Premature bearing failures in wind gearboxes and white etching cracks (WEC)

Premature bearing failures
Wind turbine gearboxes are subjected to a wide variety of operating conditions, some of which may push the bearings beyond their limits. Damage may be done to the bearings, resulting in a specific premature failure mode known as white etching cracks (WEC), sometimes called brittle, short-life, early, abnormal or white structured flaking (WSF). Measures to make the bearings more robust in these operating conditions are discussed in this article. Ambitious worldwide...
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About Technology

This section contains technical articles about SKF innovations and product development. Read about new research and technical advances, and keep up to date with SKF’s continuous evolution of improved and new solutions.

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