Monday, August 03, 2009
IFOS announces award of DOE Phase I STTR grant for Fiber-Optic Defect and Damage Locator System for Wind Turbine Blades.

Capability of locating and quantifying structural damage is one of the most important requirements for verifying and maintaining safety and integrity of wind turbine blades. A robust and reliable nondestructive defect and damage identification and assessment capability is essential to predictable maintenance and disaster avoidance. IFOS will develop an integrated optical sensor system capable of providing real time in-situ defect detection, location and quantification of damage. In addition the proposed system will be capable of validating wind turbine blade structural models, using recent advances in non-contact, non-destructive dynamic testing of composite structures. This new generation method makes it possible to analyze wind turbine blades not only non-destructively, but also without physically contacting or implanting intrusive electrical elements and transducers into the structure. IFOS’s STTR research partner in this project is Auburn University. Wind turbines are increasingly populating the landscape and offer an additional source for electric power. This project will faciltate optimizing the performance of wind turbine through early defect and damage detection in wind turbine blades, potentially reduce the end cost per watt and enable this current solution to gain greater momentum. Increased harnessing of wind power benefits the planet by providing a renewable energy source reducing our realiance on fossil fuels.

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