Fault Analysis in Gear Box of Wind Turbines Using Wavelet Transform.
Wind Turbines, Predictive Maintenance, Vibration Analysis, Wavelet.
Wind power is one of the oldest-exploited energy sources by humans and today is the most seasoned and efficient energy of all renewable energies. To make wind power more competitive with other sources, characteristics as
availability, reliability and the life of turbines will all need to be improved. Therefore, reducing inspection and maintenance costs is vital to maintaining the competitiveness of this industry. The maintenance applied to wind turbines implies high costs and long periods without energy production. One of the main elements that is subject to failure is the gearbox, which, due to lack of lubrication or contamination, causes the friction of the direct contact between the teeth in the transmission of energy and speed, resulting in wear and loss of material. One solution for the diagnosis of these mechanical failures is the wavelet analysis of the vibration signals produced by the mechanical elements. Thus, the objective of this research is to simulate and analyze the dynamic behavior of the wind generator
gearbox, focusing on predictive maintenance, using the wavelet transform.