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The following FMEA analysis has been performed for an offshore wind turbine in order to highlight potential component failures and their possible consequences.

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1. Roller Ôearing 1. Normal wear. i. Reduced turbine Ñ Normal wear causing increased friction % Turbine performance & 240
2. Ôearing Seizes. efficiency monitored for drop in
3. Damage to bearing surfaces ii.  Turbine Stops efficiency
due to foreign object(s).
iii. Unsmooth
4. Damages caused by sudden or
operation Reduced lubrication increasing friction ' Lubricant levels monitoring % 160
excessive loads.
iv. Increased Noise
1. Ôearing (main)

% Overheating due to lack to lubrication ( Lubricant level monitoring % 192

Ñ Foreign objects damaging bearing surfaces ( Lubricant Filter ) 105

* Ôearing overloaded or incorrectly loaded * None + 4

2. Spring 1. Spring Ôreaks i. Ôraking efficiency ' Fluid contaminates friction surfaces & None + 24
reduced.
ii.  Turbine stops Friction material overheats ) High temperature friction * 56
iii. Ôrake cannot materials specified.
prevent turbine
3. Disc 2. Friction material wears. rotation. % Ôrake fails to fail safe mode & Warning message produced , 432
3. Disk cracks due to repeated
heat cycles.
2. Ôrake(parking)

4. Contamination of friction
surfaces.
4. Caliper 5. Calliper wear prevents full , Ôoth calliper and fail safe spring fail * Turbine speed sensor % 144
locking of brake.
Disc wear leads to complete disc failure ( none + 27

5. Anemometer 1. Wind speed sensor fails. i. Reduced Turbine Ñ Turbine not correctly angled for optimum % None + 40
efficiency. wind performance
ii.  Damaged caused
to other Wind speed not detected so blade pitch is not & Warning message produced , 270
components e.g. optimised
bearing gearbox
3. Electronic Systems

6. CPU 2. System short circuit due to iii. Turbine Stops. ) Incorrect loading of components due to Ñ none + 35
water ingress. iv. Error messages excessive speeds or incorrect wind angles
3. System Crash/software
produced.
failure.
4. Damaged (wired) connections.
7. Wind direction system 5. Wind direction sensor fails. % CPU fails and applies parking brake as fail safe. - Warning message produced , 72
 - System failures are indicated to the turbine , Warning if communications , 81
operators with turbine are lost

8. 1. Ôlades crack due to excessive i. Reduced Turbine Ñ Ôlade flex leads to reduced aerodynamic ) none + 35
flexing. efficiency. efficiency
2. Aerofoil shape compromised ii.  Damaged caused
due to plastic deformation Ôlade cracks affect airflow over blades. ( Part of maintenance Ñ 75
to other
caused by flexing.
components e.g. schedule
3. Strikes an object.
4. Pitch controls fails. bearing gearbox
due to incorrect ) Shaft alignments compromised ( none + 21
wind loadings.
iii. Turbine Stops. % Ôlade breaks (total failure) * Visual detection ' 64
iv. Turbine speed
control is lost. % Pitch motor fails ( Warning message produced , 216

Pitch gearbox fails ( none + 24

4. Ôlades

Anemometer fails Ñ Warning message produced , 360

9. 1. Fails to support Tower i. Turbine collapse. -+ Foundation subsides ( Visual checks ' 120
ii.  Turbine stops.

Erosion (tidal) weakens support - Part of maintenance Ñ 50

schedule
5. Foundations

% Ôecomes unstable meaning turbine must be * Visual checks ' 64

shutdown.

2. 1. Normal wear. i. Reduced turbine Ñ Normal wear causes increased friction Ñ Turbine efficiency monitored % 200
2. ·earbox seizes. efficiency.
3. Damages to gears due to ii.  Turbine Stops. Reduced lubrication causes increased friction ( Turbine efficiency monitored % 120
foreign object(s).
iii. Increased Noise.
4. ·ear Tooth Ôreaks
5. ·ear Shafts move out of iv. ·earbox damaged % Lubrication failure leads to gearbox seizure. * none + 16
alignment. (gear teeth
broken). Internal component fails causing gearbox to ( none + 24
seize.

* Component wear increases noise & Part of maintenance Ñ 60

schedule

& Shaft misalignment causes broken gear teeth Ñ none + 30

6. ·earbox

Sudden shock loading (e.g. from sudden park ' none + 24

break release/application) causes teeth to
break.
 3. ·enerator 1. Overloaded. i. Fire. % Overheating due to excessive turbine speed Ñ Temperature monitoring ) 280
2. Magnetic field failure ii.  Reduced Turbine caused by speed control mechanism failures.
3. ·enerator seizes. efficiency.
4. Damage to coils.
iii. Power is not Cooling fan fails ) Warning message produced , 504
5. Damaged connections (wires).
generated.

4. Cooling fan 6. Fan gets stuck % Wear to moving parts causes increased & Turbine efficiency % 384
friction monitoring

5. Transformer 7. Short circuit. , Electrical failure such as a short circuit or & Warning message produced , 486
7. ·enerator

damaged wire.

6. High-speed shaft 8. Normal Wear. ·enerator bearings fail ( none + 27

9. Input shaft moves out of
alignment.
7. Motor 1. Driver motor fails. i. Turbine direction % ëaw control mechanism failure ' Warning message produced , 288
cannot be
changed. Wind direction sensor failure Ñ Warning message produced , 360
ii.  Reduced Turbine
8. Ôearing 2. Ôearing Fails. efficiency. % Turbine cannot be adjusted to optimize Ñ none + 40
iii. Damage caused to performance for wind conditions
other components
9. ·ears 3. ·earbox fails. e.g. bearing ) Unusual loads caused by incorrect turbine Ñ none + 35
gearbox due to direction.
8. ëaw Control

incorrect wind
loadings. , Wind forces act in a direction the nacelle and ( Nacelle designed to & 162
iv. Turbine stability blades are not designed for. withstand this possible
issues. scenario.

10. 1. Corrosion i. Turbine collapse. -+ Structure is weakened due to corrosion from - none + 10
2. Structural instability caused by ii.  Turbine stops. salt water
wave/wind forces.
Repeated wind/wave action causes fatigue in * none + 20
structure.
9. Tower

% Structure becomes unstable and turbine must * Visual checks ' 64

be stopped to prevent total collapse.

11. Seals 1. Leaks (water) i. Corrosion to ) Seals deteriorate over time due to % Part of maintenance Ñ 280
10.Outer Casing (nacelle)

internal temperature change and sunlight allowing schedule

components. access to water.
ii.  Damage to
internal Wildlife damage creates holes in shell - Wildlife deterrents on outer ) 49
components. casing
iii. Turbine stops.
12. Shell 2. Corrosion. iv. Turbine lifespan % Shell corrodes preventing internal conditions ( Monitoring of internal ) 168
3. Does not maintain internal
 climate. reduced. from being maintained conditions
4. Electrical/magnetic insulation
fails. Electrical insulation fails leaving internals * None 0 16
vulnerable to lightening strike

Movement of nacelle foundation under load - None 0 8

creates misalignment between components.

% Damage to internal component causes the * Warning message produced 9 144

turbine to stop.

13. Foundation 5. Loses structural rigidity & Conditions inside the nacelle are ' Monitoring of internal 7 168
compromised, working conditions for conditions
components are not ideal.

14. Pump 1. Leaks lubricant. i. Reduced turbine % Reduced pump efficiency/failure causes poor & Monitoring of turbine 8 384
2. Pump failure. efficiency. lubrication to components increasing system performance
3. Radiator leak/blockage. ii.  Damage to friction.
lubricated
components. Leaks reduce lubricant levels increasing ) Lubricant levels monitored 8 448
iii. Turbine stops. system friction.

Overheating lubricant does not perform as Ñ Lubricant temperature 7 280

designed. monitoring
11.Lubrication system

15. Cooler 4. Leaks lubricant. ) Wrong lubricant grade specified - none 0 7

5. Coolant overheats.
6. Radiator leaks.
16. Filter 7. Leaks lubricant. % Failure of lubrication system causes other * none 0 16
8. Ôlockage. components to seize, e.g. bearings/gearbox
17. Hose 9. Leaks lubricant.
18. Motor 10. Ôlade angle cannot be i. Turbine speed & Ôlade angle cannot be changed to compensate * none 0 12
changed cannot be for differing wind speeds.
controlled
19. Ôearing 11. Seizes ii.  Reduced Turbine Ñ Ôlade angle cannot be optimised for maximum * Turbine performance 8 80
12. Wear out
12.Rotor Pitch

Efficiency efficiency monitored

iii. Catastrophic
20. ·ears 13. Seizes failure -+ Turbine speed cannot be controlled, excessive - Parking brake can be applied 7 70
14. Wear out speed causes turbine total failure

21. Wheels 15. Seizes i. Maintenance Ñ Non operation of the maintenance crane - Part of maintenance 5 25
16. Wear out cannot be prevents damaged/worn parts from being schedule
22. Ôearing 17. Seizes performed changed.
18. Wear out
13.Crane

23. Motor 19. Driver motor fails.

24. Frame 20. Collapses
21. Cracks
All scores are out of 10. Meaning max possible RPN is 1000.