Effect of Different Workscope Strategies on Wind Turbine Gearbox Life Cycle Repair Costs

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Published Nov 1, 2020
A. Lesmerises D. Crowley

Abstract

The wind turbine industry is beginning to establish orthodoxies governing the repair of gearboxes, including policies governing the replacement of bearings during gearbox heavy maintenance events. Some maintainers recommend replacing all of the bearings, every time, regardless of condition or age. At the same time, others prefer to only replace the failed bearing. The former rationale achieves availability by spending more money than absolutely necessary; the latter sacrifices reliability in exchange for a lower shop visit cost. Even though neither approach results in the lowest Life Cycle Cost, no standard practice has yet been implemented to methodically determine what would be the best approach. Furthermore, as gearboxes approach the end of their planned service lives, a different strategy may be called-for. This paper presents an illustrative example of using a reliability-based statistical analysis to determine which strategy will yield the lowest Life Cycle Cost for wind turbine gearboxes.

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Keywords

maintenance, optimization, workscope, life cycle cost

References
American Gear Manufacturers Association (AGMA) (2003). Standard for Design and Specification of Gearboxes for Wind Turbines. In ANSI/AGMA/AWEA 6006-A03, Alexandria, VA, American Gear Manufacturers Association.
Society of Automotive Engineering (SAE) (2013). Using a System Reliability Model to Optimize Maintenance Costs, A Best Practices Guide. In SAE ARP JA6097 MAY2013, Warrendale, PA, Society of Automotive Engineers.
Wang, H. (2002). Invited Review – A survey of maintenance policies of deteriorating systems. European Journal of Operational Research, vol. 139 (2002), pp. 469–489, ISSN 0377-2217.
Section
Technical Papers