Nabtesco Wind Turbine Gear Design Using Abaqus and Isight

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Nabtesco Wind Turbine Gear Design Using Abaqus and Isight

Case study showing how Nabtesco used Abaqus FEA and Isight to optimize pinion gear crowning for wind turbine yaw and pitch drives.

Published

June 4, 2026

Read time

3 min read

Source

Nabtesco engineers faced durability challenges in large wind turbine reduction gears where repeated tooth contact under high loads caused surface damage. They replaced physical painted-rig testing with Abaqus finite element analysis to model contact area and stress history across full engagement cycles. Isight automated post-processing and design iterations, allowing rapid evaluation of crowning profiles. The workflow reduced design time and produced gears with larger contact areas and lower peak stresses.

Key takeaways

Abaqus FEA replaced physical painted-rig tests for pinion tooth contact analysis

Submodeling with C3D8R elements captured fine contact stresses accurately

Custom Abaqus subroutine tracked stress history through entire gear engagement

Isight automated optimization loops and cut design cycle time significantly

Optimized crowning increased contact area while lowering average contact stress

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