Improving Heat Treating Flexibility for Wind Turbine Gear Systems Through Carburizing, Quenching and Material Handling Alternatives

摘要

Part handling and processes for heat treating large gears have created challenges for decades. Growth in wind energy technology has focused more attention on this issue in recent years. The vast majority of installations processing such large parts utilize conventional methods via pit furnace systems. Such equipment has inherent limitations with respect to quench flow and part handling, making true improvements in areas such as distortion control difficult due to physical limitations of this processing approach. This presentation will explain alternative methods for heat treating large components that allow part distortion to be minimized. Benefits will be quantified regarding cost savings to produce such gearing and quality.