Study of Friction Coefficient of Wind Turbine Brake System under Environmental Conditions

Abstract

In spite of wind turbines are being growingly established over the world, still the main systems induce a lot of challenges due to tribology properties of moving components which can cut down their lifetimes. Problems caused by the brake system of particle and humidity in wind turbines involve significant downtime and cost, including the costs of hiring the crew and equipment required for the replacement. A rotor brake of wind turbine is located adjacent to the gearboxes which are used to decrease the speed of wind turbine blade. In this paper, an experimental study of the drive train system of the turbine is conducted to look at the influence of environmental conditions on the mechanical brake system behaviors. The mechanical engineering behavior of the turbine brakes is studied. The influence of the silica sand particle size as found in the environment on the friction coefficient of turbine brakes is examined. The results show that the friction coefficient is increased with all turbine shaft speed. It is also found that by inserting humidity between the rotor and brake pads, the coefficient friction increased dramatically with increasing the wind turbine shaft speed from 200 rpm to 1000 rpm.