CUSTOMER APPLICATION | Yihan Xing, Centre for Ships and Ocean Structures (CeSOS), Marine Technology Centre, NTNU

Wind Turbine Drivetrain Modeling

In 2002, the Research Council of Norway and the Norwegian University of Science and
Technology (NTNU) established the Centre for Ships and Ocean Structures (CeSOS) as a center
for excellence. The research at CeSOS aims to develop fundamental knowledge about how
ships and other structures behave in the ocean environment using analytical, numerical and
experimental studies. CeSOS research on offshore wind turbines has focused on modeling
dynamic responses of various bottom-fixed and floating wind turbine concepts. Research
on the challenges and performance of wind turbine drivetrains used in offshore floating
applications has been of particular interest.

three point support

(main bearing & two torque arm supports

hub

Fig. 1: NREL, Gearbox Reliability Collaborative (GRC)

main shaft

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 Yihan Xing, Centre for Ships and Ocean Structures, Marine Technology Centre, NTNU | CUSTOMER APPLICATION

and Analysis Activities at CeSOS

generator

bed plate

generator shaft

gearbox

SIMPACK News | July 2013 | 19

 CUSTOMER APPLICATION | Yihan Xing, Centre for Ships and Ocean Structures, Marine Technology Centre, NTNU

crucial, as offshore maintenance and repair

are costly, and wind turbines are not always
accessible due to weather conditions.

USING SIMPACK TO MODEL THE WIND

Table 1: Model variants
BACKGROUND
At CeSOS, researchers use multiple software
tools to analyze wind turbines for the sake
of comparison. For example, in addition
to FAST [1] and HAWC2 [2], researchers
at CeSOS employ software such as SIMO/
RIFLEX[3,4] for wind turbine global analy-
sis. SIMPACK has been used to model the
mechanical components of the drivetrain.
This article explores the use of SIMPACK in
wind turbine drivetrain research activities
within CeSOS.
Research on wind turbine drivetrains at
CeSOS focuses on the modeling and analy-
sis of the drivetrain for offshore applica-
tions. The wind turbine drivetrain is a crucial
component of the wind turbine. The geared
drivetrain concept
has been the focus
SIMPACK has several features
of CeSOSs work. The
that are specifically catered to the
wind turbine gearbox
modeling of gearboxes.
is known as the "miss-
ing link" in the wind
industry as it has not achieved its intended
service life of 20years. It has been blamed
for contributing significantly to wind turbine
downtime. Understanding the wind turbine
gearbox for offshore wind applications is
TURBINE DRIVETRAIN
CeSOS has utilized SIMPACK to model the
wind turbine drivetrain. Load conditions on
the drivetrain model are typically calculated
using other software codes. For instance,
the global analysis of the wind turbine is
typically simulated using aero-elastic codes,
and the loads at the nacelle are used as
inputs for the SIMPACK drivetrain model.
SIMPACK has several features that cater
specifically to modeling gearboxes. For
instance, the Force Element225 Gear Pair
models the gear contact pair using the
slicing method, which allows the modeling
of the tooth load distribution along the
tooth flank, also known as the KH factor.
In addition, SIMPACK can model flexible
bodies with complex
geometries, which are
commonplace in wind
turbine gearboxes,
e.g., the planet carrier
and gearbox housing.
Furthermore, the ability to incorporate user
routines in SIMPACK allows the modeling of
user-defined Force Elements which are very
useful in research where flexibility in model
definition is important.

Planet A upwind tangential

420 350
Test
M1A
400 M1B
300
M3B
P2
380
250

360
Torque [kNm]

Force [kN]

200
340

150
320

100
300 Field
Dyno
280 50
0 20 40 60 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
Time [sec] Carrier rotation [deg]
Fig. 2: Test comparison cases 1 (Dynamometer) and 2 (Field) Fig. 3: Planet upwind loading comparison for test case 1

20 | SIMPACK News | July 2013

 Yihan Xing, Centre for Ships and Ocean Structures, Marine Technology Centre, NTNU | CUSTOMER APPLICATION
Modeling of rigid planet pins
pin reference node
(located in middle of pin)
Modeling of rigid bearings
bearing reference nodes
Fig. 4: Examining the influences of the subcomponents
THE CASE STUDY
The gearbox from the Gearbox Reliabil-
ity Collaborative (GRC) [5] coordinated by
the National Renewable Energy Labora-
tory (NREL), Colorado, USA, was used as the
case study for most wind turbine drivetrain
modeling and analysis work at CeSOS. The
GRC drivetrain is a 750kW high-speed gen-
erator type. It has one planetary and two
parallel gear stages and uses the three-point
support system. The GRC gearbox within its
drivetrain is illustrated in Fig.1.
COMPARISONS AGAINST EXPERIMEN-
TAL MEASUREMENT RESULTS
In collaboration with NREL, the experimental
measurements from the GRC gearbox were
used for extensive model fidelity studies.
The GRC has conducted extensive field and
dynamometer test campaigns on two heav-
ily instrumented wind turbine gearboxes.
The data from the planetary stage is used to
evaluate the accuracy and computation time
Modeling of rigid pin interfaces
of the numerical models used. The in-depth
GRC gearbox measurements were used
to validate gearbox-modeling techniques
and to determine the right compromise
between model complexity and accuracy. A
set of models that represented different lev-
els of fidelity was constructed. A total of five
models were compared; they are presented
in Table1. The main shaft torque time series
from the measurements were input di-
rectly into the main shaft of the multi-body
model. Two test cases were used; these are
presented in Fig.2.
The comparison results, presented in Fig.3,
pin interface reference modes show that the computational models
were able to reproduce the planet bearing
loads well. This indicates that a multi-body
SIMPACK model can accurately reproduce
Modeling of rigid main shaft
actual test conditions numerically. More
details on this work can be found in LaCava
et al.[6,7].
DETAILED MODELING STUDY OF THE
PLANET CARRIER IN THE GRC GEARBOX
A detailed modeling study of the planet
carrier in the GRC gearbox was also per-
main shaft
formed. This study was carried out in two
reference node
parts. First, the influence of the subcom-
ponents mated to the planet carrier in the
gearbox assembly was investigated in detail.
These components consist of the planet
pins, bearings and the main shaft. Fig.4
shows how these subcomponents were
modeled as rigid in order to investigate their
influences on the planet carrier. This was
performed in Abaqus. Second, the flexible
body modeling of the planet carrier for use
proximity sensor at 47
(fixed to DUMMY body)
sun gear
(output)
planet gear
planet gear
planet carrier
ring gear
(input at the main shaft interface)
Fig. 5: SIMPACK model used for the planet carrier modeling study
SIMPACK News | July 2013 | 21
 CUSTOMER APPLICATION | Yihan Xing, Centre for Ships and Ocean Structures, Marine Technology Centre, NTNU
54.81 m
70 m
200 m clumped
weights
Fig. 6: The floating spar system for the GRC wind turbine
in SIMPACK is examined through the use of
condensed finite element and multi-body
models. Both eigenvalue analyses and time
domain simulations were performed. Fig.5
illustrates the SIMPACK model used for this
dummy body (in blue)
where the nacelle motions
are applied
loads, motions
Fig. 7: Application of the calculated loads, generator speed and motions as inputs into
the drivetrain model. The torque arms and housing casings are not shown.
22 | SIMPACK News | July 2013
4m 3m
3m
48.2 m
z
x
40 m
7m
line 1 60
y
460 m line 2
180 x
39
.7
600 m m
line 3
300
610
m
study. Only the planetary stage was mod- rier with many significantly higher eigen-
eled as the focus was on the planet carrier. frequencies. Various methods of flexible
It was found that the compliance of the modeling of the planet carrier were evalu-
planet pins was very important. Using rigid ated, and an efficient method of prescribing
planet pins leads to a very stiff planet car- the Frequency Response Modes (FRMs) was
proposed. More details of this work can be
found in Xing et al.[8].
ed MODELING AND ANALYSIS OF THE
r spe DRIVETRAIN IN A SPAR-TYPE FLOATING
ato
ge ner WIND TURBINE
In this study, the GRC drivetrain and wind
turbine were mounted onto a spar-floating
platform to be deployed for offshore wind
use. The floating spar system was designed
in-house in CeSOS and is similar to the
HyWind and OC3 spar concept. Fig.6 il-
lustrates the dimensions of the design spar
platform. This is a catenary moored spar
system with three mooring lines. The main
purpose of the mooring lines is to keep the
structure stationary, with minimal sway.
The delta mooring line layout provides ad-
ditional yaw stiffness. The platform is also
ballast-stabilized, which results in large roll
and pitch hydrostatic restoring moments
due to the low center of gravity.
A decoupled solution was used in this
instance. First, the global aero-hydro-elastic-
servo floating wind turbine (FWT) problem
is solved using HAWC2 [2]. The loads,
generator speed, and motions experienced
by the drivetrain in the HAWC2 analysis are
then used as inputs for a SIMPACK drive-
 Yihan Xing, Centre for Ships and Ocean Structures, Marine Technology Centre, NTNU | CUSTOMER APPLICATION

Main shaft shear forces Main shaft axial forces

Main shaft bending moments
Fig. 8: Comparison of frequency spectra of the axial force, shear force, bending moment and
torque on the main shaft. The mean wind speed at hub height is 20 m/s.
train model. See Fig.7 for an illustration
of the applications of these inputs into the
drivetrain model.
A comparison of the responses in the FWT
and its land-based equivalent counterpart
was performed. It was determined that
there are general increases in the standard
deviations of the main shaft loads and inter-
nal drivetrain responses. These increases are
larger in the response variables associated
with the low-speed planetary stage. This is
Main shaft torque intuitive as the gearbox has the capability to
isolate loads between the individual stages.
These differences, however, do propagate
to the intermediate- and high-speed stages
at the less severe load cases. Comparisons
of the frequency spectra (Fig.8 and Fig.9)
show that wave-induced responses appear
both in the main shaft loads and internal
drivetrain response variables. More detailed
investigations into the individual contribu-
tions of the main shaft loads and nacelle
motions revealed that the increases in the
internal drivetrain responses in the FWT are
a result of the increase in the main shaft
non-torque loads that the FWT experiences.

Axial forces Radial forces Tilting moments

INP-A
PLC-B
PL-B

Fig. 9: Floating wind turbine vs. land-based wind turbine. Comparisons of the frequency spectra of the INP-A (main bearing),
PLC-B (downwind planet carrier bearing) and PL-B (downwind planet gear bearing). The mean wind speed at hub height is 20 m/s.

SIMPACK News | July 2013 | 23

 CUSTOMER APPLICATION | Yihan Xing, Centre for Ships and Ocean Structures, Marine Technology Centre, NTNU

DYNAMIC TIME-DOMAIN-BASED
1600
1st mode TOOTH CONTACT FATIGUE ANALYSIS
In this experiment, researchers performed
1400 2nd mode a time-domain-based gear contact fatigue
analysis of the GRC gearbox. The main
1200 3rd mode purpose was to investigate how the long-
term distribution of gear contact pressures
4th mode can be represented by analytical functions
1000 such as the Weibull distribution and the
generalized gamma distribution. These
800 distributions are necessary to design reliable
Hz

gears using probabilistic approaches and

to develop simplified methods for practical
600
design. A new, simplified predictive sub-
surface pitting model estimates the service
400 lives of gears under dynamic conditions. The
decoupled analysis method is used for the
200 dynamic analysis of the gears in the GRC
gearbox. First, aero-elastic simulations were
performed on the land-based GRC wind
0
600 2.000 5.000 10.000 turbine using FAST[1]. The main shaft loads
kW calculated from FAST were then used as
inputs in a SIMPACK drivetrain model. Three
Fig. 10: Eigenfrequency comparison, 0.6 and 2MW: 3 stages, 5 and 10 MW: 4 stages points on the gear teeth were considered
for pitting lives as illustrated in Fig.12.
The Weibull and generalized gamma distri-
The nacelle motions, i.e., inertia forces have butions were then used to fit the long-term
excitations are found in the Campbell dia-
limited contributions to the FWT drivetrain grams. See Fig.11 for the Campbell diagram
probabilistic distributions of the gear tooth
responses. of the 10MW drivetrain. More details of
contact pressures. An example of these fits
Lastly, an additional main bearing was this work can be found in Nejad et al.[12].
is presented in Fig.13.
added to the GRC drivetrain to
reduce the non-torque loads
going into the gearbox. This is
Resonance diagram (10.000 KW)
the so-called four-point support
system. It was found that the 1.000
tooth and bearing loads in the
planetary stage are significantly
900
reduced as a result of this ad-
ditional main bearing. More de-
tails of this work can be found 800
in Xing et al.[911].
700
DYNAMICS OF LARGE
OFFSHORE WIND TURBINE
600
DRIVETRAINS
Frequency (Hz)

In this study, the internal dy-

namics of wind turbine gear 500
trains were examined. The
pure torsional model is applied 400
in SIMPACK for eigenmodes
analysis and the evaluation
300
of internal excitations by the
use of resonance diagrams.
The gear trains studied were 200
designed in-house using indus-
trial standards. Case studies 100
of 0.6, 2, 5 and 10MW were
performed. A negative trend of
0
eigenfrequencies was observed 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
in the larger gear trains. This is Rotor speed (rpm)
illustrated in Fig.10. Many pos-
sible resonances due to internal Fig. 11: 4-stage drivetrain resonance diagram (10 MW)

24 | SIMPACK News | July 2013

 Yihan Xing, Centre for Ships and Ocean Structures, Marine Technology Centre, NTNU | CUSTOMER APPLICATION

4
Raw data
p1 p1: near the point of engagement 2 2-parameter Weibull
generalized gamma
of the driven gear 0 3-parameter Weibull

0 0: in the vicinity of the pitch point -2

of the driven gear -4

log (-log(1-Pf))
m1: close to the recess point -6
m1 of the driven gear -8
-10
-12
-14 Point p1
-16
2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6 6.5 7 7.5
log (Pmax)

4
Raw data
2 2-parameter Weibull
Fig. 12: Positions of the considered points on the gear profile generalized gamma
0 3-parameter Weibull
-2
The results indicate that the generalized [5] Link, H., LaCava, W., van Dam, J., McNiff, B., -4

log (-log(1-Pf))
gamma distribution is better than the Sheng, S., Wallen, R., McDade, M., Lambert, S., -6
Weibull distribution, though the two- Butterfield, S., Oyague, F., "Gearbox Reliability
-8
parameter Weibull Collaborative project
is simpler to use. A Research at CeSOS in drivetrain report: Findings from -10

so-called 'limit-state modeling and analysis uses SIMPACK Phase1 and Phase2", -12
function' for contact to accurately model and analyze National Renewable -14 Point 0
fatigue analysis the wind turbine drivetrain... Energy Laboratory, -16
could be established Report number: NREL/ 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6 6.5 7 7.5
log (Pmax)
based on the pitting life prediction model TP-5000-51885, 2011.
presented in this work. More details of this [6] LaCava, W., Xing, Y.H., Guo, Y., Moan, T.,
work can be found in Dong et al.[13,14]. "Determining Wind Turbine Gearbox Model 5
Complexity using Measurement Validation and Raw Data
2-parameter Weibull
CONCLUSIONS Cost Comparison", in: European Wind Energy As- generalized gamma
0 3-parameter Weibull
The wind turbine drivetrain is a crucial com- sociation annual event, Copenhagen, 2012.
ponent of the wind turbine that needs to be [7] LaCava, W., Xing, Y.H., Marks, C., Guo, Y.,
better studied for offshore applications. Re- Moan, T., "Three-Dimensional Bearing Load -5
log (-log(1-Pf))

search at CeSOS in drivetrain modeling and
analysis uses SIMPACK to accurately model
and analyze the wind turbine drivetrain in a
variety of research topics.
Share Behavior in the Planetary Stage of a Wind
Turbine Gearbox", under review in IET Renewable -10
Power Generation 2012.
[8] Xing, Y.H., Moan, T., "Multi-Body Modelling
and Analysis of a Planet Carrier in a Wind Turbine -15

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Gearbox", Article accepted in Wind Energy 2012. Point m1

The author would like to thank William
LaCava, University of Massachusetts, Yi
Guo, NREL, and Wenbin Dong and Amir
Rasekhi Nejad, CeSOS, for their contribu-
tions to this article.
REFERENCES
[1] Jonkman, J., Buhl, M.L., "FAST's User Guide",
National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Report
number: NREL/EL-500-38230, 2005.
[2] Larsen, T.J., Hansen, A.M., "How 2 HAWC2",
Ris National Laboratory, Technical University of
Denmark, Report number: Ris-R-1597 (ver. 3-1)
(EN), 2007.
[3] Ormberg, H., Mo, K., "SIMOUser's manual
version 3.6", MARINTEK, Report number: 2009.
[4] Ormberg, H., Passano, E., "RIFLEXUser's
Manual Version 3.6", MARINTEK, Report num-
ber: 2009.
[9] Xing, Y.H., Karimirad, M., Moan, T., "Effect of
Spar-Type Floating Wind Turbine Nacelle Motions
on Drivetrain Dynamics", in: European Wind
Energy Association annual event, Copenhagen,
2012.
[10] Xing, Y.H., Karimirad, M., Moan, T., "Mod-
elling and Analysis of Floating Spar-Type Wind
Turbine Drivetrain", Accepted for publication in
Wind Energy 2012.
[11] Xing, Y.H., Moan, T., Karimirad, M., Etemad-
dar, M., "Influence of the Design Parameters of a
Spar-Type Floating Wind Turbine on Component
Loads, with Emphasis on the Drivetrain", Under
review in Wind Energy 2012.
[12] Nejad, A.R., Xing, Y.H., Moan, T., "Gear
Train Internal Dynamics in large Offshore Wind
Turbines", in: ASME 11th Biennial Conference
on Engineering Systems Design and Analysis,
Nantes, France, 2012.
-20
2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6 6.5 7 7.5
log (Pmax)
Fig. 13: Long-term results of the maximum
contact pressure range in the sun gear
[13] Dong, W.B., Xing, Y.H., Moan, T., "Time
Domain Modelling and Analysis of Dynamic Gear
Contact Force in Wind Turbine Gearbox with
Respect to Fatigue Assessment", Energies 2012,
5 (11), 4350-4371.
[14] Dong, W.B., Xing, Y.H., Moan, T., Gao, Z.,
"Time Domain based Gear Contact Fatigue
Analysis of a Wind Turbine Drive Train under
Dynamic Conditions", Accepted for publication in
International Journal of Fatigue 2012.

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