Renewables MORE INFO

WHY CUSTOMERS CHOOSE IAG

• Leverage deep subject matter expertise on wind turbine NDT inspections and root cause analysis of wind turbine component failures to minimize unplanned downtime

• Develop and/or improve their inspection processes and procedures to reduce outages

• Engage qualified technicians with an understanding of the wind turbine manufacturing process, materials and potential points of failure

• Avoid unplanned downtime through defect identification and creating testing procedures to inspect defects before they lead to unplanned failures • Improve the reliability and accuracy of their data to make more efficient and effective conversion, modification and repair decisions

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PROJECT IMPACT STATEMENTS

Introduction: A large wind energy company contacted IAG to perform a blade bond line inspection of the spar cap fusion line. The spar cap and the internal webs are fused together, which provides the main strength of the blade. On this blade design, this is called the shear web bond line.

Problem: Fiberglass is difficult to inspect, as it can be highly attenuative to ultrasound. The client requested that IAG detect the bond line and measure the bond width for acceptance. This would require an encoded single-axis scan at both the manufacturing level and the field. Getting ultrasound through the fiberglass would be difficult, but also determining if there was an additional bond signal behind the backwall would pose another challenge.

Solution: IAG’s SME developed a semi-automated conventional and phased array technique that recorded the shear web bond width down the length of the blade. This provided the customer with actual bond width measurements, allowing blade repairs to be performed as required. The inspection is highly productive and provides digital documentation of the bond width for the full length of the blade.

Outcome: Because of the efficiency of this technique, it is still used today for bond width of the shear web, trailing edge and leading-edge inspections. A similar inspection is performed for lightning strike inspections. These inspections are highly productive and provide the client with accurate data results, enabling the client to make informed decisions on the health of the blade.

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·       For More Information, please contact us at:

·       info@int-grp.com or call (989)772-8888