Wind Bearing Forum Hamburg

Info

We are looking forward to the Wind Bearing Forum 2027.

Date: September 21 - 22, 2027

Venue: JUFA Hotel in Hamburg, Germany

Wind Bearing Forum Hamburg is a conference that combines experiences from research, design, and operation of all bearings in wind turbines. The Forum explicitly invites talks that address scientific progress and translate it into engineering recommendations. It is hosted by the team of Fraunhofer IWES’ Large Bearing Laboratory which has roots in research of pitch bearings and expanded its activities to main and gearbox bearings in the past years.

Call for talks and pitches

The Wind Bearing Forum welcomes contributions from turbine, bearing, and lubricant manufacturers, operators, and researchers in the broad field of tribology. The first Wind Bearing Forum in 2025 introduced two distinct elements which were taken on very well by the audience and will also be part of the Wind Bearing Forum 2027:

Talks: A talk is a 20-minute presentation plus 10 minutes for discussion. The talk shall present technical findings and results. Commercial presentations are not accepted and any content about the presenter's organization shall be kept to a minimum of one slide / 1 minute. The abstract has a maximum length of three full pages including figures and references. Submissions from academia and industry are welcome.
Pitches: A pitch is a 3-minute short, slideless presentation. Pitches can describe technical ideas, solutions to bearing issues, or the bearing issues themselves. The idea is to present a short topic, that encourages later interaction with other participants. Perhaps somebody wants to develop your idea with you, or has a solution for your issues? Pitches will take place in the mornings to allow further discussions in the breaks. For a pitch, you apply with the pitch title and a brief summary (one or a few sentences) of its content.  
Submission: The call for abstract is open until February 12, 2027, and we invite you to use the Word or Latex templates available on the conference homepage. Please submit your abstract or pitch idea to bearingforum@iwes.fraunhofer.de. The editorial board with members from operators, manufacturers, and science organizations will review the submissions.

A forum for exchange and discussion

In 2025, the Forum had 85 participants. The organizers got very positive feedback on the size of the event, which allowed for substantial discussions and exchanges between the participants. All presentations were followed by lively and highly interesting comments and questions. The 2027 instalment will be limited to a maximum of 100 attendees and aims to keep the spirit of the first instalment.

Timeline for the Wind Bearing Forum 2027

Call for Abstracts Open	November, 2026
Tickets for Sale	December 1, 2026
Call for Abstracts Closed	February 12, 2027
Review by Editorial Board Finished	April 15, 2027
Final Program	May 15, 2027