Abstract

The paper presents results of an experimental study related to a non-destructive diagnostic technique used for preliminary determination the location and size of delamination in composite coatings of wind turbine blades. The proposed method of damage detection is based on the analysis of the ten first mode shapes of bending vibrations, which correspond to displacements of rotor blades perpendicular to the rotor plane. Modal parameters depend on the physical properties of the structure. On the other hand, failures can affect these properties (e.g. locally reduce the stiffness of the structure). Monitoring of selected modal parameter can allow determination the technical condition of the structure. The main assumption of the presented method is a comprehensive analysis of the measured data by determination the root mean square value (RMS) for each measurement point from all forms of free vibration obtained from the experiment. As a result, information contained in all modes of vibrations that may indicate damage of the blade will be included in a single characteristic. The investigations were carried out on a scaled-down model of a wind turbine blade of a rotor diameter of 36 m. The modal parameters have been determined only experimentally using a Laser Doppler Scanning Vibrometer. Damage was simulated for three localizations by additional high stiffness elements fixed to the surface of the blade. The results of the research presented in this paper confirm the effectiveness of RMS calculation in detection damage using modes of vibrations.

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