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UAV-Enabled Health Monitoring for Resilient Wind Turbines

技術優勢

Safe monitoring ofturbine blade structural healthAbility to accessremote locations where turbine health monitoring is inaccessible by currenttechnologiesInexpensivealternative/s to existing techniquesPotential todevelop 3D image reconstruction using 3D scansHighly accurateassessment with damage detection ranging from micro- to meso-size cracksApplications formonitoring wind turbines and other structural systems subjected to high dynamicloading and need to be repeatedly assessed

詳細技術說明

Aninexpensive and efficient method for monitoring wind turbines.

*Abstract

Thissystem is based on using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) health monitoringsystem that will enable remote inspection of wind turbines, as well as help toidentify any structural damage.  Thesystem will be able to detect micro-cracks, delamination and crack growth. Inaddition, 3D image reconstruction using 3D scans may be used to build a 3Dtomography of the wind turbine to monitor its structural health over time.

*Background

The operation of most wind turbines consist of large turbine bladesthat operate to convert wind power into electric power. To ensure efficiencyand safety, turbine blades must be regularly maintained and inspected. Damageto turbine blades arises from many different sources, mainly moistureabsorption, wind gusts, lightning strikes and material fatigue. Detecting anytype of damage to the turbine blades before total system failure is cruciallyimportant. However, wind turbines are generally difficult to inspect, andsometimes, detailed inspections are not possible because of the extensivesurface area and the remote locations where inspectors need to visit (forexample, off shore locations). Popular techniques for inspection involvemanually assessing damage both physically and visually, adding sensors toindividual turbine blades, or by wave propagation methods. Unfortunately, theexisting techniques used for detecting turbine blade damage cannot collectdynamic performance information during high-speed winds. These techniques alsorequire considerable effort and pose great risk depending on the physical sizeof the turbine and the remote locations that must be visited by inspectors. Thus,there exists a present need for a technology that offers high precision turbinedamage detection that is an accurate assessment of blade condition without theassociated risk(s).

國家/地區

美國