Fatigue Load Computation of Wind Turbine Gearboxes by Coupled Structural, Mechanism and Aerodynamic Analysis

With a service life of about 20 years, wind turbine power trains are subjected to a very diverse spectrum of dynamic loads. Due to the high number of load cycles which occur during the life of the turbine, fatigue considerations are of particular importance in wind turbine design. Power train bearing failures occur more frequently than damage to the other components. Taking into account that these failures occur to a certain degree after a couple of years of successful operation, the importance of proper fatigue considerations becomes obvious.