Improved ensemble learning for wind turbine main bearing fault diagnosis

Abstract

The goal of this paper is to develop, implement, and validate a methodology for wind turbines’ main bearing fault prediction based on an ensemble of an artificial neural network (normal-ity model designed at turbine level) and an isolation forest (anomaly detection model designed at wind park level) algorithms trained only on SCADA data. The normal behavior and the anomalous samples of the wind turbines are identified and several interpretable indicators are proposed based on the predictions of these algorithms, to provide the wind park operators with understandable information with enough time to plan operations ahead and avoid unexpected costs. The stated methodology is validated in a real underproduction wind park composed by 18 wind turbines.