Imager puts turbine blades to the test
A
Flir Systems product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team
May 27, 2005
Wind turbine manufacturer Vestas uses a thermal imaging camera to assure the quality of the curing process in its blade manufacturing operation.
Blades for wind turbines are sizeable objects, often 40m or more in length.
They are made from a high-strength composite that is layered into a mould.
Embedded in the structure of the mould are zones of heating elements that initiate the curing process.
A uniform cure is critical to the ultimate durability and performance of the blade, and at wind turbine manufacturer Vestas the quality of this process is assured by a Flir Systems ThermaCAM P20 thermal imaging camera.
Sustainable energy is very much a buzzword as the Kyoto Agreement comes into force, and Vestas Technology UK, based on the Isle of Wight, is riding high on this initiative.
Vestas' worldwide installed base runs into several thousands and demand for its products is increasing year on year.
Five basic products complete Vestas' product programme ranging from land-based models generating upwards of 850kW to offshore turbines with outputs of 4.2MW.
Such is the importance of the cure uniformity that the company's quality standards call for a temperature consistency in the mould of +/-1.5C from the tip to the root of the blade.
The cure temperature is in fact only 30 - 35C and the process largely self-fulfilling.
However if, due to a faulty element, one section of the blade cures quicker than another the overall service life and performance of the structure could be compromised.
"Using thermocouples to monitor mould heaters would simply be impractical for us", explained Vestas Blade Structure Engineer, Andrew Hedges.
"With one sweep of the Flir camera, we can instantly see if any of the elements are not performing as they should".
This process is now repeated every time the mould is taken out of service for routine maintenance.
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