Development of tailor-made bearings

Trelleborg Offshore supplied the project owner, Scira Offshore Energy Ltd., with 600 of the tailor-made steel and rubber bearings, designed to reduce stress on the grouted connection in the wind turbine foundation. “The gap between the inner foundation pipe and outer transition piece of the wind turbine is filled with cement grouting, which must withstand the vertical weight of the tower and the lateral wind loading forces,” says Sigmund Lunde, Scira’s company representative for the elastomeric contract with Trelleborg.

Each wind turbine foundation consists of a steel monopile pipe 50 meters long and five meters in diameter, piled 30 meters into the seabed. Below water level, a larger diameter transition piece pipe is fitted over the foundation for seven to eight meters. It extends above water level to a flange to which the wind turbine tower is attached.