Foundation Laid for LORC’s New Bearings Test Bench for 25MW Wind Turbines

Danish engineering firm R&D Test Systems has completed the 3,700 metric ton foundation for the new Lindø Offshore Renewables Centre (LORC) main bearings test facility, which will be capable of performing extreme test loads on main bearings for 25 MW wind turbines.

With delivery due in 2025, the 35-meter long and 18-meter high test bench is bound for LORC’s new main bearing test facility at Odense Harbor in Denmark.

Nine months into building the building of the most powerful test bench for main bearings to date, R&D Test Systems laid out the foundation and is now designing and welding the test bench parts that will perform extreme test loads.

Critical to ensuring the turbine operates smoothly and efficiently, the main bearing supports the main shaft, keeping it stable and properly aligned.

It also transfers the loads caused by the rotor blades to the turbine structure and allows generated torque to transfer to the gearbox and generator. To test and validate large main bearings, the new test bench will apply loads that simulate real-life wind conditions in an accelerated manner, simulating the effect of years of wind conditions in just a few months.

An essential part of the test bench is R&D Test Systems’ ‘test load unit’, which will be able to deliver extreme bending and forces to the main bearing arrangement under test.

Capable of supplying six axial loads to the main bearing arrangement – thrust, horizontal and vertical forces as well as torque, tilt and yaw moment – the test load unit will be able to apply bending loads of more than 100 Mega Newton meters and thrust force of more than 10 Mega Newton meters.

Concentrating on the main bearings, the test bench allows wind turbine manufacturers to conduct tests for this system in isolation rather than as part of a full powertrain test procedure.

The test bench will be designed to test both geared and direct-drive main bearing arrangements, the two principal bearing systems for wind turbines. Furthermore, it is designed with a flexible, upgradeable design to enable the testing of future bearing technologies.

“The main bearings take the impact of the rotor load and so must be able to withstand any extreme wind load scenarios that could occur with wind turbines as powerful as 25MW. Our tests will include twisting and bending in all six degrees of freedom.

“The test load unit that we are building for LORC’s new Main Bearing Test Facility will be the largest and most capable that R&D Test Systems has developed,” said Peter Winther, Key Account Manager, R&D Test Systems.