Test Stand
The heart of the Gearbox Express operation is our 3.1 MW regenerative test stand.
Gearbox Express understands that wind blows differently in Ontario than Iowa. That’s why the test stand provides a crucial service to each one of our customers. They want reliability and GBX can help provide it.
Our test stand mimics real-life, often variable, wind conditions—conditions that are tough and demanding. Gearbox Express tests each and every wind turbine gearbox to guarantee it will run properly.
The technology used on our 3.1 MW (4,000 hp) test stand is pioneering and predictive and features:
- Variable Speed Drive Motor
- Sophisticated controls allow for a wide range of speeds and torques
- Regenerative: generates electricity which is fed back into the system
- Flexible innovation in design for all major gearbox models allows for quick change over to different models
- Vibration analysis with distinct frequency discrimination from 0.5 to 60KHz allows diagnostics of components from gears to bearings
- Temperature stabilization is indicator of proper health
- Lubricant Cleanliness Monitoring: as with most rotating mechanical systems, gearboxes should be properly “run-in” before subjecting them to full operating load. This essentially means slowly ramping up the load and filtering out newly generated particles from gear/bearing asperities
Interested in learning what a seismic mass is?
The foundation of our test stand is nearly 10-feet deep, using more than 20 truck loads of concrete and 55,000 lbs of rebar. This seismic mass is totally isolated from the rest of our facility, allowing exceptionally accurate vibration analysis.
