An adaptive and automated bolt tensioning system for the pitch bearing assembly of wind turbines

The assembly process of wind turbines is performed mainly manually and is characterized by unergonomic operations. In the case of the rotor blade bearing assembly three bearings, which have a diameter of several meters, are bolted to the rotor hub with hundreds of bolts. Although the introduced preload force on these bolts should be subjected to only minor deviations, the tightening process is performed manually despite its high labor intensity. Until now, low production numbers and a lack of automation concepts for large-variant components did not allow a cost-effective automation. By developing a robot guided bolt tensioning tool and adaptive tensioning process the tightening process can be automated for rotor blade bearings of wind turbines.