Efficiency of a gearbox lubricated with wind turbine gear oils

In this study a two stage multiplying gearbox with helical gears and four fully formulated wind turbine gear oils were tested, on a back-to-back gearbox test rig with recirculating power, at low input speeds (100–500 rpm) and high input torques (500–1000 Nm). The gearbox oil sump temperature was set free. ric power loss model simulating all the relevant power loss mechanisms was implemented, aiming to evaluate the relative influence of each power loss component. perimental results have shown that each wind turbine gear oil formulation generated different power loss resulting in distinct stabilized operating temperatures.