Internal Wind Turbine Blade Inspections Using UAVs: Analysis and Design Issues

Kulsinskas, Andrius; Durdevic, Petar; Ortiz-Arroyo, Daniel

doi:10.3390/en14020294

Cited by 23 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 76 publications

(120 reference statements)

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“…In the last few decades, the use of wind turbines has increased significantly. For example, in the U.S. alone, the share of wind turbines was 10% in 2020, and is estimated to grow close to 20% by 2030 [72]. Despite the inherent benefits of using wind turbines, maintenance is still a challenging topic.…”

Section: Inspection Of Wind Turbinesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, the blades are at great risk of failure [74]. Furthermore, wind turbine's components can contain manufacturing defects as well as damages during operation by lightning strikes, collision with birds and insects, corrosion, and the accumulation of dirt or ice [72]. Surveys conducted on 700 on-shore wind turbines located in Sweden in 1997-2005 have demonstrated that 13.4% of the failures are related to the rotor blades [74].…”

Section: Inspection Of Wind Turbinesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Unmanned Aerial Vehicle is an alternative approach for inspecting the interior and exterior structures of wind turbine blades. As stated in [82], an inspection of a wind turbine using a drone can take up to 1.5 h, while the same inspection using a rope access-based approach can take up to 8 h. In addition to the time factor, drones can decrease the risk associated with the inspection, such as fires, explosions, workers falling, high-voltage equipment, and static electricity [72]. Most studies have addressed the use of drones for an exterior inspection of wind turbine blades as an alternative approach to cranes and ropes.…”

Section: Inspection Of Wind Turbinesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most studies have addressed the use of drones for an exterior inspection of wind turbine blades as an alternative approach to cranes and ropes. On the other hand, the inspection of the interior structure of the blade is very challenging, due to the confined space, the existence of internal structures, and lack of proper illumination [72]. For example, in the case of interior inspection, the cost of the manned inspection is a major factor for companies to invest more in the use of drones as an alternative approach [72].…”

Section: Inspection Of Wind Turbinesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On the other hand, the inspection of the interior structure of the blade is very challenging, due to the confined space, the existence of internal structures, and lack of proper illumination [72]. For example, in the case of interior inspection, the cost of the manned inspection is a major factor for companies to invest more in the use of drones as an alternative approach [72]. Poleo et al studied the economic impact of employing drones for inspecting offshore wind turbines [83].…”

Section: Inspection Of Wind Turbinesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Drone-Based Non-Destructive Inspection of Industrial Sites: A Review and Case Studies

Nooralishahi

Ibarra-Castanedo

Deane

et al. 2021

Drones

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Using aerial platforms for Non-Destructive Inspection (NDI) of large and complex structures is a growing field of interest in various industries. Infrastructures such as: buildings, bridges, oil and gas, etc. refineries require regular and extensive inspections. The inspection reports are used to plan and perform required maintenance, ensuring their structural health and the safety of the workers. However, performing these inspections can be challenging due to the size of the facility, the lack of easy access, the health risks for the inspectors, or several other reasons, which has convinced companies to invest more in drones as an alternative solution to overcome these challenges. The autonomous nature of drones can assist companies in reducing inspection time and cost. Moreover, the employment of drones can lower the number of required personnel for inspection and can increase personnel safety. Finally, drones can provide a safe and reliable solution for inspecting hard-to-reach or hazardous areas. Despite the recent developments in drone-based NDI to reliably detect defects, several limitations and challenges still need to be addressed. In this paper, a brief review of the history of unmanned aerial vehicles, along with a comprehensive review of studies focused on UAV-based NDI of industrial and commercial facilities, are provided. Moreover, the benefits of using drones in inspections as an alternative to conventional methods are discussed, along with the challenges and open problems of employing drones in industrial inspections, are explored. Finally, some of our case studies conducted in different industrial fields in the field of Non-Destructive Inspection are presented.

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Section: Inspection Of Wind Turbinesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Inspection Of Wind Turbinesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Inspection Of Wind Turbinesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Inspection Of Wind Turbinesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Inspection Of Wind Turbinesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Drone-Based Non-Destructive Inspection of Industrial Sites: A Review and Case Studies

Nooralishahi

Ibarra-Castanedo

Deane

et al. 2021

Drones

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LiDAR‐based automated UAV inspection of wind turbine rotor blades

Castelar Wembers,

Pflughaupt,

Moshagen

et al. 2024

Journal of Field Robotics

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The global trend indicates that overall wind energy production, both onshore and offshore, will increase drastically in the next decade. Therefore, presently, much effort is focused on optimizing the operation and maintenance of wind turbines, since these are quite challenging and cost‐intensive. To aid or even completely fulfill a specific inspection task, an automated solution is proposed in this paper. The prototype is built on an M300 drone platform from DJI Technology Co. and is presented here. It requires a single, additional 2D‐LiDAR sensor mounted on an upwards frame. The proposed control and path planning algorithms have been tested in the AirSim simulation environment, as well as in local model airfields and at real onshore and offshore wind turbines. As a result, a comprehensive sequential‐phased mission is presented, which reduces the total time required for the inspection routine to approximately 14 min, representing about half the time an expert pilot may need for the same task. Additionally, a platform prototype that may be deployed on a ship's deck for a safe landing is presented. It guarantees instant adhesion upon contact and avoids unwanted drone backlash due to sudden and unexpected ship movement during the landing approach. Further work will focus mainly on additional offshore flight probes, optimizing the landing platform, and tuning the flight algorithms.

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A review study on unmanned aerial vehicle and mobile robot technologies on damage inspection of reinforced concrete structures

Wang

Ueda

2023

Structural Concrete

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For damaged buildings that had suffered from a destructive earthquake, timely damage inspection is essential to evaluate their residual seismic safety as well as to assess the long-term maintenance capacity for planning a suitable structural rehabilitation strategy for further service. However, the conventional inspection method by human hands is time-consuming, highly costly, and risky for inspectors in the fieldwork. Thus, in this present study, the current situation for structural damage inspection is summarized, the future potentials of newly developed technology in this field are explored, and the application and usage of robotic technologies with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and mobile robots that are rapidly developed recently have been reviewed and evaluated. In this work an overview is given of the practical applications of the UAV-and mobile robot-based damage inspection, in which these robotic machines are employed as useful tools to inspect and monitor the damaged condition of infrastructure facilities or buildings by collecting photography data. In addition, a conceptual comparison with the conventional approach is given to allow a better understanding of the advantages and limitations of a robotic technology-aimed damage inspection approach. Also, a discussion on instructions, recommendations, existing challenges, and future directions to address the robotic technology-aimed damage inspection approach into further practice is presented.

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Internal Wind Turbine Blade Inspections Using UAVs: Analysis and Design Issues

Cited by 23 publications

References 76 publications

Drone-Based Non-Destructive Inspection of Industrial Sites: A Review and Case Studies

Drone-Based Non-Destructive Inspection of Industrial Sites: A Review and Case Studies

LiDAR‐based automated UAV inspection of wind turbine rotor blades

A review study on unmanned aerial vehicle and mobile robot technologies on damage inspection of reinforced concrete structures

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