Funding agency: National Research and Development Agency (ANID)

Grant: IDeA Advanced Technologies TA23I10055 (2023-2027)

Project Director: Rodrigo Astroza (UAndes)

Project Co-Director: Marcos Orchard (UChile)

Researchers: Constanza Ahumada (UChile), Francisco Hernández (UAndes)

In two previous projects (ID17I10140 and ID17I20140), a structural monitoring system for wind turbine blades was developed, implemented, and validated at laboratory scale and in a relevant environment. The system includes (i) design and implementation of an autonomous and robust instrumentation system resistant to extreme operating and climatic conditions, (ii) algorithms for extracting features from vibration data measured by the instrumentation system, (iii) Bayesian inference-based methods enabling the diagnosis and prognosis of blade damage based on the aforementioned features, and (iv) techniques for compensating environmental effects in the variation of these features. The Advanced Technologies project proposes to scale up and validate an integrated predictive monitoring system for structural components of wind turbines using an operational wind turbine installed in a wind farm and packaging the monitoring system into a new commercial software. To achieve this, the project aims to (i) extend and optimize the instrumentation and data collection system by integrating modern sensing technologies, (ii) develop simulation models that integrate the electrical, mechanical, and structural components of wind turbines, collecting and processing data from existing wind turbines, including two low-capacity ones (6kW) located on the UANDES campus and at the Alto Baguales wind farm (Coyhaique) and one high-capacity turbine (900kW) also located at Alto Baguales, (iii) calibrate and validate diagnostic and prognostic algorithms with realistic operational data, incorporating correction for environmental and operational effects, and (iv) develop a commercial software of the monitoring system as a packaging solution.

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