System and Method for Coupling a Hub to a Main Shaft of a Wind Turbine

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia, Nov. 30 -- GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, Schenectady, New York has been assigned a patent (No. US 11512728 B2, initially filed Jan. 10, 2020) developed by four inventors Bradley Graham Moore, Greenville, South Carolina; Rakesh Samal, Bangalore, India; Hemant Bhimrao Pawar, Bangalore, India; and Joseph Edward Birkenstock, Fountain Inn, South Carolina, for "System and method for coupling a hub to a main shaft of a wind turbine."

A system and method are provided for coupling a hub to a main shaft of a wind turbine. Accordingly, a plurality of fasteners are arranged within corresponding through holes of the hub of a wind turbine. At least one circumferential ridge segment is arranged radially adjacent to the head sections of the plurality of fasteners so as to resist a torque applied to each of the plurality of fasteners. A connection mechanism is utilized to secure the plurality of fasteners within the plurality of through holes so as to limit an axial translation of the plurality of fasteners prior to the coupling of the hub to the main shaft.