[113] Trends in condition monitoring for pitch bearings
D Sandoval1,2, U Leturiondo1, F Pozo2, Y Vidal2 and O Salgado1 1Control and Monitoring Area, Ikerlan Technology Research Center, Pº J Mª Arizmendiarrieta 2, 20500 Arrasate-Mondragón, Spain Tel: 34 943 712 400; Email: dasandoval@ikerlan.es 2Control, Modelling, Identification and Applications (CoDAlab), Department of Mathematics, Escola d’Enginyeria de Barcelona Est (EEBE), Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya (UPC), Campus Diagonal-Besòs (CDB) Eduard Maristany, 16, Barcelona 08019, Spain
The value of wind power generation for energy sustainability in the future is undeniable. Since operation and maintenance activities take a sizeable portion of the cost associated with offshore wind turbine operation, strategies are needed to decrease this cost. One strategy, condition monitoring (CM) of wind turbines, allows the extension of useful life for several parts, which has generated great interest in the industry. Pitch bearings are critical parts, by virtue of the time and logistics involved in their maintenance tasks. As the complex working conditions of pitch bearings entail the need for diverse and innovative monitoring techniques, the classical bearing analysis techniques are not suitable. This paper provides a literature review of several condition monitoring techniques, arranged firstly according to the nature of the signal, such as vibration, acoustic emission and others, and arranged secondly by relevant authors in compliance with the signal nature. While little research has been found, an outline is significant for further contributions to the literature.
