems — bearings, gears, and drive shafts — but their size, operating conditions, and environments pose numerous challenges not observed in, say, the automotive industry. Wind farms are usually in remote locations, for example, far from manufacturing plants and maintenance personnel. Newer turbines […]
Laying the foundation for wind turbines now and in the future
A variety of solutions is currently available for today’s common wind-turbine foundation challenges, with more solutions on the horizon.
In 2000, the average land-based wind turbine had a hub height of 190 feet, a rotor diameter of 173 feet, and produced 900 kW of electricity. Today, those numbers have skyrocketed, with the average land-based wind turbine now standing 55 percent higher at 295 feet, using a rotor diameter more than two times as large […]
