General Electric Company
SPHERICAL JOURNAL BEARING FOR A WIND TURBINE DRIVETRAIN

Abstract:

A hydrodynamic journal bearing assembly for a drivetrain of a wind turbine includes a shaft and a semispherical convex surface provided on an outer surface of the shaft, the convex surface extending circumferentially around the shaft and having a convex cross-sectional profile oriented along a longitudinal axis of the shaft. A bearing housing is arranged circumferentially around the semispherical convex surface, the bearing housing having s a reservoir in a bottom portion thereof for a bearing fluid. A static semispherical concave bearing surface in the bearing housing defines a bearing interface with the semispherical convex surface on the shaft, wherein a layer of the fluid is provided in the bearing interface as the shaft and rotates through the reservoir.