A systematic failure finding model of wind turbine drive train based on interfaces

Abstract

PurposeWind energy has become a distinguished field of energy among the alternative energy resources. Despite economical disadvantages, the production of wind energy is desired to fulfill the demand of the energy. Low reliability is a big issue in the development of wind energy technology that has affected wind farm operations. The purpose of the study is to find the reason for the low reliability and high downtime for wind turbines.Design/methodology/approachThe systems engineering approach has a high success rate in handling complex systems such as wind farms. A failure finding model is presented based on the systems engineering, with the focus to analyze the failures at the interfaces. The required data have been collected by reviewing the literature.FindingsGear box interfaces are a vital reason for the higher downtime and frequent failures of wind turbines, and the bearing and the lubricant in the gear box are affected because of their inappropriate combination.Originality/valueThe reliability and the maintainability of the wind turbine is a topic of major importance. The study is an attempt to contribute to a more sophisticated solution to the reliability problem of the wind turbine. Moreover, it shows the importance of interfaces in designing the complex systems.