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Repairing the repair: when previous blade work fails

Published in: Wind, Exclusive Articles, Industrial Insight

Repairing the repair: when previous blade work fails image

Revisiting a failed blade repair brings its own challenges. Missing records, unfamiliar materials and uncertainty about the original laminate can make it difficult to establish what went wrong and how best to put it right.

Not every blade repair starts with the original structure. Technicians are increasingly finding themselves working on areas that have already been repaired, sometimes years earlier and with little information about what was done.

Repairing damage to an original blade structure is one thing. Going back over a previous repair, particularly one that has failed, is another. Before any new work can begin, technicians need to find out what has already been done, why it may have failed and how much of the existing material can safely be removed.

When the history is missing

One of the biggest difficulties with previous repairs is finding out exactly what was done.

Some repairs date back to the manufacture of the blade, while others have been carried out during years of operation. The original documentation is not always available, making it harder to establish why a repair has failed.

The materials used may no longer be available either, which can complicate decisions about how to tackle the damaged area.

Sometimes the cause of failure is obvious. Other times, it is much harder to pin down. Removing the visible damage and repairing it again may not solve the problem if the original cause has not been identified.

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