The growth of worldwide energy consumption and emerging industrial markets demands an increase of renewable energy shares. The price pressure coming from coal, oil, nuclear and natural gas energy - combined with enormous worldwide production capacities for components of wind turbines - make wind energy a highly competitive market. The testing and validation of gearboxes within the test rig and the turbine environment attract a strong focus to the needs of the industry. The following contribution sums up the typical process requirements and provides examples for successful system and component verifications based on field measurements.

The chemical and physical properties of gear oils may change, depending - more or less - upon their formulation and the environmental conditions under which they are used. This is why - after three years of use in a wind turbine - a gear oil was examined to determine if indeed changes were evident and if the protection of the gears and rolling bearings still met the same requirements as would be expected of fresh oil. Our findings revealed that the existing gear oil - as well as its ability to protect the gears and rolling bearings - had degraded very little compared to fresh oil.

A critical problem for wind turbine gearboxes is failure of rolling element bearings where axial cracks form on the inner rings. This article presents field experience from operating wind turbines that compares the performance of through-hardened and carburized materials. It reveals that through-hardened bearings develop WEA/WECs and fail with axial cracks, whereas carburized bearings do not. The field experience further shows that a carburized bearing with a core having low carbon content, high nickel content, greater compressive residual stresses, and a higher amount of retained austenite provides higher fracture resistance and makes carburized bearings more durable than through-hardened bearings in the wind turbine environment.

The complete Industry News section from the August 2013 issue of Power Transmission Engineering.

Despite posting its slowest quarter since early 2007, AWEA remains optimistic that the wind industry can and will work successfully with the revolving doors in Washington.

Does the U.S. renewable energy solution lie offshore? An update on the status of offshore wind projects.

Calendar of upcoming events from the August 2010 issue of Power Transmission Engineering.

A Q&A with N.K. Chinnusamy, president of Excel Gear of Roscoe, IL.

The first trade show dedicated specifically to small and community wind took place in Detroit, Michigan November 3–5. Denise Bode, American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) CEO, was pleased with the turnout for the event and the increasing potential for this segment of the wind energy market.

Wind is the talk of the town. It has become especially relevant to the power transmission community where bearings, gears, couplings, motors and gearboxes are providing the equipment for this thriving alternative energy industry. It comes as no surprise that the Windpower 2009 Conference and Exhibition, arriving in Chicago from May 4–7, will be the largest gathering of wind energy professionals and technologies to date.