Posted to News on 25th Feb 2021, 08:55
Wind turbines – a towering achievement
Collaboration between NSK and Talleres Ganomagoga leads to major advance in welding of wind turbine towers
Based on the latest NSK roller guide technology, innovative linear motion solutions are allowing Spain-based Talleres Ganomagoga to achieve smooth and accurate movement of its welding machines as the towers increase in length during production.
Precision and repeatability
Talleres Ganomagoga specialises in the manufacture of critical assemblies for wind turbines, including towers. Due to their size, these towers comprise a number of individual cone segments that are subsequently welded together. Precision and repeatability are prerequisites in this process, which has seen the company embrace linear roller guide technology from NSK.
The company uses large welding machines, based on a column and boom concept. These ‘circular welding columns’ weld the internal and external joints of the long steel hoops that form the cones of wind turbine towers. In terms of capacity, the machines can accommodate cones measuring up to 7m in length and 5m in diameter.
From vision to reality
To help expedite its welding process, Talleres Ganomagoga required a way of moving a machine along the length of a tower as it grew in size during manufacture. By collaborating with the team of engineers at NSK, this vision soon became reality.
Today, the company joins the cones together by manoeuvring a circular welding column along a specially devised system of linear sliders and rails from NSK’s RA series.
The combination of NSK super high-load linear sliders and NSK rails (in lengths of 9.225m and 7.8m) helps Talleres Ganomagoga achieve precise movement of its special welding machines in line with production demands.
NSK’s RA series leverages the company’s combined expertise in roller bearing and linear guide technologies. The optimum size of the rolling element, along with the special shape of the roller slides and rails, ensures super high load capacity and equally impressive rigidity.
Zero defects goal
Long life and smooth operation are mandatory requirements in the application at Talleres Ganomagoga, which seeks zero defects during its welding processes. Here, the use of NSK K1 lubrication units mean long-term maintenance-free operations, while high-performance seals (supplied as standard) block the entry of foreign matter – a highly important factor in operations such as welding where the potential contamination risks are high.
RA series roller guides are also said to provide super-high accuracy and smooth motion, factors that deliver repeatable and stable positioning time after time.
