NDT Technology

NDT Technology

A review of non-destructive inspection techniques inspection for wind turbine blades

Document Type : Technical Article

Author
Majid Mirzaee
Nonmetal group, Niroo Research Institute, Tehran, Iran.
10.30494/jndt.2024.473613.1150
Abstract
Blades play a vital role in the performance of wind turbine systems. However, they are prone to damage from complex and irregular loading, which can lead to catastrophic degradation and costly maintenance. Defects or damage to wind turbine blades (WTBs) not only reduce the lifetime and efficiency of wind turbine electricity generation but also increase monitoring errors, safety hazards, and maintenance costs. Therefore, damage detection for WTBs is of high importance for preventing failures, planning maintenance, and ensuring the operational stability of wind turbines. This review article provides a comprehensive overview of advanced damage detection techniques for WTBs, including many updated methods based on strain measurement, acoustic emission, ultrasound, thermography, and machine vision. With the development of machine vision approaches and image processing technology, machine vision-based detection has become a promising and primary technique for detecting surface damage and measuring the deformation of WTBs [28] due to its low cost, ease of operation, and no need for prior knowledge about damage locations. In this review article, common damages to WTBs are introduced comprehensively at first. In the second stage, the principles of detection, development methods, advantages, and disadvantages of the aforementioned techniques for blade inspection are examined. The trend in damage detection in wind turbines is moving towards methods that offer full capabilities, long-range, contactless, non-destructive, wireless, and online monitoring. Timely detection of blade damage and continuous assessment of the structural health of wind turbines are increasingly important. This review article proposes a new idea for the design and integration of energy harvesters and WTB damage detection methods, in which the devices are automatic and wireless. Finally, potential research directions, and WTB damage detection techniques through comparative analysis, are reviewed and concluded. This review is expected to provide guidelines for practical WTB inspections as well as research perspectives for damage detection techniques.
Keywords
Wind Turbine Blades
Acoustic emission
Vibration
Thermography
Machine vision

Subjects

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  • Receive Date 16 August 2024
  • Revise Date 15 September 2024
  • Accept Date 17 October 2024