Method of inspecting a wind turbine blade

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2023228551-A1
Application number	US-202118246951-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Sep 27, 2021
Priority date	Sep 29, 2020
Publication date	Jul 20, 2023
Grant date	—

Abstract

The invention provides a method of inspecting a wind turbine blade. The method includes providing a defect inspection tool having an array of pins, the pins being displaceable in an axial direction relative to one another. The method includes positioning the defect inspection tool against a defect on the wind turbine blade to cause displacement of at least some of the pins in the axial direction, the displaced pins describing a contour representative of a contour of the defect. The method includes determining dimensions f the defect by inspecting the contour described by the displaced pins. Advantageously, the invention provides for a more accurate determination as to whether a defect needs to be repaired.

First claim

1 . A method of inspecting a wind turbine blade, the method comprising:
providing a defect inspection tool having an array of pins, the pins being displaceable in an axial direction (A) relative to one another; positioning the defect inspection tool against a defect on the wind turbine blade to cause displacement of at least some of the pins in the axial direction (A), the displaced pins describing a contour representative of a contour of the defect; and, determining dimensions of the defect by inspecting the contour described by the displaced pins.

2 . The method according to claim 1 , comprising inspecting the contour described by the displaced pins to determine whether dimensions of the defect are within a permitted threshold.

3 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein inspecting the contour described by the displaced pins comprises at least one of:
visually inspecting said contour; and transmitting data indicative of said contour from the defect inspection tool to an electronic device arranged to analyse the contour data.

4 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the defect inspection tool comprises a visual inspection scale, and wherein inspecting the contour described by the displaced pins comprises visually inspecting said contour against the visual inspection scale.

5 . The method according to claim 4 , wherein the visual inspection scale is a two-dimensional scale, and wherein visually inspecting the contour described by the displaced pins comprises using the two-dimensional scale to determine a ratio of height (H) to width (W) of said contour.

6 . The method according to claim 5 , wherein the two-dimensional scale comprises a grid, and wherein determining the ratio comprises using the grid to determine the height (H) and width (W) of the contour described by the displaced pins.

7 . The method according to claim 5 , wherein the two-dimensional scale comprises at least one two-dimensional block indicating a combination of height and width indicating a permitted threshold ratio, the method comprising visually inspecting the contour described by the displaced pins relative to the at least one two-dimensional block to determine whether the dimensions of the defect are within the permitted threshold ratio.

8 . The method according to claim 7 , wherein the two-dimensional scale comprises a plurality of two dimensional blocks each indicating a different combination of height and width indicating the permitted threshold ratio, wherein visually inspecting the contour described by the displaced pins comprises:
selecting the two-dimensional block having a width closest to, but greater than, the width (W) of said contour, and inspecting the height (H) of said contour relative to the height of said selected two-dimensional block to determine whether the dimensions of the defect are within the permitted threshold ratio.

9 . The method according to claim 4 , wherein the visual inspection scale overlies the displaced pins, and wherein the visual inspection comprises inspecting the contour described by the displaced pins through the visual inspection scale.

10 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein positioning the defect inspection tool against the defect comprises applying a first end of the array of pins to the wind turbine blade to span the defect to cause a second end of the array of pins, opposite to the first end, to provide the contour described by the displaced pins.

11 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the defect is at least one of a wrinkle, a crease, a fold, a ridge, and a groove.

12 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the defect is on the surface of a shell of the wind turbine blade.

13 . A defect inspection tool use on a wind turbine blade, the defect inspection tool having an array of pins, the pins being arranged to displace in an axial direction (A) relative to one another upon positioning the defect inspection tool against a defect on the wind turbine blade, the displaced pins describing a contour representative of a contour of the defect for use in determining dimensions of the defect.

14 . The defect inspection tool according to claim 13 , comprising a visual inspection scale arranged adjacent to the array of pins to allow visual inspection of the contour described by the displaced pins against the visual inspection scale.

15 . The defect inspection tool according to claim 14 , wherein the visual inspection scale comprises a grid, and wherein a width of each of the pins is less than or equal to a width of a spacing of the grid.

Assignees

• Vestas Wind Sys As

Inventors

• Smith Jonathan
• Preston Robert Charles

Classifications

• G01B5/205 Primary

  of turbine blades or propellers · CPC title

• G01B3/14 Primary

  Templates for checking contours {(templates for mounting doors or windows E04F21/0007)} · CPC title

• G01B5/207

  using a plurality of fixed, simultaneously operating transducers (G01B5/213 - G01B5/22 take precedence) · CPC title