An Integrated Feature-Based Failure Prognosis Method for Wind Turbine Bearings

In North America, many utility-scale turbines are approaching the half-way point of their anticipated initial lifespan. Accurate remaining useful life (RUL) estimation can provide wind farm owners insight into how to optimize the life and value of their farm assets. An improved understanding of the RUL of turbine components is particularly essential as many owners consider retiring, life-extending, or repowering their farms. In this article, an integrated prognosis method based on signal processing and an adaptive Bayesian algorithm is proposed to predict the RUL of various faulty bearings in wind turbines. The signal processing leverages feature extraction, feature selection, and signal denoising to detect the dynamics of various failures. Then, RUL of the faulty bearings is forecast via the adaptive Bayesian algorithm using the extracted features. Finally, a new fusion method based on an ordered weighted averaging (OWA) operator is applied to the RUL obtained from the features to improve accuracy. The efficacy of the method is evaluated using data from historical failures across three different Canadian wind farms. Experimental test results indicate that the OWA operator delivers a higher accuracy for RUL prediction compared to the other feature-based methods and Choquet integral fusion technique.