Around 60% of maintenance costs are attributed to the wind turbine's drivetrain. The gearbox converts the slow speed, high torque wind turbine rotation into the higher speeds needed by the generator. This generator them transforms the mechanical power into electricity. Accurate and efficient inspections are critical to ensure reliable operation and predictable maintenance requirements.

Intermediate and High-speed Stage Bearings

The Problem: Bearing failure in high, or intermediate, speed applications can damage other gearbox parts, sometimes resulting a full gearbox replacement. Causes include misalignment between the high-speed shaft and generator, foreign objects, and issues with lubricant oil viscosity and cleanliness.

Our Solution: Waygate Technologies' video borescopes provide excellent image quality, advanced image processing tolls, and easy-to-use interface. This makes it simpler to inspect and monitor flaws on the intermediate and high-speed shaft, bearings' roller surface, and inner and outer race. The ability to upload standadrized data to the InspectionWorks platform aids in predicting potential damage.

Planetary Stage Bearings

The Problem: The planetary gear and planetary stage bearings service to absorb varying wind stress. However, limited planetary stage space due to gear dimensions means that bearings used here generally have shortened component life.

Our Solution: Waygate Technologies' video borescopes offer powerful, long-lasting articulation and a wide selection of semi-flexible guide tubes, giving the user more control and stability to navigate the challenging planetary gears.

Gear Teeth

The Problem: A common post of failure for the wind turbine gearbox is a broken gear tooth, which can be caused by material quality, surface grinding, or hardening issues.

Our Solution: Our video borescopes are equipped with advanced optics to provide the user with the appropriate field of view and focal distance. Our near-focus optical tips greatly aid in the inspection of gear teeth, allowing very small flaws to be detected.

Reporting and Data Management

The Problem: Providing a timely, accurate, and thorough report after an inspection is critical to customer success. With many inspectors performing similar inspections, data consistency and its availability to an organization to monitor fleet issues is becoming more and more important.

Our Solution: The Menu Directed Inspection (MDI) and InspectionWorks cloud solution offer a systematic approach for inspectors to follow consistent inspection plans and collect data. Data is automatically tagged, continuously backed up to the InspectionWorks cloud, and the report can be auto generated, allowing the completion of an inspection report before leaving the site.

Video Borescope Solutions for Wind Turbine Generators