Asset Integrity Monitoring of Wind Turbine Blades With Non-Destructive Radar Sensing

Jamie Blanche, Daniel Mitchell, Ranjeetkumar Gupta, Adrian Tang, David Flynn

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

14 Citations (Scopus)
292 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Global growth in onshore and offshore wind energy has created a forecasted 11.5% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) increase in Wind Turbine (WT) blades throughout 2020-2025. The ability to verify blade condition throughout the asset lifecycle is integral to economic and reliable renewable energy supplies. Currently, commercial inspection of deployed wind turbine blades is predominately performed by rope access personnel using visual and infrared cameras. In this paper we present the results of Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) radar analysis of a decommissioned wind turbine blade exhibiting clearly defined defects. We show that FMCW sensing provides a non-invasive, non-destructive and non-contact means of surface and sub-surface integrity evaluation of these composite structures. We observe absolute unit (a.u.) order of magnitude contrasts for healthy blades at 0.47 x106 (a.u.) versus defective blade structures at 1.9 x105 (a.u.). Our results present the analysis of the decoupled reflected electromagnetic wave, verifying FMCW sensitivity to different failure modes relating to surface and internal structures of the WT blade. The FMCW analysis of WT blades demonstrated within this paper represents a first in instantaneous cross-sectional analysis of blade assets, providing a transformative advancement in WT blade integrity analysis.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication11th Annual IEEE Information Technology, Electronics and Mobile Communication Conference
EditorsRajashree Paul
PublisherIEEE
Pages498-504
Number of pages7
ISBN (Electronic)9781728184166
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 4 Nov 2020
Event11th Annual IEEE Information Technology, Electronics and Mobile Communication Conference 2020 - Virtual Conference, Virtual, Vancouver, Canada
Duration: 4 Nov 20207 Nov 2020
https://ieee-iemcon.org/

Conference

Conference11th Annual IEEE Information Technology, Electronics and Mobile Communication Conference 2020
Abbreviated titleIEMCON 2020
Country/TerritoryCanada
CityVirtual, Vancouver
Period4/11/207/11/20
Internet address

Keywords

  • Asset Integrity Inspection
  • Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave Radar
  • Microwave Sensing
  • Non-Destructive Testing
  • Offshore Renewable Maintenance
  • Wind Turbines

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Computer Networks and Communications
  • Computer Science Applications
  • Hardware and Architecture
  • Information Systems and Management
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering
  • Health Informatics

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