The gearbox's reputation for a high failure rate is linked to the extreme engineering challenge that gearbox technology faces in wind applications, and the difficulty in properly assessing the loads – and in particular the non-torsional loads that pass through the gearbox – and how these affect bearings and gears. Some manufacturers have chosen to move to direct drive to reduce the number of moving parts in the wind turbine more exposed to wear. But this has led to wind turbine specific generator...
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