Chair of Materials and Surface Engineering
Materials and Surface Engineering

Ternary oxide ceramic functional materials and coatings


Since 1 April 2019, the WOT Chair and the Fraunhofer Institute IKTS have been jointly conducting a research project to increase the service life and operational safety of wind turbines through tribological measures. The project is funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

The main objective of the project is to significantly increase the service life and operational safety of wind turbines while minimising friction power (increasing efficiency) and reducing bearing noise by using adapted ternary oxide ceramics in moving (rotating) reference systems of the turbine.

The security of energy supply is one of the central points of economic considerations. The programmes promoted by the federal government to realise a transition of primary energy production from fossil combustion or nuclear fission to future-oriented renewable energy sources prove the necessity for safe, reliable and sustainable solutions. With the planned entry into force of the new Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) on 01.01.2017, the so-called „renewables“ will have to face competition with other forms of generation via tendering procedures of the energy market. In order to survive in the highly competitive energy market, wind turbines must generate electrical energy reliably and with low maintenance. To meet this requirement, they need robust assemblies (i.e. gearbox, rotor and generator) that are designed to reduce the probability of damage and avoid costly, time-consuming repair work. All bearing elements and rotating component groups of the turbine are particularly stressed. The generators of such plants are subject to a multiple load regime consisting of vibrations, forces, tribological stress, changing temperatures and the risk of current breakdown. The state of the art are current-insulated bearings with standard ceramics based on aluminium oxide or hybrid designs (metal-ceramic). Based on this state of the art, new oxide ceramic functional materials are now being applied for the first time and their resistance to the aforementioned high load regimes is being tested and evaluated.

The project is funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

 

Image:
Ternary oxide ceramic functional materials: left layer system / right powdered starting material

21.11.2019 – Projects of the Chair ( )

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