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Original Article

Power loss prediction: Application to a

2.5 MW wind turbine gearbox

Proc IMechE Part J:

J Engineering Tribology
0(0) 113
! IMechE 2015
Reprints and permissions:
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DOI: 10.1177/1350650115622362
pij.sagepub.com

Carlos MCG Fernandes1, Maroua Hammami1,2,

Ramiro C Martins1 and Jorge HO Seabra3

Abstract
A 2.5 MW wind turbine gearbox design was considered to perform a power loss prediction using different wind turbine
gear oil formulations. A gearbox power loss model, previously validated with experimental results, was used to predict
the efficiency of a full wind turbine planetary gearbox. The power loss model account the gears and rolling bearing losses
using well established models calibrated with a method proposed by the author. The calculations clearly showed that
significant energy savings can be achieved by selecting different base oils, modifying gear tooth geometry, or combining
both.
Keywords
Wind turbine gearbox, gears, rolling bearings, efficiency, power loss, lubrication
Date received: 5 May 2015; accepted: 18 November 2015

Introduction
Wind turbines have a signicant contribution to the
electrical power generation from renewal sources
around the world.1 The blades of a wind turbine
rotate at very low speeds, typically 20 r/min, which
are not suitable for conventional power generation
using an electrical generator. This constraint is
solved using a multiplying gearbox between the hub
and the electrical generator.
While the main focus of researchers and engineers
for the wind turbine applications is mainly the gearbox reliability, the energetic eciency of such
large machines should not be disregarded. The gearbox eciency of the car or the bus of daily use is
often considered very high and the power loss problem is mainly focused on the engine and vehicle
weight.2,3 However, wind turbine gearboxes, handle several megawatt and even a small eciency
increase can save energy useful for several more
households.
The gearbox might have dierent congurations,
although one of the most used designs has two planetary stages plus a helical gear stage at the end. The
eciency of these multiplying gearboxes, with such
arrangement or a similar one, is good. Nevertheless,
any eciency increase will have a signicant impact,
reducing the power loss and the operating temperature. If the eciency of a 1 MW wind turbine gearbox
is increased by 1%, something like 10 kW of additional power would be available in only one machine.
The 1 MW wind turbines are very rare nowadays,

since the current output power is in some cases

above 5 MW.
The power loss reduction has a direct inuence on
lubrication quality, increased eciency, i.e. lower heat
dissipation and lower oil operating temperature.
Lowering the operating temperature minimizes oil
oxidation and degradation, which has a large impact
on the lubrication quality and consequently on the
surface protection against failures. Hohn et al.4
showed that reducing the oil temperature also reduces
the risk of failure. Even in the case of gearboxes without failure problems overtime, the oil change will be
less frequent contributing for the reduction of the
maintenance costs, related to the cost of fresh oil,
but also to the cost of replacing it in a wind turbine.
The main sources of power loss in a gearbox are
the load-dependent gear and rolling bearings losses.5
In previous works, Hohn suggested5 Palmgrens
model6 to predict the rolling bearing power losses.
However, more recently Fernandes et al.7 suggested
1

INEGI, Universidade do Porto, Campus FEUP, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias,

Porto, Portugal
2
Laboratory of Mechanical, Modelling and Manufacturing, National
School of Engineers of Sfax, University of Sfax, Tunisia
3
FEUP, Universidade do Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias s/n, Porto,
Portugal
Corresponding author:
Carlos MCG Fernandes, INEGI, Universidade do Porto, Campus FEUP,
Rua Dr. Roberto Frias 400, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal.
Email: cfernandes@inegi.up.pt

2
the use of the new SKF model,8 after a calibration
procedure for each oil formulation.
Ohlendorfs9 model is currently used to predict
the average gear mesh losses, a constant and average
coecient of friction along the path of contact is
assumed. The average CoF is usually calculated with
formulations like the ones proposed by Schlenk,10
Michaelis et al.,11 and Matsumoto and Morikawa.12
In a previous work,13 the authors showed that a
properly calibrated Schlenks model can be used to
accurately estimate the average gear mesh power
losses.7,13,14
The previous works of the authors7,1323 aimed to
fully characterize wind turbine gear oils in terms of
physical properties and friction, both on gears and
rolling bearings. Experimental tests were performed,
allowing to calibrate each power loss source and then
a gearbox power loss model was developed.
Furthermore, the experimental results clearly
showed that it is possible to increase gearbox eciency through an improved gear tooth design or
selecting the most suitable gear oil formulation, or
even, combining these two possibilities.
The present work intends to predict the power loss
of a 2.5 MW wind turbine gearbox lubricated with
dierent fully formulated ISO VG 320 wind turbine
gear oils. The gearbox and the power loss model considered allowed to show the inuence of rolling bearings, gears, oil formulation, and operating conditions
on a real application.

Wind turbine gear oils

In order to obtain an overview of the dierent wind
turbine gear oil formulations available on the market,
three fully formulated gear oils were selected. Due to
practical purposes, it is interesting to cover a good
range of possible products, mainly in terms of base
oil. A mineral (MINR), a polyalpholephin (PAOR),
and a polyalkylene glycol (PAGD) oils are included in
this analysis. All wind turbine gear oils selected
have the same viscosity grade, ISO VG 320, and
are expected to have a viscosity of 320 cSt (10%)
at 40 C.
According to the manufacturer, the mineral-based
oil (MINR) is formulated with an EP additive system,
providing anti-foam, oxidation, and dispersant properties as well. It complies to DIN-51517 part 3 (CLP);
Flender Industrial Gear and ISO 12925-1 CKD quality standards. The polyaphaolephin-based oil, PAOR,
is constituted by 90% of PAO and also with a signicant amount of ester used to increase additive solubility and avoid haze. The additive package has
primarily EP function. The lubricant meet the requirements of DIN-51517 part 3 (CLP), Flender Industrial
Gear, AGMA 9005-E02 EP, ISO 6743/6 CKT and
U.S. Steel 224. The polyalkylene glycol based oil
(PAGD) is a fully formulated oil developed to work
under corrosive media and also to be compatible with

Proc IMechE Part J: J Engineering Tribology 0(0)

power loss

gears

bearings seals auxiliary

PV = PVZ0 + PVZP + PVL + PVD + PVX

no-load losses
load dependent losses

Figure 1. Power loss contributions.28

paintings. The chemical and physical characterization

of the wind turbine gear oils can be found in A.

Power loss model

According to Hohn et al.,5 as well as several other
authors,2433 the power loss in a gearbox consists of
gear (PVZ0 and PV ZP), bearing (PV L), seals (PV D),
and auxiliary (PV X) losses, as presented in Figure 1.

Load-independent gear losses

Several authors presented works regarding the prediction of the power loss generated by partly immersed
gears.3441 However, the modes that were proposed
are not able to accurately estimate the actual noload losses in cases that deviate from the conditions
that the models were developed for. On the case of
planetary gearboxes, the power loss generated by the
airoil mixture interaction with the moving mechanical elements presents additional complications. The
planet gears are animated with a rotational movement
around their own center combined with another rotational movement around the center of the sun gear.
The planet carrier is the element that holds the
planet gears in place and allows the transport
movement of the planets around the sun gear. In a
planetary gearbox, under oil sump lubrication, several
phenomena are prone to create power loss.
Considering a planetary gearbox driven by the
planet carrier but without the sun and internal
gears, the result would be the planet carrier and the
planets rotating as a single element. This movement
alone is responsible for the majority of the power loss
generated due to the airoil mixture interaction with
the moving elements. If the full planetary gearbox is
considered, the power loss due to uid trapping and
squeezing as well as pumping eects due to the meshing gears must be considered. The rotation of the
planets around its own center can also create additional power loss.
Recently, Concli et al.42 also proposed a solution
for the problem of the churning power loss in a
planetary speed reducer, which was based on a computational uid dynamics (CFD) approach. For the
moment the author believes that the CFD is not the
best method to predict the no-load losses due to CFD
models limitations (the relevant eects must be

Fernandes et al.

3
The rolling bearing drag losses are given by equation
(9) for ball bearings or by equation (10) for roller
bearings

Table 1. Lubricant parameter for each oil

formulation.13
Oil

XL

MINR
PAOR
PAGD

0.85
0.70
0.60

MINR:
mineral;
PAOR:
PAGD: polyalkylene glycol.

Mdrag 0:4  VM  Kball  d5m  n2 1:093


1:379
n  d2m  ft
7
2
3
Rs
 10  n  dm 


polyalpholephin;

simulated separately), processing costs and necessity

of experimental validation deviations.43

To calculate the meshing gears power losses, the

Ohlendorf equation (1) was used
PVZP PIN  HVL  mZ

The local gear loss factor HV L, equation (2), was

considered which was showed to be valid for helical
gears with prole shift.13
1
pb

Z bZ
0

FN x, y vg x, y

dxdy
Fbt
vtb

Rolling bearing losses

The SKF model8 considers that the total friction
torque is the sum of four dierent physical sources
of torque loss, represented as follows
4

Equations (5) and (6) dene the rolling and sliding

torques, respectively
Msl Gsl  sl

Mrr0 ish  rs  Grr n  0,6 

Equation (7) denes the inlet shear heating and equation (8) shows the replenishment/starvation reduction
factor, both for the rolling element raceway contact.
ish

1 1:84 
1

rs
e

Krs ndD

109

1
 n  dm 1:28  0:64

p
K
z
2Dd

Mseal KS1  ds R KS2

10

7
8

11

The constants Gsl, Grr, KL, KZ KS1 , KS2 , and R are

dependent on the geometry of the rolling bearing.
The sliding friction torque (equation (12)) is
dependent on the weighting factor (equation (13))
and on the reference values of the coecient of friction (boundary lm coecient of frictionbl and
full-lm coecient of frictionEHD) of each oil.
sl bl  bl 1  bl  EHD

Schlenck10 equation (3) was used to predict the meshing gears coecient of friction. The corresponding
lubricant parameter XL (see Table 1) was determined
with experimental results for each oil formulation.

0:2
Fbt =b
mZ 0:048 
0:05  R0:25
 XL
3
a
C  redC

Mt M0rr Msl Mdrag Mseal

Mdrag 4  VM  Kroll  Cw  B  d4m  n2 1:093


1:379
n  d2m  ft
7
2
3
Rs
 10  n  dm 

The seal losses are dened by

Load-dependent gear losses

HVL

bl

1
1,4
e2,6108 n dm

12
13

The rolling bearing friction torque model, or torque

loss model, only can predict accurate values if the
boundary lm coecient of friction bl and the full
lm coecient of friction EHD are representative of
the lubricant used and of the operating temperature of
the rolling bearing. For mineral oils, whatever the
rolling bearing element type, ball or roller, a value
of bl 0:15 is suggested. Also for mineral oils a
value of EHD 0:05 is proposed for ball element
bearings, and a value of EHD 0:02 is proposed
for roller element bearings.8
There are no values of bl and EHD available for
dierent gear oil formulations, neither for dierent
operating temperatures. These values must be determined experimentally through rolling bearing tests. In
a previous work, the values of bl and EHD were
determined for dierent wind turbine gear oil formulations and are presented in Table 2.

Seal losses
Seal power loss is due to friction in the contact zone.
The friction has been the scope of many researchers
but the problem of seal losses is not very well understood yet.44 The contact zone is very small and the
microscopic phenomena is dicult to parametrize.
Freudenberg Simrit performed a large number of
measurements and observed that the seal losses are
function of seal diameter and rotational speed.

Proc IMechE Part J: J Engineering Tribology 0(0)

Table 2. Coefficient of friction of both TBB and RTB rolling

bearings for an operating temperature of 80 C.13
3262.5 < n  dm 5 52,200

Valid for:

Bearing type
Oil

Parameter

TBB

RTB

MINR

bl
EHD
bl
EHD
bl
EHD

0.058
0.056
0.049
0.044
0.054
0.044

0.035
0.018
0.039
0.010
0.025
0.010

PAOR
PAGD

MINR: mineral; PAOR: polyalpholephin; PAGD: polyalkylene glycol.

The experimental work of Freudenberg culminated in

equation (14) to predict seal losses. The formula only
takes into account the shaft diameter and the rotational speed while the oil eect is not considered.
PVD 7:69  106  d2sh  n

14

It was assumed the full power capacity of the wind

turbine, i.e. 2.5 MW corresponding to an input speed
on the blades of 20 r/min. The rotational and tangential speed of each gear mesh are presented in Table 6.
The load conditions produced by a 1200 kNm torque
applied to the input shaft produced the maximum
Hertz pressures presented in Table 6. It is important
to note that in previous works,13,19 the operating conditions used to test fully formulated gear oils in a
FZG gear testing machine were very similar to those
presented here.
In order to know the lubrication regime in each
gear mesh, equation (15), proposed by Hamrock
et al.,48 was used to predict the central lm thickness
on the pitch point.
h0 0:975 

   vC 0:727 R0:364

 b  E 0:091
X
0:091
Fn

Taking into consideration the inlet shear heating of

the lubricant and corresponding thermal correction
factor (T ), the corrected lm thickness is presented
in the following equation
h0C T  h0

Auxiliary losses
The auxiliary losses take into account other dissipative sources that are not generated by gears, bearings
or the sealing elements.

Application to a 2.5 MW wind

turbine gearbox
A particular wind turbine gearbox design was chosen
to predict its eciency. The gearbox is presented in
Figure 2(a). It has two planetary stages and a nal
stage with a parallel helical pair. It is a very
common type of conguration used in wind turbine
gearboxes, as presented in Figure 2(b). The input
torque and speed on each planetary stage is
made through the planetary carrier and the output
in the sun shaft. Thus, a xed ring conguration is
used.4547
The gearbox is designed using helical gears in all
stages with a helix angle of z 10 . The total transmission ratio is i  102. The gear properties are
resumed in Table 3: all gears have prole shift and
the safety factors were calculated for an input
torque of 1200 kNm and an input speed of 20 r/min,
assuring the necessary life rating of the gears.
The shafts are supported by the rolling bearings
listed in Table 4.

Operating conditions and specific film thickness

The test conditions considered for the present study
are resumed in Table 5.

15

16

The thermal correction T used was proposed by

Gupta et al.,49 as shown in the following equations
T

1  13:2  p0 =E  L 0:42
1 0:2131 2:23  S0:83  L 0:64

17

L    U S
kL

18

The specic lm thicknessqwas

then quantied
using

equation (19), where

Rq21 Rq22 and assuming
Rq1 and Rq2 equal to 0.6 mm


h0C

19

The specic lm thickness was calculated for each

gear mesh, for two operating temperatures (60 C
and 80 C) and for the wind turbine gear oils selected.
The results are presented in Figure 3. It can be
observed that the rst stage (LSS) operated under
mixed lm lubrication conditions (1 5  5 2) while
the second (LIS) and the third (HSS) stages performed under full-lm conditions at 60 ( 4 2), no
matter the oil formulation considered. The lm thickness predictions allow to conclude that no signicant
dierences can be found between oil formulations.
At 80 C, the rst (LSS) and second (LIS) stages
operated under mixed lm lubrication conditions
and the gears on the high speed shaft (HSS) operated
under full-lm lubrication conditions. The planetary
stages (LSS and LIS) presented similar specic
lm thickness no matter the contact considered,

Fernandes et al.

Figure 2. Wind turbine gearbox used for the simulation.47

Table 3. Gear geometric properties of the wind turbine gearbox.

Stage 1

Stage 2

Stage 3

Parameter

Sun

Planet

Ring

Sun

Planet

Ring

Pinion

Wheel

z
b
i
m
z
z
a0
xz
SF
SH

21
320
5.587
16
20
10
476
0.71
1.68
1.09

35
320

96
331.5

23
168.4
5.464
9
20
10
290
0.6464
1.98
1.18

38
168.4

103
177.4

117
245
3.343
7
20
10
550
0.769
2.74
2.02

35
240

0.8031
1.19
1.15

0.2093
1.89
1.79

Table 4. Rolling bearings of the wind turbine gearbox.

Stage

Rolling bearing

Location

Stage 1

SKF NU 20/800 ECMA

SKF NU 1080 MA
SKF NU 2340 ECMA
SKF NU 2340 ECMA
SKF NU 244 ECMA
SKF NU 1060 MA
SKF NNCF 4930 CV
SKF NNCF 4930 CV
SKF NU 1060 MA
SKF 32960
SKF 32960
SKF NU 1036 ML
SKF NUP 236 ECMA
NSK QJ1036

carrier
carrier
planets
planets
carrier
carrier
planets
planets
pinion shaft
pinion shaft
pinion shaft
wheel shaft
wheel shaft
wheel shaft

Stage 2

Stage 3

Quantity
1
1
3
3
1
1
3
3
1
1
1
1
1
1

0.7693
1.39
1.22

0.0639
2.18
2.25

0.7176
2.91
1.99

Table 5. Wind turbine gearbox conditions for the power loss

simulation.
Condition

Value

Input torque
Input speed
Output speed
Nominal power
Operating temperature
Lubrication method (gears)
Lubrication method (rolling bearings)

1200 kNm
20 r/min
2040 r/min
2.5 MW
60 C and 80 C
Oil jet lubrication
Dip lubrication

i.e. planet/ring or planet/carrier. No matter the operating temperature considered, the oils allow to keep
the risk of failure below 5%,50 since the specic lm
thickness calculated is higher than that required.

Proc IMechE Part J: J Engineering Tribology 0(0)

Table 6. Rotational and tangential speed on the gear mesh of a wind turbine gearbox for an input speed of 20 r/min.
Stage 1

Stage 2

Stage 3

Property

Unit

P/S

P/R

P/S

P/R

Helical

n
vt
p0

r/min
m/s
MPa

111.4
1.867
1028

34.9
0.974
699

610.4
6.302
921

190.6
3.251
624

610.4
24.933
567

P/S: Planet/Sun; P/R: Planet/Ring.

(a)

(b)

Figure 3. Specific film thickness calculated at 60 C and 80 C for each gear mesh and oil formulation.

Power loss prediction

To carry on the simulations, the power loss model
presented in section Power loss model was used as
resumed in the following equation
PV

PVZ0 PVZP
|{z}
|{z}

Disregarded

PVD
|{z}

Disregarded

PIN HV mZ

PVX
|{z}

PVL
|{z}

New SKF Model

20

Disregarded

The no-load losses of gears and seals were disregarded

for dierent reasons. In the present study, the noload gear losses will not be considered in the simulation since the models available are not independent
of the gearbox conguration. Furthermore, the
experimental and model results presented in previous
works13,19 show that the inuence of the no-load gear
losses on the total torque loss of a gearbox, at
low speed, are small. At the same time, the oils
used are ISO VG 320 and the dierences between
them, in terms of no-load losses, are expected to
be very small. The auxiliary losses were also
disregarded.
The seal losses were not considered since the seals
used in this particular gearbox are not known.
Furthermore, the Simrit equation (14) does not
account for the inuence of dierent oil formulations.
In a previous work,13 the inuence of the seal losses in
a gearbox were estimated to be lower than 10% for
loaded conditions.

A simulation was performed for MINR, PAOR

and PAGD gear oils. Two dierent operating temperatures were considered, 60 C and 80 C which is
the usual range of operation in a wind turbine gearbox. The rst and second stage were analyzed using
the concept of mesh-power, while stage 3 of the wind
turbine gearbox, being a parallel helical gear, was
analyzed using equation (1). The input power on
each planetary stage is splitted in three planets and
the tangential force applied on the base plane is calculated by the following equation
Fbt

PIN
3  vt

21

The mesh power in each meshing pair should be calculated as presented in equation (22), and so the relative speed was considered. The mesh power (PM)
should be used in equation (1) instead of input
power (PIN) for the case of planetary gears.
Regarding the coecient of friction the sum velocities
in the pitch point (vC ) should also be calculated using
the relative velocities.
PM Fbt  v0t

22

The input shaft of stage 3 runs at 610 r/min, which

corresponds to 25 m/s of tangential speed.
Independently of the oil used, the gears will perform
under full-lm conditions. The Schlenck equation is
suitable for mixed lm lubrication conditions and the
coecient of friction would decrease ad innitum if

Fernandes et al.

VZP

VL

VZP

80

80
Power Loss [kW]

(b) 100

Power Loss [kW]

(a) 100

60
40
20

(c)

MINR

PAOR
Oil []

[kW]
VZP

[kW]
VZP

40

MINR

PAOR
Oil []

PAGD

Stage 1
Stage 2
Stage 3

60
40

PAGD

(f)

100

[kW]

40
20

PAOR
Oil []

PAGD

Stage 1
Stage 2
Stage 3

80

VL

60

MINR

100

Stage 1
Stage 2
Stage 3

[kW]

PAOR
Oil []

20

80

VL

MINR

80

20

40

100

(d)

60

60

PAGD

Stage 1
Stage 2
Stage 3

80

(e)

VL

20

100

60
40
20

MINR

PAOR
Oil []

PAGD

MINR

PAOR
Oil []

PAGD

Figure 4. Power loss prediction for a full wind turbine gearbox.

the speed is increased without care. To avoid the

underestimation of the meshing gears power loss,
the third stage coecient of friction was calculated
for  2, i.e. it was assumed that the coecient of
friction is better estimated if calculated at the speed
corresponding to the beginning of full lm conditions.
The rolling bearing power losses were calculated
using the calibrated power loss model described in
section Rolling bearing losses. The coecients of
friction (bl and EHD) determined based on the
experimental results are here again used for the

simulation performed, assuming that no signicant

dierence is found between 60 C and 80 C.7

Simulation results
Considering the main sources of power loss in each
gearbox stage, gears and rolling bearings, antagonistic
eects were observed, as presented in Figure 4. PAGD
reduced the gears power loss but slightly increased the
rolling bearing losses. The opposite behavior is
observed for MINR.

Proc IMechE Part J: J Engineering Tribology 0(0)

Table 7. Gear geometric properties of the modified (MOD) wind turbine gearbox.
Parameter

Stage 1
Sun

Z
B
i
M
z
z
a0
xz
SF
SH

28
320
5.587
12
20
10
476
0.7742
1.29
1.10

Stage 2
Sun

Planet

Ring

47
320

128
331.5

1.0280
0.94
1.16

0.2110
1.41
1.86

30
168.4
5.495
7
20
10
290
0.4330
1.64
1.20

Table 8. Gear loss factors for the standard (STD) and modified (MOD) wind turbine gearbox.

HV L (STD)
HV L (MOD)

Stage 1
P/S

P/R

Stage 2
P/S

P/R

Stage 3
Helical

0.1482
0.1132

0.1093
0.1005

0.1391
0.1245

0.1055
0.0676

0.0955
0.0752

The temperature also has an opposite eect,

depending if gears or bearings are considered.
Increasing the operating temperature increases the
gear losses, as shown in Figure 4(c) and (d). Raising
the temperature, a more severe lubrication condition
is expected on the gears as shown in Figure 3, which is
in agreement with the power loss predictions.
The rolling bearing losses reduce by increasing the
temperature and consequently lowering the viscosity.
The rolling torque (Mrr), in rolling bearings, is the
main source of power loss in stage 3 and it is mainly
dependent on speed and viscosity. Consequently, the
rolling bearings power loss in stage 3 is almost independent of the oil formulation.

Simulation results with modified tooth geometry

A dierent gear tooth geometry was considered for
each gearbox stage. The gear loss factor of the original gear meshs is already quite low. In order to
reduce the gear loss factor and achieve a better gearbox eciency, the number of teeth was increased and
the module was reduced, keeping the same center distance.13,51 A positive prole shift was applied in every
gear mesh and the safety factors were slightly reduced,
as presented in Table 7.
The gear loss factors are presented in Table 8 for
both the standard (STD) and modied (MOD) teeth.
The safety factors can be increased by using a
larger face width. This was not done in purpose, in
order to keep the gearbox dimensions and to show
that is possible to reduce the meshing gears power

Stage 3
Pinion

Planet

Ring

50
168.4

135
177.4

0.4342
1.14
1.24

0.9927
1.49
1.90

150
245
3.333
5.5
20
10
550
0.7464
2.23
2.03

Wheel
45
240

0.2850
2.29
2.00

loss in comparison to the original design. The nominal

pressure angle and the helix angle were also kept in
order to be possible use the same bearings. The present work was done for an existent gearbox, but it
would be better to apply it in the early stage of the
gearbox design allowing to modify the helix angle, the
face width, the number of teeth, and select adequate
rolling bearings to achieve the best eciency without
reducing the safety factors.
Comparing Figure 5(a) and (b) it is clear that the
total power loss decreased and the eciency
increased, for each oil formulation. The power loss
reduction is due to the gear tooth geometry as presented in Figure 5(c) and (d). The meshing gears
power loss was reduced by 18 % independently of
the oil formulation.
The rolling bearing power losses remain almost the
same as presented in Figure 5(e) and (f), which was
expected since the applied forces were not increased
signicantly. Comparing the original gear geometry
lubricated with MINR (Figure 5(a)) and the new one
lubricated with PAGD (Figure 5(b)), the total power
loss can decrease 22%, which corresponds to  21 kW.
The main problem of stage 3 is due to the rolling
bearing dimensions and the high operating speed. For
such large bore rolling bearings the only possibility is to
be able to replace them by smaller ones. It implies shafts
with small diameter, which cannot be feasible. The rolling bearing failures are reported in Ruellan et al.52,53 as
a problem in wind turbine gearboxes, so, the rolling
bearing geometry should be addressed with care.

Gearbox efficiency
The eciency of each gearbox stage is presented in
Table 9 for each gearbox design and for each oil
formulation.

Conclusions
A power loss model previously validated with experimental results was used to perform a power loss

Fernandes et al.

PVZP

PVL

PVZP

80

80
Power Loss [kW]

(b) 100

Power Loss [kW]

(a) 100

60
40
20
0

(c)

MINR

PAOR
Oil []

(d)

[kW]
VZP

40
20

MINR

PAOR
Oil []

PAGD

100
Stage 1
Stage 2
Stage 3

60
40

PAGD

100

(f)

Stage 1
Stage 2
Stage 3

VL

[kW]

60
40
20

MINR

PAOR
Oil []

PAGD

100
Stage 1
Stage 2
Stage 3

80

[kW]
VL

PAOR
Oil []

20

80

MINR

80

PVZP [kW]

60

40

PAGD

Stage 1
Stage 2
Stage 3

80

(e)

60

20

100

PVL

60
40
20

MINR

PAOR
Oil []

PAGD

MINR

PAOR
Oil []

PAGD

Figure 5. Power loss prediction for a full wind turbine gearbox.

simulation with a full-scale wind turbine gearbox. The

power loss model is based on well-established models
for gear losses and rolling bearings. The author suggested a calibration procedure with empirical data for
each power loss source, gears, and bearings, producing an improved power loss model.
The model results show the inuence of gear meshing and rolling bearing losses. It was found that the

rolling bearing losses predominate in very high-speed

conditions while meshing gear power losses are very
important in low and intermediate speeds of stage 1
and 2 planetary sets.
The results showed that a PAGD can promote an
eciency increase up to 0.6% when compared with a
MINR. Combining gear tooth modication and oil formulation 0.8% of eciency improvement was observed.

10

Proc IMechE Part J: J Engineering Tribology 0(0)

Table 9. Wind turbine gearbox efficiency (%) and total power loss for each oil formulation and gearbox configuration at 80 C.
Oil

Gearbox design

Stage 1

Stage 2

Stage 3

Global

PV (W)

MINR

Standard
Modified
Standard
Modified
Standard
Modified

98.93
99.10
99.12
99.26
99.26
99.38

99.12
99.27
99.28
99.39
99.38
99.48

98.20
98.25
98.20
98.23
98.18
98.21

96.25
96.62
96.59
96.90
96.82
97.07

93,597
84,942
85,043
78,009
79,423
73,537

PAOR
PAGD

MINR: mineral; PAOR: polyalpholephin; PAGD: polyalkylene glycol.

Table 10. Density (), thermal expansion coefficient ( t),

kinematic viscosity (), ASTM constants (mA, nA), and viscosity
index (VI) for the wind turbine gear oils.
Parameter


 at 15 C
t  104
 at 40 C
 at 70 C
 at 100 C
mA
nA
VI

Unit
g/cm
cSt
cSt
cSt

MINR

PAOR

PAGD

0.902
5.8
319.22
65.81
22.33
9.066
3.473
85

0.859
5.5
313.52
84.99
33.33
7.351
2.787
153

1.059
7.1
290.26
102.33
51.06
5.759
2.151
252

MINR: mineral; PAOR: polyalpholephin; PAGD: polyalkylene glycol.

The power loss model proved to be a valuable tool

to identify the gearbox elements that contribute to
energy dissipation. The power loss quantication
allows to identify which elements (oil formulation,
lubricant viscosity, rolling bearings, and gear geometry) need redesign or alternative selection.

A physical and chemical characterization

of fully formulated wind turbine gear oils
Rheology
Tests at 40 C, 70 C, and 100 C, using an Engler viscometer, were performed in order to measure the kinematic viscosity of all the wind turbine gear
oils. The kinematic viscosity measurements are
presented in Table 10, showing that all the oils are
in the range acceptable for an ISO VG 320 grade oil
320  32 cSt.
Using ASTM D34154 (equation (23)) it was possible to calculate the ASTM constants mA and nA
keeping the constant value of aA0.7 for all the oils.
log log aA nA  mA  logT

23

The density was measured with an Anton Par densimeter, a portable unit. The range of temperature
available goes from 15 C up to 40 C, which is
enough to know the density of a uid under ambient
temperature conditions. It is known that the density

depends on the temperature.55 However, the inuence

of the pressure on the density is much more important
than the inuence of the temperature.
The density was measured at 15 C, which is the
reference temperature (0) and the values are presented in Table 10. Additional measurements
were performed up to the limit temperature of
the densimeter. The values measured were used to
evaluate the thermal expansion coecient ( t),
according to the following equation, also presented
in Table 10.
 0 t  0 0  

24

The results show that PAOR has lower density than

MINR, 0.859 g/cm3 and 0.902 g/cm3, respectively.
PAGD has a signicantly high density (higher than
water and the other formulations).

Pressureviscosity
Under elastohydrodynamic lubrication conditions,
the formation of the lubricating lm is strongly
dependent on the pressureviscosity behavior of
a lubricating oil, as shown in Dowson and
Higginson.55
The kinematic viscosities measured and presented
in Table 10 may be used to determine the pressure
viscosity coecient using Golds equation (25). The
pressureviscosity coecient can be determined for a
pressure of 0.2 GPa, usual value of the pressure in the
inlet zone of the contact, where the lm formation
occurs.55 Depending on the base oil, the s and t
values are provided by Gold et al.56
s  t  108

25

The pressureviscosity coecient can be calculated

with some degree of condence for MINR (mineral
naphtenic), PAOR (polyalphaolephin), and PAGD
(polyalkylene glycol) using equation (25).
With the Gold constants s and t previously published56 (Table 11), the pressureviscosity coecients
can be calculated at dierent temperatures. Table 11
shows the values for each wind turbine gear oil at
80 C. It is possible to verify that the oils have the
following behavior: MINR 4 PAOR 4 PAGD .

Fernandes et al.

11

Table 11. Constants of Gold equation at 0.2 GPa and

pressureviscosity coefficient at 80 C for each wind turbine
gear oil.
Parameter

MINR

PAOR

PAGD

s
t
 108 (1/Pa)

0.9904
0.1390
1.677

0.7382
0.1335
1.279

0.5489
0.1485
1.061

MINR: mineral; PAOR: polyalpholephin; PAGD: polyalkylene glycol.

Table 12. Chemical composition in ppm of the wind turbine

gear oils through ICP analysis.
Parameter

Unit

MINR

PAOR

PAGD

Sulphur (S)
Phosphorus (P)
Boron (B)
Calcium (Ca)
Zinc (Zn)
Magnesium (Mg)

ppm
ppm
ppm
ppm
ppm
ppm

11200
354.3
22.3
2.5
0.9
0.9

5020
415.9
28.4
0.5
3.5
0.5

362
1100
1.0
0.8
1
1.4

MINR: mineral; PAOR: polyalpholephin; PAGD: polyalkylene glycol.

Mia et al.57 determined the pressureviscosity coefcient from high-pressure rheology for a mineral oil
and dierent PAO wind turbine oil formulations. The
values found are slightly lower than those calculated
through Golds equation. Mia et al. values are 15%
lower in the case of mineral oil and 9% lower in the
case of the PAO (Table 12).
Funding
This research received no specic grant from any
funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-prot
sectors.

Acknowledgements
This study was funded by:

. National Funds through Fundacao para a Ciencia

e a Tecnologia (FCT), under the project EXCL/
SEM-PRO/0103/2012;
. COMPETE and National Funds through
Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia (FCT),
under the project Incentivo/EME/LA0022/2014;
. Quadro de Referencia Estrategico Nacional
(QREN), through Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER), under the project
NORTE-07-0124-FEDER-000009 - Applied
Mechanics and Product Development.
Declaration of conflicting interests
The author(s) declared no potential conicts of interest with
respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of
this article.

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Appendix
Notation
a0
aA
b

center distance (mm)

ASTM D341 reference kinematic viscosity (cSt)
gear face width (mm)

Fernandes et al.
B
Cw
d
dm
D
ft
Fa
FN

Fbt
Grr

Gsl

h0
h0C
HV L
HSS
i
Kball
Kroller
KS1 , KS1
Krs
KZ
LSS
LIS
m
mA
M0rr
Msl
Mdrag
Mseal
Mt
n
nA
pb
P/S
P/R
PIN
PV

rolling bearing width (mm)

drag torque factor for roller bearings
rolling bearing inner diameter (mm)
rolling bearing mean diameter (mm)
rolling bearing bore diameter (mm)
drag torque factor for rolling bearings
axial load (N)
gear normal force per unit contact
length in each meshing position along
the path of contact (N/mm)
gear tangential force on the base plane
(N)
rolling torque factor depending on the
bearing type, bearing mean diameter
and applied load
sliding torque factor depending on the
bearing type, bearing mean diameter
and applied load
central film thickness (m)
corrected central film thickness (m)
local gear loss factor
high speed shaft
gear ratio
drag torque factor for ball bearings
drag torque factor for roller bearings
rolling bearing seal losses factors
starvation constant for oil bath
lubrication
bearing type related geometry constant
low speed shaft
low intermediate shaft
gear module (mm)
ASTM D341 viscosity parameter
rolling friction torque (Nmm)
sliding friction torque (Nmm)
friction torque of drag losses ([Nmm)
friction torque of seals (Nmm)
internal bearing friction torque (Nmm)
rotational speed (r/min)
ASTM D341 viscosity parameter
gear transverse pitch (mm)
planet/sun meshing contact
planet/ring meshing contact
input power (W)
total power loss (W)

13
PVZ0
PV ZP
PV L
PV D
R1
Ra
Rs
s
S1
SF
SH
t
vg
vtb
vC
VM
xz
z

t
z

R
z


bl
EHD
sl


bl
ish
rs


no-load gears power loss (W)

meshing gears power loss (W)
rolling bearings power loss (W)
seals power loss (W)
geometry constant for rolling friction
torque
average surface roughness (m)
drag torque factor for rolling bearings
pressureviscosity parameter
geometry constant for sliding friction
torque
root stress safety factor
flank stress safety factor
pressureviscosity parameter
gear sliding velocity in each meshing
position along the path of contact (m/s)
gear tangential velocity on the base
plane (m/s)
sum of the gear surface velocities on the
pitch point (m/s)
drag torque factor depending on the
bearing type
gear profile shift
gear number of teeth
pressureviscosity coefficient (Pa1)
thermal expansion coefficient
gear pressure angle ( )
thermoviscosity coefficient ( K1)
rolling bearing seal losses factor
gear helix angle ( )
dynamic viscosity (Pas)
specific film thickness
coefficient of friction in boundary film
lubrication
coefficient of friction in full film
lubrication
sliding coefficient of friction
bearing coefficient of friction
kinematic viscosity (cSt)
sliding friction torque weighting factor
inlet shear heating reduction factor
kinematic replenishment/starvation
reduction factor
density (g/cm3)