the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
| 05 May 2025
Load models for tapered roller bearings and influence of system deformation – taking the main bearing system of wind turbines as an example
Abstract. Firstly, a tapered roller bearing (TRB) raceway contact load model is developed based on the rigid assumption of the bearing system, taking a wind turbine TRB+TRB main bearing system as an example. Then, a simplified TRB FEA modeled is presented considering the deformation of the bearing system. The FEA model makes the simulation of complex bearing system more feasible and efficient, avoiding the challenges of meshing and convergence in rollers and raceway contact modeling. A two-step method is proposed to take difference of outer and inner raceway contact angles into consideration. The FEA modeled is validated by comparing its results with those of a solid elements roller model. Subsequently, the FEA model is used to simulate the wind turbine TRB+TRB main bearing system, and results of FEA model and rigid model are compared to demonstrate the influence of the bearing system deformation. The results shows the bearing system deformation has an obvious influence on TRB raceway load distribution and roller profile modification, and the developed models are efficient to assess the influence.
- Preprint
(3266 KB) - Metadata XML
- BibTeX
- EndNote
Status: open (until 19 Jun 2025)
-
RC1: 'Comment on wes-2025-70', Anonymous Referee #1, 06 May 2025
reply
The authors present an FE model for Tapered Roller Bearings used as main bearings in wind turbines. The presented model replaces rollers with three springs which stiffness is derived from approximate formulae of bearing text books. They compare the results for a single contact of the spring model with a fully modelled solid and claim a deviation of more than 10% in a very simple load case is a good agreement. Further, they calculate the load distribution of a full assembly and state there a deviations between a rigid ring assumption and an FE model.
I reject hits paper for the following reasons:
- The modelling approach is well-known and published in papers more than ten years old . There is no novel contribution to this field of research at all. (See DOIs 10.1115/1.2918915, 10.1088/1742-6596/1037/4/042016) The overall conclusions of deviations between rigid ring assumptions and FE models is supported by a plethora of earlier works and does not need another paper to support it.
- The verification of the model already reveal significant shortcomings of the approach with the 10% deviation. The authors simply ignore this and state such a deviation is acceptable. It is not.
- The overall description of the model is poor and lacks important information such as the design of the connection between springs and raceways and the mechanism that prevents rotation of the bearing rings. (As a reference for future papers the authors might take a look at 10.1016/j.finel.2023.103957)Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2025-70-RC1
Viewed
| HTML | XML | Total | BibTeX | EndNote | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 55 | 17 | 8 | 80 | 4 | 6 |
- HTML: 55
- PDF: 17
- XML: 8
- Total: 80
- BibTeX: 4
- EndNote: 6
Viewed (geographical distribution)
| Country | # | Views | % |
|---|
| Total: | 0 |
| HTML: | 0 |
| PDF: | 0 |
| XML: | 0 |
- 1