Crowning Method on Bearing Supporting Large Wind Turbine Spindle Considering the Flexibility of Structure of Shaft System

To meet the precision design of bearings on large wind turbine spindles, a crowning method of bearing on wind turbine spindles considering the flexibility of the support structure is proposed. Firstly, a finite element (FE) model of the shaft system with a flexible structure is constructed by connecting the shaft and bearing through constraint equations (CE) and multi-point constraint (MPC) algorithms and replacing the bearing rollers with nonlinear spring elements and dampers. Then, the Newmark integration algorithm is used to solve the model and analyze the effect of the structure’s rigidity on the load distribution of bearings. Then, perform convergence analysis of the sequences of the spring load distribution using a high-pass filter based on fast Fourier transform (FFT) and root mean square error (RMSE) to obtain a suitable number of replacement springs. Finally, a sub-model of the upwind bearing is constructed with structured mesh. With the maximum Von Mises stress of the roller profile as the design target, the optimal logarithmic crowning of the roller and its tolerance zone under the given working conditions are obtained. The results show that the FE model of the shaft system proposed has good convergence. The FE model of the shaft system considering the flexibility of the support structure can obtain more accurate load distributions of bearings and can make the accurate crowning design of the bearing rollers based on the actual working conditions. This provides support for the precision design of bearings in large shaft systems.