Metamodel-Assisted Ice Detection for Wind Turbine Blades

Author(s):  
Veruska Malave´ ◽  
Cameron J. Turner

Icing is a complex atmospheric phenomenon that causes airflow disruption and degrades aerodynamically the original performance of the wind turbine blades (WTBs). This is due to blade sensitivity to minor changes in the airfoil geometry. Aerodynamic distortions induced by ice decrease the lift-to-draft ratio and pitch moment, increase the airfoil weight, and adversely alter the effectiveness of position angle and velocity. Typically, wind turbines exposed to all-weather conditions are equipped with icing prevention systems (IPS). However at the present time, no ice-detection technique has been proven effective, and the implementation of new strategies that effectively detect and mitigate blade icing adverse effects are needed. In this work, a WTB ice-detection technique that consists of a numerical design tool using Matlab/Simulink models and non-uniform rational B-spline (NURBs) based metamodeling algorithms is examined. This is carried out in terms of the blade icing effects on turbine aerodynamic performance in accordance to condition-based maintenance (CBM) and prognostics health management (PHM) techniques.

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Pugh ◽  
M. M. Stack

AbstractErosion rates of wind turbine blades are not constant, and they depend on many external factors including meteorological differences relating to global weather patterns. In order to track the degradation of the turbine blades, it is important to analyse the distribution and change in weather conditions across the country. This case study addresses rainfall in Western Europe using the UK and Ireland data to create a relationship between the erosion rate of wind turbine blades and rainfall for both countries. In order to match the appropriate erosion data to the meteorological data, 2 months of the annual rainfall were chosen, and the differences were analysed. The month of highest rain, January and month of least rain, May were selected for the study. The two variables were then combined with other data including hailstorm events and locations of wind turbine farms to create a general overview of erosion with relation to wind turbine blades.


2019 ◽  
Vol 103 ◽  
pp. 269-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ezieddin Madi ◽  
Kevin Pope ◽  
Weimin Huang ◽  
Tariq Iqbal

2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 660-670 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sungmin Kim ◽  
Douglas E Adams ◽  
Hoon Sohn ◽  
Gustavo Rodriguez-Rivera ◽  
Noah Myrent ◽  
...  

This article presents a new technique for identifying cracks in wind turbine blades undergoing operational loads using the Vibro-Acoustic Modulation technique. Vibro-Acoustic Modulation utilizes a low-frequency pumping excitation signal in conjunction with a high-frequency probing excitation signal to create the modulation that is used to identify cracks. Wind turbines provide the ideal conditions in which Vibro-Acoustic Modulation can be utilized because wind turbines experience large low-frequency structural vibrations during operation which can serve as the low-frequency pumping excitation signal. In this article, the theory for the vibro-acoustic technique is described, and the proposed crack detection technique is demonstrated with Vibro-Acoustic Modulation experiments performed on a small Whisper 100 wind turbine in operation. The experimental results are also compared with two other conventional vibro-acoustic techniques in order to validate the new technique. Finally, a computational study is demonstrated for choosing a proper probing signal with a finite element model of the cracked blade to maximize the sensitivity of the technique for detecting cracks.


Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (14) ◽  
pp. 2653 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rastayesh ◽  
Long ◽  
Sørensen ◽  
Thöns

The paper presents research results from the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network INFRASTAR in the field of reliability approaches for decision-making for wind turbines and bridges. This paper addresses the application of Bayesian decision analysis for installation of heating systems in wind turbine blades in cases where an ice detection system is already installed in order to allow wind turbines to be placed close to highways. Generally, application of ice detection and heating systems for wind turbines is very relevant in cases where the wind turbines are planned to be placed close to urban areas and highways, where risks need to be considered due to icing events, which may lead to consequences including human fatality, functional disruptions, and/or economic losses. The risk of people being killed in a car passing on highways near a wind turbine due to blades parts or ice pieces being thrown away in cases of over-icing is considered in this paper. The probability of being killed per kilometer and per year is considered for three cases: blade parts thrown away as a result of a partial or total failure of a blade, ice thrown away in two cases, i.e., of stopped wind turbines and of wind turbines in operation. Risks due to blade parts being thrown away cannot be avoided, since low strengths of material, maintenance or manufacturing errors, mechanical or electrical failures may result in failure of a blade or blade part. The blade (parts) thrown away from wind turbines in operation imply possible consequences/fatalities for people near the wind turbines, including in areas close to highways. Similar consequences are relevant for ice being thrown away from wind turbine blades during icing situations. In this paper, we examine the question as to whether it is valuable to put a heating system on the blades in addition to ice detection systems. This is especially interesting in countries with limited space for placing wind turbines; in addition, it is considered if higher power production can be obtained due to less downtime if a heating system is installed.


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