NDE Techniques of Fiber Characterization in Spar Caps of Wind Turbine Blades using Ultrasonic Waves

Abstract

Recently, there has been a surge in interest towards advanced composite materials consisting of excellent properties such as mechanical characteristics, lightness, and heat resistance, as part of energy saving and new material development efforts. In particular, as a part of renewable energy, wind turbine blades are manufactured using composite materials that have excellent non-stiffness (elastic modulus/strength) and non-strength (tensile strength/density), especially using carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) for lightweighting of large wind turbine blades . When blade production, the CFRP composites are strong to various environmental conditions in use, such as aging, oxidation, waterproofing, weather resistance, electromagnetic wave shielding, and insulation, and the CFRP composites are utilized in various industries such as automobiles, aircraft, ships, and machinery, here for a long use, painting work is required in final finish . The carbon fiber direction and defect characterization will be evaluated using ultrasonic techniques for a use of spar caps, which are the core components of wind turbine blades. In particular, the nondestructive testing and evaluation of fiber Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Technology Engineers 32:3 (2023) 119~128