However, manufacturing quality issues of the gearing used in wind turbines limited overall reliability and returns on investment. Manufacturers lacked suitable measurement standards for these large components, while the complexities of measuring gear quality undermined confidence in measurement solutions.

Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence, the leading metrology and manufacturing solutions provider based in Wetzlar, Germany, considers its Leitz CMMs the most accurate products in the CMM market.

As a result of participating in the EMRP project Traceable measurement of drivetrain components for renewable energy systems, Hexagon enhanced its gear evaluation software and gear evaluation plots to offer higher quality inspections and more reliable results. A developed algorithm was incorporated into its QUINDOS Gear software and made available to all of its customers.

Users previously experienced challenging thermal drift effects, that reduced measurement reproducibility. The Good Practice Guides proved helpful for guiding Hexagon’s customers and potential customers by providing reassurance in instrument performance as well as improved inspection quality.

https://www.euramet.org/casestudies/casestudiesdetails/news/improving-wind-turbine-reliability/