Investigations of Bearing Failures Associated with White Etching Areas (WEAs) in Wind Turbine Gearboxes

Abstract

A critical problem for wind turbine gearboxes is failure of rolling element bearings where axial cracks form on the inner rings. Metallurgical analyses show that the failure mode is associated with microstructural alterations manifested by white etching areas (WEAs) and white etching cracks (WECs). This article presents field experience from operating wind turbines that compares performance of through-hardened and carburized materials. It shows that through-hardened bearings develop WEA/WECs and fail with axial cracks, whereas carburized bearings do not. In another comparison of two rotor bearings with different carburized metallurgies, one bearing developed WEA/WECs and failed by macropitting, whereas the other bearing did not develop WEAs or WECs and did not fail. The field experience shows that a carburized bearing that has a core with low carbon content, high nickel content, greater compressive residual stresses, and a higher amount of retained austenite provides higher fracture resistance and makes carburized bearings more durable than through-hardened bearings in the wind turbine environment.