BY

UMASHANKAR
14ME63R28
NEED FOR DAMAGE DETECTION IN WIND TURBINE
BLADES:
Recent energy crisis
Use of wind energy
Early information of structural problems help for
maintenance
Shut down the machine to avoid further damage
Accidents due to sudden damages
DAMAGES IN THE TURBINE ROTOR BLADE
Surface damage
Cracks
Delamination
Structural Discontinuities
 EFFECTS OF DAMAGE IN THE STRUCTURE
Modal parameters (natural frequency, mode
shapes and modal damping) are functions of
(mass, stiffness and damping).
Damage exists in structure, stiffness will be
reduced.
The reduction in stiffness may cause a decrease in
the natural frequency and change the mode shape
of the structure. By this change in frequency,
damage detection can be found.
However, to know the number, locations and
severity(sizes) of damage(s) is complicated using
only with frequency.
 New Technique _ FEM based Dynamic analysis
(Modal and Response analysis) and Mode shape
difference curvature(MSDC) information is used to
detect single and multiple cracks, identify their
locations and severity of damages.
DYNAMIC ANALYSIS
MODAL ANALYSIS
Using the dynamic equation, to obtain modal
properties
M + C + KX = F(t)
Without the influence of environment load and
damping,
M + KX = 0
 Natural frequency after reducing the size of the
matrices is obtained as
1
fi=
2
 MODE SHAPE DIFFERENCE CURVATURE(MSDC)
The jth mode shape difference j is defined as

j = jd jr
where, , jd and jr are the jth mode shapes of the
damaged and healthy blades resp, j = 1, 2, ..n
By using the cubic spline interpolation for curve
fitting at each point, the curve function is given by
y = S(x), Si(x)= ai(x-xi)3 + bi(x-xi)2 + ci(x-xi) + di
xi x xi+1
Curvature of cubic spline curve,
 k denotes the curvature of mode shape difference
between a damaged blade and healthy blade.

k = S =

FINITE ELEMENT MODEL UPDATE

Commonly used model updating technique is that
zero setting procedure as given

Emi = modified value of Youngs modulus E

 DYNAMIC RESPONSE ANALYSIS
Mainly for larger size blades, considering the wind
load and tower vibration.
Blade aerodynamic load analysis when a wind
turbine is in operation and the rotor is turning,
1
Lift force, FL= CLAv2
2

1
Drag Force, FD = CDAv2
2

1
Aerodynamic force, F = CRAv2
2
The axial force dFa on a blade element at radius ri
dFa = dFL cosi + dFD sini
The tangential force dFt is given as
dFt = dFL sini - dFD cosi
 A 5.5m hollow wind turbine blade with
multilayered composite material.
BLADE LOADING AND DYNAMIC ANALYSIS
 According to the frequency decrease and
displacement amplitude changes from the dynamic
analysis results existence of damage in the blade
can be confirmed. However, exact locations of the
damages are difficult through dynamic analysis.
 Based on modal and response analysis, the mode
shape for response frequency can be obtained.
By using the MSDC method, the surface and
contour map of the difference in displacement
mode shape can be generated.
CONCLUSIONS
An integrated dynamic analysis and MSDC method
have been proposed to detect damage locations
and estimate damage severity for wind turbine
blades.
As the frequencies and mode shapes can be
measured precisely using laser interferometer
technique, the proposed method provides a useful
tool for damage detection and damage diagnosis
for wind turbine blades.
REFERENCES
Damage detection method for wind turbine blades
based on dynamic analysis and mode shape
difference curvature information by Yanfeng
Wang, Ming Liang, Jiawei Xiang, University of
Ottawa, Canada.
Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing Volume
48 (2014) 351367