Yaw braking assembly of a wind turbine

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11592003-B2
Application number	US-202016800244-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 25, 2020
Priority date	Feb 25, 2020
Publication date	Feb 28, 2023
Grant date	Feb 28, 2023

Abstract

A yaw braking assembly of a wind turbine is presented. Accordingly, the yaw braking assembly includes a bedplate support frame having an annular flange defining a plurality of recesses formed into a lower-most annular surface of the annular flange and extending at least partially through an axial thickness of the annular flange. Each of the plurality recesses define an open exterior circumferential side. The yaw braking assembly also includes a plurality of brake pads which are positioned within the plurality of recesses and configured to engage at least one race of an adjacent yaw bearing. The yaw braking assembly further includes a plurality of actuators for driving the plurality of brake pads to engage the yaw bearing.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A yaw braking assembly of a wind turbine, the yaw braking assembly comprising:
a yaw bearing;
a bedplate support frame comprising a flange arranged adjacent to the yaw bearing, the flange defining a plurality of recesses formed into a lower-most arcuate surface of the flange and extending at least partially through an axial thickness of the flange, each of the plurality of recesses defining an open, exterior circumferential side;
a plurality of brake pads positioned within the plurality of recesses, each of the plurality of brake pads configured to engage at least one race of the yaw bearing; and
a plurality of actuators for driving the plurality of brake pads to engage the at least one race of the yaw bearing so as to resist a yawing of a nacelle of the wind turbine.

2. The yaw braking assembly of claim 1 , further comprising:
a plurality of arm members positioned within a corresponding plurality of holes through the flange between the plurality of actuators and the plurality of brake pads, the plurality of arm members being oriented to transfer a force from the plurality of actuators to the plurality of brake pads.

3. The yaw braking assembly of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of brake pads has a non-circular shape.

4. The yaw braking assembly of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of brake pads has at least one of a polygonal shape, a curvilinear polygonal shape, or rounded-square planform.

5. The yaw braking assembly of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of brake pads defines a maximal length and a maximal width, the maximal length being greater than the maximal width.

6. The yaw braking assembly of claim 1 , wherein each open, exterior circumferential side of the plurality of recesses defines a circumferential length which is greater than a maximal length of the corresponding brake pad.

7. The yaw braking assembly of claim 1 , wherein only one of the plurality of brake pads is positioned within each of the plurality of recesses.

8. The yaw braking assembly of claim 7 , wherein the plurality of recesses and corresponding plurality of brake pads are distributed circumferentially about the flange in a plurality of adjacent pair sets.

9. The yaw braking assembly of claim 8 , wherein a single actuator is operably coupled to each of the plurality of pair sets.

10. The yaw braking assembly of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of brake pads are radially aligned with an outer race of the yaw bearing.

11. The yaw braking assembly of claim 1 , further comprising:
a retention bracket secured to the exterior circumferential side, the retention bracket occluding at least one of the circumferential openings.

12. The yaw braking assembly of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the plurality of brake pads further comprises at least one sensor configured to generate an alert relating to a wear level of one or more of the plurality of brake pads.

13. The yaw braking assembly of claim 12 , wherein the at least one sensor comprises a continuity sensor.

14. The yaw braking assembly of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of brake pads are accessible from outside of the bedplate support frame via the corresponding circumferential openings.

15. The yaw braking assembly of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of brake pads is formed with at least one extraction feature, the extraction feature being positioned to facilitate the removal of each of the brake pads from the corresponding recesses.

16. A wind turbine, comprising:
a tower;
a nacelle mounted atop the tower and comprising a bedplate support frame, the bedplate support frame comprising a flange, the flange defining a plurality of recesses formed into a lower-most arcuate surface of the flange and extending at least partially through an axial thickness of the flange, each of the plurality of recesses defining an open, exterior circumferential side,
a yaw bearing arranged adjacent to the flange;
a rotor mounted to the nacelle, the rotor comprising a rotatable hub having one or more rotor blades secured thereto; and
a plurality of brake pads positioned within the plurality of recesses, each of the plurality of brake pads configured to engage at least one race of the yaw bearing; and
a plurality of actuators for driving the plurality of brake pads to engage the at least one race of the yaw bearing so as to resist a yawing of a nacelle of the wind turbine.

17. The wind turbine of claim 16 , wherein each of the plurality of brake pads comprises at least one of a polygonal shape, a curvilinear polygonal shape, or rounded-square planform.

18. The wind turbine of claim 16 , wherein each of the plurality of brake pads defines a maximal length and a maximal width, the maximal length being greater than the maximal width.

19. The wind turbine of claim 18 , wherein each circumferential opening defines a circumferential length that is greater than the maximal length of a corresponding brake pad of the plurality of brake pads.

20. A method for servicing a yaw braking assembly of a wind turbine, the method comprising:
accessing at least one brake pad of a plurality of brake pads via an open, exterior circumferential side of a recess defined by at least one of a plurality of recesses formed into a lower-most arcuate surface of a flange of a bedplate support frame and extending at least partially through an axial thickness of the flange, wherein the lower-most arcuate surface is disposed adjacent to a yaw bearing of the wind turbine; and
passing the at least one brake pad through the open, exterior circumferential side of the recess while retaining a corresponding actuator of a plurality of actuators in an assembled configuration.

Assignees

• Gen Electric

Inventors

• Janicz Aaron P
• Close Ryan Spencer

Classifications

• F03D7/0244 Primary

  for braking · CPC title

• F03D17/00

  Monitoring or testing of wind motors, e.g. diagnostics (testing during commissioning of wind motors F03D13/30) · CPC title

• F03D80/88

  of mechanical components · CPC title

• F16D55/28

  Brakes with only one rotating disc · CPC title

• F16D65/092

  for axially-engaging brakes, e.g. disc brakes · CPC title