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Learning from the lab to drive better blade performance

Published in: Wind, Think Tank, Exclusive Articles

Learning from the lab to drive better blade performance image

Comprehensive system and component testing of wind turbine blades provides crucial insights into their performance and durability. By identifying potential issues early, these tests help optimize operation and maintenance strategies, enhance reliability and minimize downtime.

The wind industry has made tremendous progress in increasing turbine size. For more than 15 years, the Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy Systems (IWES) has been an integral part of this journey, supporting wind turbine manufacturers in validating components across the entire system, from foundations to blades, pitch bearings to drivetrains, and more recently, even electrolyzers. While verification and validation remain central to Fraunhofer IWES’s activities, the operation and maintenance of wind turbines have increasingly become a focus of our research efforts.

Root cause analysis for component failure

Advances in material technology, manufacturing methods and design and validation processes have enabled the wind industry to install and operate increasingly larger turbines with high reliability. As a result, wind turbine components have grown in size, and the potential impact of damage has increased accordingly.

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