Additively manufactured journal bearing for a wind turbine gearbox
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsHayden McgarityBashiri, Aaron Wertz, Kevin M. Vandevoorde, Raed Zuhair Hasan, Priyangu C. Patel, John P. Davis, Ganesh Raut
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Abstract
A method for manufacturing a gear assembly of a gearbox in a wind turbine includes providing a pin shaft of the gear assembly. The method also includes depositing material onto an exterior surface of the pin shaft of the gear assembly via an additive manufacturing process driven by a computer numerical control (CNC) device to form a bearing that circumferentially surrounds and adheres to the pin shaft. Further, the method includes providing a gear circumferentially around the bearing to form the gear assembly.
Claims12
A method for manufacturing a gear assembly of a gearbox in a wind turbine, the method comprising:
- providing a pin shaft of the gear assembly;
- depositing at least one material onto an exterior surface of the pin shaft of the gear assembly via an additive manufacturing process driven by a computer numerical control (CNC) device to form a bearing that circumferentially surrounds and adheres to the pin shaft;
- and,
- providing a gear circumferentially around the bearing to form the gear assembly,
- wherein the CNC device comprises a controller communicatively coupled to a robotic arm configured to deposit the material onto the exterior surface of the pin shaft, the controller configured to control at least two axes of rotation of the pin shaft.
A method for manufacturing a gear assembly of a gearbox in a wind turbine, the method comprising:
- providing a carrier of the gear assembly having a body and at least one shaft extending therefrom, the carrier comprising at least one of a first stage carrier and a second stage carrier;
- and,
- depositing material onto an exterior surface of the shaft of the carrier of the gear assembly via an additive manufacturing process driven by a computer numerical control (CNC) device to form a journal bearing that circumferentially surrounds and adheres to the shaft,
- wherein the CNC device comprises a controller communicatively coupled to a robotic arm configured to deposit the material onto the exterior surface of the pin shaft, the controller configured to control at least two axes of rotation of the pin shaft.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.