Vibration Analysis of the Windflow Turbine Gearbox

Nigel Leigh Design Engineering Manager Commtest Instruments Ltd

Commtest Instruments Ltd 28b Moorhouse Avenue Christchurch New Zealand

Introduction
Windflow Technology have designed, built and installed a prototype half-megawatt wind turbine on the Port Hills of Christchurch, New Zealand. They have planned a 104 turbine windfarm near Palmerston North. This paper describes: the novel gearbox design, being 4-stage epicyclic, with flexible planet pins to aid load sharing, and a hydraulic torque limiter to reduce peak loads on the machinery. vibration monitoring, analysis of source of audible noise, and the resulting gearbox design modifications to run quieter. online monitoring after re-installation, including remote communications and a basic level of shutdown protection.

Design Innovations
The Windflow turbine design has been optimized for New Zealand conditions. These conditions demand tolerance for strong gusty winds, and yet relative light weight for ease of installation in our steep remote hills.

Self Teetering Rotor

Wind is not steady, and gusts do not tend to occur uniformly over the entire rotor disk. This can cause excessive torsional loads on the turbine, for example if a strong gust occurs on the upper half of the rotor only. In the Windflow design the two rotor blades are rigidly attached to each other at the hub, but are allowed some play in the connection from the hub to the main shaft. This allows the disk formed by the spinning blades to deflect in the event of asymmetric gusts. More clever still, this deflection causes the pitch of each blade to adjust slightly, somewhat counteracting the gust.

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Epicyclic Gearbox with Load Sharing Planet Pins

The gearbox must convert 48 rpm at the rotor blades into 1500 rpm for the synchronous generator. It must also be as light and compact as possible. This was achieved using a 4 stage design, with three of the stages using epicyclic (planetary) gears. These were chosen for their high torque rating in a compact housing. The highest torque acts on the slow turning first stage. By using more planets, the load can be shared by more gear teeth simultaneously. Four planets is the common upper limit, as above that number it becomes very difficult to machine the gear with such precision that all share equal load. Windflow overcame this by using flexible planet pins, thus allowing them to use eight planets in the first stage; but these are not simple straight pins, as that would cause twisting of the planets rotation axis, thus distorting the gear mesh. Instead they use a double cantilevered design which allows for a massive 0.5 mm of axial deflection, without twisting.

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Torque Limiting Gearbox (Patented)

To achieve Windflows aim of a light efficient structure, they use the concept of shedding excess load rather than resisting it. The self teetering rotor is one example of this; the Torque Limiting Gearbox is an even better one. The entire drive train is designed to withstand the torques created when generating 500 KW. In stronger winds the blades are simply pitched to reduce the torque they produce. The problem is wind gusts, which can develop massive peak loads. The graph below shows how the power output is limited to 500 KW, even through strong wind gusts.
Torque Limiting Time Series - 22 March 2004
30 Wind Speed 25 Real Power TL Pressure Rotor Speed 500 400 300 200 100 0 360 600

20 15 10 5 0 0 60 120 180 240 300

Time (s)

The TLG is a simple concept: attach a hydraulic pump on the side of the gearbox, which pumps against a closed relief valve. The pump is normally stationary and the gearbox has a fixed ratio from input to output, but during sudden gusts the increased torque causes the pump pressure to exceed the relief valve, and mechanical slip results, dissipating the torque. The rotor over-speeds slightly, causing the automatic pitch control mechanism to readjust.

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Real Power (kW) TL Pressure (bar) Rotor Speed (rpm)

Wind Speed (m/s)

In practice this is complex, requiring the forth stage epicyclic to have all three components in motion (ring, sun and planet carrier). The diagram below is further complicated by the addition of the external disk brake for emergency shutdowns.

Vibration Analysis and Noise Reduction

Commtests Initial Involvement
We were interested in learning about the issues involved in condition monitoring on wind turbines, and had contacted Windflow about a mutual field trial arrangement. The first opportunity occurred during their pre-commissioning testing of the gearbox + generator assembly in a factory in Christchurch. The assembly was being driven by a test rig motor and gearbox as shown.

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They were seeing very high vibration levels at the running speed of the generator. They knew that the test rig motor was running at a similar speed, but could not determine which was the actual culprit. By taking a few high resolution spectra it was clear that the 1480 rpm test rig motor was totally dominating the vibration from the generator at 1500 rpm. Windflow were very happy!
WINDMILL - GEN DE - Horizontal - Vel Freq 100 Hz 7/04/2003 2:54:16 p.m.
Point Note (8/04/2003 9:43:57 a.m.) GEN DE = Generator, Drive End
4.5 4 3.5 3 mm/s 0-pk 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 1,300 1,350 1,400 1,450 1,500 CPM 1,550 1,600 1,650 1,700

Cursor A:

1480.275 CPM

4.293 mm/s O/All 3.136 mm/s rms

7/04/2003 2:54:16 p.m.

O/All 3.136 mm/s rms

<set RPM>

<add note>

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GMF of Epicyclic Gearboxes

After that initial success things quickly got trickier. Three epicyclic stages meant a lot of shafts, gear meshes and bearings, all in one compact housing. The spectra were very confusing!

I created a spreadsheet to calculate all the various fault frequencies (planet pass, carrier, sun, ring, and all the usual bearing ones at whatever speed they happen to be turning).

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Of particular concern was the huge peak at 311 Hz, which was frustratingly close, but not equal, to the second stage GMF of 313.36 Hz. No number of recalculations could bring the two together! I suspected a modulation effect, caused by the planets passing the location of the accelerometer. The Frequency based Waveform Analysis function in the Ascent software enabled me to look at the waveform in a narrow band around 311 Hz.

This showed clear modulation! So the actual peak must be just a sideband of the GMF. The difference between the two cursors on the waveform shows modulation at about 10 Hz, which does correspond with the Planet Pass frequency (Carrier fc of 2.51 Hz x 4 planets). BUT the difference between 311 Hz and the actual GMF is about 2.5 Hz, not the 10 Hz. so thats not quite it Later in the proceedings Windflow engaged the services of many acoustics and vibration experts. One of whom was Lan Le-Ngoc from IRL. He uncovered a paper by J. Mc Names titled Fourier Series Analysis of Epicyclic Gearbox Vibration. The complex math he used predicted that the phased signal from each of the planets would cancel out the others, except at multiples of the number of planets. As an example he used a gearbox with 119 teeth on the Ring gear, for which you would expect to measure a GMF at 119 times the Carrier rpm. He predicted that the vibrations would cancel at all frequencies except for multiples of the 8 planets, ie at 112, 120, 128 (x Carrier rpm).

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Measurements on a Cobra AH-1S helicopter gearbox proved this to be exactly the case. The GMF appeared at 120 cpr, not 119!

The Windflow gearbox second stage has 4 planets and 125 ring teeth. So the closest #planet multiple is 124 cpr, and: 124/125 * 313.5 Hz (actual GMF) = 311 Hz (observed GMF). Eureka! So we were now sure that large vibration peak was coming from the gearbox second stage. But why was it so much larger than that from the (almost identical) first stage? Note that the first stage has the same number of ring teeth (125) as the second stage, but has 8 planets instead of 4, so the closest #planet multiples are a lot further away from the actual GMF, at 120 and 128

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Windflow were already behind schedule for installing the turbine on the hill, so I concluded my (unofficial) testing report with the disclaimer: Using ISO 10816-3 as a reference (rpm<=600, rigid, group2), most locations have Acceptable overall vibration levels in the 10-1000 Hz band However I suggest that the 311 Hz frequency region should be closely monitored when the Wind turbine is operating. It seems significant that by comparison the 1st stage GMF at 102 Hz is almost non-existent in the spectra.

The Noise Problem

Soon after the installation was complete, the newspaper headlines began Noisy turbine annoys neighbours Turbine noise problem Sound level readings were being taken anyway to check for Resource Consent compliance. They showed acceptably low levels, apart from the 1/3 octave band between bout 250 Hz and 400 Hz. But what exactly was the source of the noise?

LEQ Sound Pressure Level on Julie Riley's Property 8-10-03 35 LEQ Sound Pressure Level 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 16
21:50 Idle (L95 = 23.4 dBA) 22:30 Generating (L95 = 28.2 dBA) 22:10 Generating (L95 = 29.8 dBA) 22:40 Idle (L95 = 23.4 dBA) 22:20 Generating L95 = 31.2 dBA)

Note: At frequencies where no data points are shown, the measured sound pressure level was below 11 dBA.

25

40

63

100

160

250

400

630

1k

1.6k 2.5k 4k

6.3k 10k

1/3 Octave Band Centre Frequency (Hz)

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$35 Microphone to the Rescue!

I headed to a local electronics store and invested vast sums of money on a microphone and a couple of adapters to convert to a BNC connection. This idea had come from a previous VANZ presentation by Matt Fallow of ARS.

It worked incredibly well! Being a passive microphone its output was rather low so I entered a low sensitivity of 10 mV/g into the instrument. The resulting spectra had units of gs - rather strange for a sound recording, but perfectly functional for our purpose of identifying the exact frequencies.
0.14

O/All 0.377 g rms

0.12

311 Hz
0.1

0.08

375 Hz

g rms

0.06

985 Hz
0.04

100 Hz
0.02

200

400

Hz

600

800

1,000

Tower Tower SOUND SOUND SOUND SOUND SOUND

base base 30M from base 5M from base 5M from base inside base inside base

Horizontal Horizontal Not specified Horizontal Horizontal Horizontal Horizontal

Acc Freq 3000 Hz Acc Freq 2000 Hz Acc Freq 2000 Hz Acc Freq 2000 Hz Acc Freq 2000 Hz Acc Freq 2000 Hz Acc Freq 2000 Hz

14/07/2003 1:27:28 p.m. 14/07/2003 1:23:43 p.m. 14/07/2003 1:15:07 p.m. 14/07/2003 3:55:37 p.m. 14/07/2003 1:17:00 p.m. 14/07/2003 1:22:05 p.m. 14/07/2003 3:54:27 p.m.

O/All 0.377 O/All 0.25 g O/All 0.035 O/All 0.046 O/All 0.006 O/All 0.269 O/All 0.127

As suspected, the main culprit was the old 311 Hz 2nd stage GMF

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Noise Transmission Path

Windflow had two choices: eliminate the noise at source, or prevent it from getting out of the turbine. Clearly the former was preferable, but a gearbox re-design would be very costly so they attempted the latter by trying to determine the noise transmission path. This involved extensive analysis of the mode shapes of the palet, tower, blades etc. Many resonant frequencies near 311 Hz were identified in each component and attempts were made to damp the vibration by attaching thick rubber mats or injecting foam. Results indicated the damping generally worked on the component it was attached to, but still the external noise level did not reduce. Lan of IRL found the actual transmission path when he performed resonance bump tests on the main Low Speed Shaft (between hub and generator).

As Windflow described it, their turbine was acting as a tuned music system: Stage 2 gear mesh was the CD player a low speed shaft resonance was the amplifier the blades were acting as speakers. But the music was a very boring single note, E-flat, 311 Hz!

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The Final Noise Solution

The gearbox was removed and returned to the manufacturers in Auckland for evaluation of several refit options. The options were designed after an even more indepth analysis of the behavior of epicyclic gearboxes, including the distinction between rotational and translational modes of excitation.

After each refit the gearbox was tested on their new full-power test rig, with detailed before and after vibration readings taken. By this stage Windflow had purchased their own vb instrument and were becoming proficient VA analysts themselves! The final solution is. well confidential, as it was so successful that Windflow have filed a patent to cover it! See for yourself in the before and after spectra:
0.7

FFT 1-30 - FFT 1 - Not specified - Acc Freq 1200 Hz 30/04/2004 2:14:30 p.m.
O/All 0.991 g rms

0.6

0.5

0.4

g rm s 0.3 0.2 0.1

0 0 200 400 600 Hz 800 1,000 1,20

30/04/2004 2:14:30 p.m.

O/All 0.991 g rms

<set RPM>

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0.7

FFT 1-30 - FFT 1 - Not specified - Acc Freq 1200 Hz 7/07/2004 5:04:47 p.m.
O/All 0.468 g rms

0.6

0.5

0.4

g rm s 0.3 0.2 0.1

0 0 200 400 600 Hz 800 1,000 1,20

7/07/2004 5:04:47 p.m.

O/All 0.468 g rms

<set RPM>

Online Condition Monitoring

During all of the above, Windflow had several bearing failures in the gearbox. These were mainly around the complex concentric shafts of the torque limiting 4th stage. Meanwhile we at Commtest had developed an online monitoring system, the vbOnline. We agreed on a mutually beneficial field trial partnership, in which they would gain surveillance and some measure of shutdown protection, and we would gain insight into the challenges of online monitoring on wind turbines. The turbine is at a remote site on the Port Hills, lacking even a telephone land line. We decided to install a PC on-site to control the frequent protection recordings, and use a wireless data modem to allow access from the head office.

The on-site PC was intended to be a simple, low cost solid state PC with no moving parts. These are sold under names like WinTerm and ThinClient. They use flash memory, have processors around 1 GHz and cost only US $500. This PC runs the OnlineManager program which schedules the recordings on the vbOnline module, stores them in a database, checks alarms and controls the modules output relays.

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We established a machine structure in which daily gearbox surveillance recordings were kept separate from the very frequent protection recordings.

For the protection readings, alarm checking was complicated by several factors: the significant changes in vibration levels at different power output levels the gusty nature of the wind, causing rapid power level changes the desire to have a second opinion reading, before causing a turbine shutdown

We addressed these issues by reading the generators power output level from the turbines PLC control system. We established Recording Criteria to separate the recordings into three generation power levels, each with their own alarm thresholds. Recording Intervals alternated the Check1 and Check2 recordings, each of which controlled an output relay.

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We wired the two relays in series so both would need to be activated to cause a shutdown.

This solution proved to be adequate, but is rather complex and the separation into the generation power levels is not perfect. Development is underway to streamline this, which should yield benefits not just for wind turbines but for all users of variable speed machinery.

2006 Update
Those developments are nearing completion. We now have: Onboard Criteria Recordings can be configured to only be taken when the speed and/or another parameter (in this case generation power) are stable and within specified ranges. QuickScan Mode Rapidly scans all channels checking for excessive overall vibration levels, in order to quickly detect serious mechanical failures. The userconfigurable responses range from e-mails and sms messages to relay activation. Normal vibration analysis recordings are automatically interleaved with QuickScans, at their scheduled times. In this Wind Turbine application the option of applying RPM Criteria to the QuickScan is useful to ensure the readings are only taken when the wind is blowing! Robustness Enhancements These cover a wide range of issues, from the ability to detect sensor faults and warn users of communication failures, to a suite of Relay enhancements including configurable time delays and the provision of manual override. Stay tuned: the results from applying these techniques to monitoring the Windflow turbine will be covered in a future paper

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Acknowledgements Acknowledgement of significant contribution to the content of this paper: Warwick Payne, Windflow Technology. Geoff Henderson, Windflow Technology. Lan Le-Ngoc, Industrial Research Limited. James McNames, Portland State University. Nigel Leigh, MSc (Physics, Hons) is a design engineering manager for Commtest Instruments Ltd. He has seven years experience in the design and manufacture of vibration analysis equipment, both portble and online systems. He has served as committee member of the Vibration Association of New Zealand (VANZ) for the past four years.

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