How can the value of data from bolted joint connections deliver a competitive advantage across the wind industry? During the construction and operation of wind farms, there are lots of data being collected for various purposes. When it comes to the most important elements in the entire structure, the nuts and bolts that are holding the turbine structure together and securing electrical conductivity, the documentation so far has been very manual, using pen and paper.
In a typical wind turbine today around 10,000 bolts are assembled and all of them are critical to the structural integrity and long-term performance of the turbine. But for how many of them do we have real data records confirming how they were assembled or by whom and with what components.
