Piezo sensor predicts wind farm failure

The sensor, developed by Wenqu Chen, a mechanical engineering research student at Sheffield University, uses ultrasonic waves to measure the load transmitted through a bearing in a wind turbine. A paper describing the advance is published in Proceedings of the Royal Society A.

Prof Rob Dwyer-Joyce, co-author of the paper and director of the Leonardo Centre for Tribology at the University told The Engineer that a limiting factor with wind turbines is gearbox reliability, particularly in relation to bearings where manufacturers and operators have faced issues with reliability.

He said: “[Failures] come from the fact that these are big bearings subject to quite unusual loading.

“They’re subject to high dynamic loading and they’re failing in ways that aren’t usually seen on more conventional bearings seen in trucks and cars and process machinery.”

The 2mm² sensor has been validated in the lab and is currently being tested at the Barnesmore wind farm in Donegal, Ireland by Ricardo.