Wind Blade Inspection and Maitenance Services

One important and often overlooked factor that is affecting the commercial viability of wind energy is the high percentage of blade failures. Globally, it is estimated that there are a total of 3,800 blade failures every year. The cost of damage to wind farms can be huge, with repairs starting at $300,000 for the replacement of just one blade. The remote nature of turbine farms makes it difficult for operators to know when early stage damage is developing. Spot visual blade damage checks and repairs by technicians are both dangerous and costly.

Wind blades are complex structures that are not immune to manufacturing defects. Delamination defects results in a gap between laminates — which ultimately reduces the bearing capacity. The end result in buckling under external loads. The presence of foreign particles in the building resin, gas bubbles and improperly applied structural adhesive are other reasons why a wind turbine is not able to generate optimal performance.Utilizing an efficient inspection methodology (in terms of time and cost) that is able to accurately pinpoint these defects is critical.

There are several traditional ways of inspecting wind turbines. Using rope climbing teams is one of the most common albeit risky ways of inspection. However, Firstly, visually inspecting a windmill is a poor strategy as far as data acquisition is concerned. Secondly, using this inspection method, you can inspect just 2 to 5 turbines every day. Inspection costs could be as high as $1500-$2000 for a single turbine.

Our combination of drone-based visual inspection and climbing robot impact sounding inspection will not only find the problem in first place, but also be able to detect invisible damage or defects in early stage.