Offshore wind turbine blade erosion: How to quantify the impacting weather conditions

Charlotte Bay Hasager*, Ásta Hannesdóttir*, Merete Badger*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to conferencePosterResearch

Abstract

Some offshore wind turbines have suffered unexpected repair in recent years. The cost of unplanned repair due to blade erosion is 12 times higher
than the cost of unplanned repair due to structural failure. The high repair cost for blade erosion is related to the logistics cost to make inspections, repair in rope access and downtime of turbines during repair. In addition, eroded blades produce less energy due to lower aerodynamic performance.

The study focuses on a method to quantify the impacting weather conditions offshore that cause the blade damage. The erosion is caused by incremental damage during time when particles, such as hydrometeors, rain and hail, impact the leading edge of the blade and cause stresses in the protective coating and in the layers below (putty and glass-fiber substrate). More damage occurs for higher tip speed, for higher rain amount and for larger droplet sizes.

Offshore observations of precipitation and wind are sparse, so a novel method to quantify the impacting weather conditions offshore is based on remotely sensed observations from satellites orbiting Earth. The Global Precipitation Mission (GPM) and the level 3 product IMERG (Integrated MultisatellitE Retrievals for GPM) from NASA are used in combination with modelled winds. Our study area is offshore Portugal in the Atlantic Ocean.
Original languageEnglish
Publication date2022
Number of pages1
Publication statusPublished - 2022
EventWind Europe Annual Event 2022 - Bilbao, Spain
Duration: 5 Apr 20227 Apr 2022
https://windeurope.org/annual2022/

Conference

ConferenceWind Europe Annual Event 2022
Country/TerritorySpain
CityBilbao
Period05/04/202207/04/2022
Internet address

Keywords

  • PO.132

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