Full-scale fatigue tests of CX-100 wind turbine blades. Part I: testing

Kevin M. Farinholt; Stuart G. Taylor; Gyuhae Park; Curtt M. Ammerman

doi:10.1117/12.917493

29 March 2012 Full-scale fatigue tests of CX-100 wind turbine blades. Part I: testing

Kevin M. Farinholt, Stuart G. Taylor, Gyuhae Park, Curtt M. Ammerman

Proceedings Volume 8343, Industrial and Commercial Applications of Smart Structures Technologies 2012; 83430P (2012) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.917493
Event: SPIE Smart Structures and Materials + Nondestructive Evaluation and Health Monitoring, 2012, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

This paper overviews the test setup and experimental methods for structural health monitoring (SHM) of two 9-meter CX-100 wind turbine blades that underwent fatigue loading at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL) National Wind Technology Center (NWTC). The first blade was a pristine blade, which was manufactured to standard specifications for the CX-100 design. The second blade was manufactured for the University of Massachusetts, Lowell with intentional simulated defects within the fabric layup. Each blade was instrumented with piezoelectric transducers, accelerometers, acoustic emission sensors, and foil strain gauges. The blades underwent harmonic excitation at their first natural frequency using the Universal Resonant Excitation (UREX) system at NREL. Blades were initially excited at 25% of their design load, and then with steadily increasing loads until each blade reached failure. Data from the sensors were collected between and during fatigue loading sessions. The data were measured over multi-scale frequency ranges using a variety of acquisition equipment, including off-the-shelf systems and specially designed hardware developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The hardware systems were evaluated for their aptness in data collection for effective application of SHM methods to the blades. The results of this assessment will inform the selection of acquisition hardware and sensor types to be deployed on a CX-100 flight test to be conducted in collaboration with Sandia National Laboratory at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Conservation and Production Research Laboratory (CPRL) in Bushland, Texas.

Citation Download Citation

Kevin M. Farinholt, Stuart G. Taylor, Gyuhae Park, and Curtt M. Ammerman "Full-scale fatigue tests of CX-100 wind turbine blades. Part I: testing", Proc. SPIE 8343, Industrial and Commercial Applications of Smart Structures Technologies 2012, 83430P (29 March 2012); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.917493

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