SKF has signed a three-year contract worth €20 million with WinWinD, a Finnish manufacturer of wind turbines. SKF will supply the main bearings for WinWinD’s 3 mW wind turbines.
The contract includes the delivery of the Nautilus bearing, which was engineered by SKF to optimise turbine performance and reliability. Through its compact design it enables a reduction in weight, friction and maintenance of the wind turbine.
Nautilus is a single bearing solution which carries all the rotor loads and allows only rotor torque to be transmitted to the drive train. This prolongs the drive train life and therefore the reliability of the turbine. It also allows the designer the freedom to depart from traditional main shaft design and integrate the bearing directly between the machine frame and the hub. This reduces the nacelle dimensions and weight, delivering cost savings to the machine builder.
Nautilus has two rows of tapered rollers arranged back to back. These give a very high load carrying capacity and high levels of stiffness. It is also engineered to optimise turbine performance. For example in gearbox equipped turbines the bearing is preloaded and the gearbox is loaded by pure torque load. It is protected from the rotor loads as the bearing supports the rotor. Its large diameter ensures the bearing is strong enough to withstand yaw and tilt moments. Nautilus has already been applied in wind turbine models around the world.
SKF is also WinWinD’s developing partner in areas of lubrication, sealing and condition monitoring. The new contract strengthens the partnership and gives opportunities to develop even more energy efficient and optimised wind turbines.
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