Posters

Abstract

Blade defects such as erosion, voids and chipping on the leading edge, will affect the blades aerodynamic performance. Neglecting these defects will cause production loss and over time cause more severe defects to develop that will increase repair costs and downtime. Structural defects will in general develop and increase the repair scope if left untreated. Defects in the coating area outside of the leading- edge erosion zone does not affect the blade integrity or production efficiency and does therefore not add value to repair. Lack of insights and valid data documentation, with respect to blade integrity and blade health, results in incorrect OPEX budgeting and following wrong repair scope. The root cause for this is lack of correct forecasting, due to the complexity of the environmental processes at the specific location of a wind farm. The engineering tests of material wear through testing for rain, UV, icing, etc. in laboratories is time-consuming, usually for one parameter at a time, and excluding interplay because of the very different time-scale. Supported by the Innovation Fund Denmark, the Blade Defect Forecasting (BDF) project will development a blade defect forecasting tool with economical cost modelling and with forecasting of the environmental parameters seasonally during future 10 to 15 years. The prediction is for regional zones, wear and tear of wind turbine blade surfaces and for reducing risk and optimizing repair planning to extend lifetime of wind farms. Perspectives on future climate conditions for risk assessment will be included.