Assessing the progression of wind turbine energy yield losses due to blade erosion by resolving damage geometries from lab tests and field observations

Castorrini, Alessio; Ortolani, Andrea; Campobasso, M. Sergio

doi:10.1016/j.renene.2023.119256

Cited by 5 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…The detailed drawings of the wind turbine provided by the manufacturer are considered intellectual property, and thus cannot be shown in more detail in this study. However, the high-precision 3D laser scanning technology used in this study has been widely utilized in various fields and is an effective tool for generating accurate 3D models of complex structures [28,29]. The next section will discuss the mathematical model for fluid dynamics analysis, as well as data accuracy justification, based on statistical analysis and wall shear stress interpretation.…”

Section: Wind Turbine Geometrymentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhancing Wind Turbine Blade Preventive Maintenance Procedure through Computational Fluid Dynamics-Based Prediction of Wall Shear Stress

Palasai,

Plengsa-Ard,

Kaewbumrung

2024

Sustainability

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Wind turbine blades are essential parts of wind energy systems and are frequently exposed to harsh environmental elements, such as strong winds, turbulence, and corrosive atmospheric elements. Over time, these circumstances may result in serious harm to blades, such as delamination and erosion, which may negatively affect the wind turbine’s functionality and durability. Accurate prediction of various types of damage is crucial to improve the toughness and lifespan of wind turbine blades and to maximize the overall effectiveness of wind energy systems. This article presents a novel computational fluid dynamics (CFDs)-based method for analyzing the distribution of wall shear stress on turbine blades, aimed at publicizing the yearly maintenance procedure. The investigation results from the CFDs, when compared with the current situation in a wind turbine farm in Thailand, confirmed that our wall shear stress modeling accurately predicted wind turbine damage. A maximum wall shear stress level higher than 5.00 Pa in the case of PA 90°, incoming air velocity 10.00 m/s, and 15 rpm was the main contribution to presenting the erosion and delamination from current drone inspection in wind turbine farms. In conclusion, these findings demonstrated the potential of using CFDs to predict wind turbine blade delamination and erosion, thereby significantly contributing to the development of specific and accurate yearly preventive maintenance. The proposed CFDs-based approach should serve as a sustainability tool for local human development, benefiting wind turbine engineers and operating technicians by providing them with a deeper understanding of the local flow conditions and wall shear stress distribution along wind turbine blades. This enables them to make informed decisions regarding blade design and maintenance.

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Section: Wind Turbine Geometrymentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhancing Wind Turbine Blade Preventive Maintenance Procedure through Computational Fluid Dynamics-Based Prediction of Wall Shear Stress

Palasai,

Plengsa-Ard,

Kaewbumrung

2024

Sustainability

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“…The blade roughening disturbs the boundary layer and causes an earlier transition from laminar to turbulent flow. This can lead to a reduction in annual energy production (AEP) in the range of up to several percent (Papi et al, 2021;Campobasso et al, 2023;Castorrini et al, 2023;Barfknecht et al, 2022). Due to the combination of maintenance costs and performance loss, leading-edge rain erosion constitutes a significant problem for wind farm operators.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Drop-size-dependent effects in leading-edge rain erosion and their impact for erosion-safe mode operation

Barfknecht,

von Terzi

2024

Preprint

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Abstract. Leading-edge rain erosion poses a significant challenge for the wind turbine industry due to its detrimental effects on structural integrity and annual energy production. Developing effective mitigation strategies requires understanding the precipitation conditions driving erosion. The influence of the rain droplet diameter on both the formation of erosion damage and on erosion mitigation strategies has yet to be sufficiently understood. This study proposes an enhanced damage model based on the impingement metric as used in the state-of-the-art, but improved by including important and so far neglected physical mechanisms such as the recently described droplet slowdown and deformation effect. Several drop-size-dependent effects are identified within the damage model. Subsequently, their significance for leading-edge erosion is established by deliberately including and excluding them for comparison. Thereafter, the influence of the drop-size effects on the viability of the erosion-safe mode (ESM) is investigated. The outcome is that drop-size effects strongly impact the erosion process and should not be neglected during modeling. Large droplets are considerably more damaging than small droplets, even when normalized for water volume. This directly influences the parameter space of erosion, such as the relevant droplet diameter range that should be studied. The drop-size effects shift damage production to higher rain intensities. Roughly half of the erosion damage is produced by only 10 % of rain events. When drop-size effects are excluded, this value shifts to more than 20 %. Regarding the ESM, it is found that it can be utilized up to twice as efficiently when drop-size effects are adequately modeled. The findings highlight the criticality of drop-size effects in rain erosion modeling for wind turbine blades, impacting lifetime predictions, ESM viability, and the parameter space of leading-edge erosion. This paper also provides a formal derivation of impingement and describes a method for finding optimal ESM strategies.

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Analysis of performance improvement methods for offshore wind turbine blades affected by leading edge erosion

Zhang,

You

et al. 2024

Ocean Engineering

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Assessing the progression of wind turbine energy yield losses due to blade erosion by resolving damage geometries from lab tests and field observations

Cited by 5 publications

References 39 publications

Enhancing Wind Turbine Blade Preventive Maintenance Procedure through Computational Fluid Dynamics-Based Prediction of Wall Shear Stress

Enhancing Wind Turbine Blade Preventive Maintenance Procedure through Computational Fluid Dynamics-Based Prediction of Wall Shear Stress

Drop-size-dependent effects in leading-edge rain erosion and their impact for erosion-safe mode operation

Analysis of performance improvement methods for offshore wind turbine blades affected by leading edge erosion

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