Project DiMoWind-Inspect - Effectively inspecting offshore wind turbines

14/10/2021

• Challenge
• Objectives
• Methods
• Partners

Intelligent inspection and maintenance strategies are becoming increasingly important for the safe and efficient operation of offshore wind turbines, as repairs offshore are associated with very high costs. Until now, turbine structures have been inspected on site at regular intervals, usually every four years. Adapting a new predictive maintenance scheme to the current condition of the structures, a consistently high level of stability and operational safety can be ensured. This optimizes the use of resources, while at the same time service life is extended.

The goal of the project is the development of a data-based system for a digital asset management of offshore wind turbine structures. This not only intends the automated recording of the structural condition, but also its risk-based evaluation as well as predictive maintenance measures derived from it. Within the scope of the project, all conceptual and structural bases required for the systematization of inspection findings are to be created.

Referencing and database systems are being developed for the automated processing of inspection findings. For integration into damage models of the risk-based inspection planning, descriptions of fracture and crack propagation behavior of offshore-typical steel structure details are determined experimentally. In addition, procedures for luminescence based crack detection will be further developed for automatization and integration into digital asset management. Finally, a BIM model will be developed as the central digital unit of all structure-relevant information.

Partners

Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM)
Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Dresden
Jörss-Blunck-Ordemann GmbH
MR Chemie GmbH
WindMW Service GmbH

Funding

Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Klimaschutz (BMWK) unter the project management organization Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH.

DiMoWind-Inspect – Digital modeling processes in the recurring inspection of wind turbines

Offshore wind farms in the North and Baltic Seas are a central component of Germany's future energy system. To ensure the competitiveness of this type of energy generation, wind turbines must be managed intelligently so that their availability and thus their wind power benefits are maximized while the costs for their maintenance are minimized.

In particular, the support structures (tower and foundation) of wind turbines are still inspected and evaluated at short, rigid intervals. Such periodical inspections currently form the basis for deriving maintenance measures. Data from periodical inspections are presently not systematically recorded and evaluated. A unified, standardized, and digitized handling of inspection data, their classification, referencing, and systematic evaluation is one of the major tasks for the future. The joint project DiMoWind - Inspect aims at creating the foundation for a digital systematization of damage-related findings from periodic inspections on the different levels of detection and evaluation. On this basis, the remaining useful life of aging support structures in offshore wind farms and optimal inspection and maintenance strategies for these systems will be determined.

Modeling processes and inspection planning

The main technical focal points and development goals of the BAM subproject are:

• Development of the data management concept for the load-bearing structures to be monitored during operation and the expected findings, including a reproducible digital positioning of the findings on the structure
• Development of a reference designation system and a classification system for structural findings and damage
• Automation of the comparison of damage across different structures
• Development of procedures for the integrability of the results in the Common Data Environment
• Extended understanding of fracture and crack propagation behavior of offshore-typical steel structure details due to material fatigue caused by corrosion damage
• Development of an applicable concept for risk- and cost-optimized planning of inspections and maintenance measures based on the data modeling developed in the project in consideration of the latest damage models and novel inspection and monitoring methods
• Further development and testing of crack luminescence for fatigue crack detection for offshore applications
• Further development of crack luminescence by means of automated image evaluation as base for integration in digital asset management and proto-typical application
• Provision of results and routines for the development of a software- and BIM-based methodology for the asset management of wind turbine structures.

Project coordination

Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM)

BAM sub-project

BAM Buildings and Structures

Partners

JBO Jörss-Blunck-Ordemann GmbH
MR Chemie GmbH
Wind MW Service GmbH
HTW Dresden Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft

Funding

The project "DiMoWind-Inspect – Digital modeling processes in the recurring inspection of wind turbines" (funding code 03EE3039A) is funded by the Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Klimaschutz (BMWK) unter the project management organization Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH.