Wind Turbine Generator

Failure Modes

Kevin Alewine
Director of Renewable Energy Services
Shermco Industries

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 Introduction and Credits
The purpose of this presentation is to
review generator failure modes and
their relative impact on generator
reliability.
• Review of generator failure root
causes
• Review of generator failure types
• Statistical review of failure
occurrences
• Conclusions

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 Introduction and Credits
• Thanks to:
– Shermco Industries Technical Staff
– William Chen, TECO-Westinghouse Motor Company
– Applications Engineering – Von Roll USA
– Benoit White, Mersen USA
– P.J. Tavner, PhD., University of Durham
• References:
– Root Cause Failure Analysis, Electrical Apparatus Service Association, 2002-2004
– Design Challenges of Wind Turbine Generators , George Gao and William Chen –
IEEE EIC 2009
– A Survey of Faults on Induction Motors… , O.V. Thorsen and M. Dalva - IEEE Trans.
on Industrial Applications – 1995
– Wind Turbine Failure Modes Analysis and Occurrence, Kevin Alewine and William
Chen, AWEA Windpower 2010
– Establishing an In-House Wind Maintenance Program, American Public Power
Association, 2008

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 Generator Failure Root Causes
• Design issues – materials and processing,
rarely basic mechanical design
• Operations issues - alignment, vibration,
voltage irregularities, improper grounding,
over-speed, transit damage, etc.
• Maintenance practices – collector systems,
lubrication procedures, etc.
• Environmental conditions – weather
extremes, lightning strikes, etc.
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Design and Manufacturing Issues
• Electrical insulation inadequate for application –
normally mechanical rather than electrical
weakness
• Loose components – wedges, banding
• Poorly designed/crimped lead connections
• Inadequate collector ring/brush performance
• Transient shaft voltages
• Rotor lead failures
• Sometimes turbine OEMs add components that
might complicate service – electronics,
lubrication devices, etc.

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 Operations Issues
• Improper Installation
• Voltage irregularities
– Traditional sources
– Convertor failure or miss-match
• Improper grounding
• Over-speed conditions
• Transit damage

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 Maintenance Practices
• Ignoring alignment check suggestions
• Cooling system failures leading to heat
related failures
• Collector ring contamination
• Bearing mechanical failure
• Bearing electrical failure
• Rotor lead failures
• Often initiated by heat from failing
bearing

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 Environmental Conditions

• Wind Loading
• Thermal cycling
• Moisture/Arid Electrical
Mechanical

• Contamination
Expected
• Electrical Storms Performance

Thermal Chemical

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A review of common maintenance related problems

Failures

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 Anatomy of a Bearing Failure #1
• Over greasing?
• Leaking from
fittings?
• Leaking before or
after failure?
• Evidence of heat on
bearing
housing…shaft
damage?

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 Anatomy of a Bearing Failure #1
• Destroyed races
• Bearing collapsed in
housing
• Lost ball bearings

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 Anatomy of a Bearing Failure #1
• Heavily scored and
damaged shaft
• If damaged on non-
drive end, this
could include a
distorted shaft and
burnt rotor leads
(DFIG)

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 Anatomy of a Bearing Failure #2
• Overfilled bearing
• Leaking on the
exterior into
cooling unit,
clogging air
passages

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 Anatomy of a Bearing Failure #3
• Overfilled bearing
• Overheated
lubrication
• Blocked fill/exit
ducts
• Leaking exterior
and interior

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 Magnetic Wedge Loss

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 Contamination

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 Collector Ring and/or Carbon Brush
Failures
Possible failure points
• Short brush life
• Improper grade
• Improper seating
• Improper ring material
• Environmental issues
• Flash over/grounding
• Lack of phase isolation
• High brush wear
• Improper cleaning during
maintenance
• Lead failures
• Improper design
• High temperature
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 Collector Ring and/or
Carbon Brush Failures

Out of round
grounding ring
•Brush bounce and
chatter
•Premature wear
•Less effective – could
still severely damage
bearings

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 Other Failure Modes

Banding Failure

Over-speed Conditions

Rotor lead damage

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 Other Failure Modes

Stator Connection Shorts

Lost Rotor Wedges

Short in Slot Section

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What potential failure modes are most critical to monitor?

Statistics

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 Occurrences of Failures
• The following statistics were collected from
failure reports of over 1200 repair operations
performed by Shermco Industries between
2005 and 2010, totaling nearly 2 gigawatts
• 3 generator categories based on nameplate
output power
– Small (<1MW)
– Medium (1-2MW)
– Large (>2MW)

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 Generators <1MW
200 100%

90%
175

80%
150
70%

125
60%

Percentage
Occurance

Occurrence
100 50%
% of failures

40% Cumulative %
75

30%
50
20%

25
10%

0 0%
Rotor Stator Bearings Other Collector Rings

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 Generators 1-2MW
400 100%
375
90%
350
325 80%
300
275 70%

250
60%
225

Percentage
Occurance

Occurrence
200 50%
175 % of Failures
40% Cumulative %
150
125 30%
100
75 20%

50
10%
25
0 0%
Bearings Collector Rotor Other Stator Cooling Rotor Leads
Rings System

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 Generators > 2MW
200 100%

90%
175

80%
150
70%

125
60%

Percentage
Occurance

Occurrence
100 50%
% of Failures
40% Cumulative %
75

30%
50
20%

25
10%

0 0%
Bearings Stator Stator Wedge Rotor Rotor Leads Collector Other
Rings

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 Comparison to General Industry
Failures in HV Machines
Based on the new data being compiled by Dr. Peter Tavner and
his team at Durham University, Durham, UK, failures due to
bearing damage are the leading root cause in both wind and
industrial rotating electrical machinery. In fact, with these large
studies, there is actually little variation in types of major
failures, only in specific machine design areas of vulnerability.
50
45
40
35
30 Industrial
25
Wind
20
15
10
5
0
Bearings Windings Other

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 Updated Failure Information
• Since the initial failure data was collected in
mid-year 2010, an additional 300+ generators
have been repaired.
• An estimated 50% of these failures are on
machines over 5 years old.
• Failure modes have been consistent.
• Proper monitoring of alignment has generally
improved but is still an issue at many sites.
• Further analysis will be initiated in 2012.

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Conclusions for Owners and Operators
• Bigger and newer is not always more reliable
• Maintenance is THE critical factor affecting
machinery life
• To monitor and plan for repair has proven
much better than running to failure in many
applications
• Choose your suppliers carefully
– OEMs, replacement components and repairs – all
have key influences on reliability and longevity

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Thank you for your
time and attention.

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