Abstract
Shearography is an optical technique in the field of non-destructive evaluation (NDE) of various materials, with the main advantages of non-contact and relatively large area of coverage in a single inspection. It has been widely acknowledged as an effective technique particularly for NDE of composite materials to detect subsurface defects such as delamination, disbond, cracks and impact damages. However, the use of shearography to inspect wind turbine blades (WTB) on site a wind tower is not proven, because a WTB is in constant vibration due to wind even when it is parked on a tower at low-speed wind. To address the problem, we aim to attach the shearography sit onto the WTB during inspection when the WTB is parked, the relatively motion between the shearography and the WTB is minimized within the tolerance of the shearography system. The ultimate goal is to develop a robot assisted shearography system able to inspect the WTBs on-site through remote control by operators on the ground (for onshore wind turbines) or on a vessel (for off-shore wind turbines), so that there is no need to send humans to the wind tower via a rope to do the inspections. This paper reports part of our research work surrounding the new shearography that is designed for integration with a robotic climber for on-site WTB inspection. It includes the principle of shearography, comparison of shearography with other NDE technologies, robotic application, experiments validation for fringe patterns, and description of post processing algorithms.
| Original language | English |
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| Publication status | Published - 24 Aug 2020 |
| Event | 23rd International Conference on Climbing and Walking Robots and the Support Technologies for Mobile Machines - Duration: 24 Aug 2020 → 26 Aug 2020 |
Conference
| Conference | 23rd International Conference on Climbing and Walking Robots and the Support Technologies for Mobile Machines |
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| Abbreviated title | CLAWAR 2020 |
| Period | 24/08/20 → 26/08/20 |
| Other | The organising committee decided that given the restrictions on travel due to the COVID-19 pandemic the CLAWAR 2020 conference will be held virtually. CLAWAR 2020 is the 23rd issue of the International Conference Series on Climbing and Walking Robots and the Support Technologies for Mobile Machines. The conference will be organized in collaboration with the Ishlinsky Institute for Problems in Mechanics of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IPMech-RAS), in Moscow, Russian Federation during 24 – 26 August 2020. The technical programme of CLAWAR 2020 will feature plenary, regular and special/invited sessions and robot exhibition Original contributions are invited in the general area of mobile robotics, covering climbing, walking, flying robots with assistance and services provided to humans and machines. The conference will cover analysis (modelling and simulation) techniques, design approaches, and practical applications and realisations of robotic systems. Support technologies for the realisation of such systems, associated economic, ethical and social considerations are an integral part of the conference theme. |