World’s largest bearing test rig now operational at Schaeffler26 March 2012

Schaeffler's Astraios test rig – named after a Greek mythology Titan who fathered the four wind gods, and opened last November – is now fully operational at the firm's Schweinfurt plant in Germany.

Believed to be the world's largest, most powerful test rig – and representing a 7 million euro investment – it can handle bearings weighing up to 15 tonnes, with outside diameters up to 3.5m.

That means even bearing used in wind power applications can now be fully tested in realistic conditions, using a Schaeffler's simulation program.

Schaeffler CO Dr Juergen Geissinger says that Astraios will primarily be used to test rotor bearings for multi-Megawatt wind turbines, and will help to further improve the understanding of the interrelationship between drive train components.

Tests on Astraios, he says, will also provide insights into wind turbine operation and maintenance, as well as information on how to optimise the design of adjacent constructions.

"In addition to wind power, solar, wave and tidal power are becoming increasingly important. Our solutions play a very significant part in making these new technologies reliable and cost effective," comments Geissinger.

He points to the loading frame as the most important part of the test rig. Four radial and four axial hydraulic cylinders have been fixed to this frame, to generate the real loads and forces experienced in a wind turbine. The radial cylinders simulate the weight of a rotor hub with rotor blades, while the axial cylinders generate the wind loads.

The rotors and hub on a large wind turbine can weigh in excess of 100 tonnes. Geissinger explains that this weight acts on the bearing and generates a static radial load and a static 'nodding' moment.

Accordingly, the four radial cylinders have extremely large dimensions, enabling each cylinder to generate a maximum of one mega Newton of force – equivalent to 100 tonnes.

The axial cylinders provide even more – up to 1.5 mega Newton for simulating static axial loads, as well as the dynamic nodding and yawing moments – comparable to the lifting, lowering and turning of the wind turbine nacelle.

Brian Tinham

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